In the past, the color of the sun changed slowly, and the mail was slow, so I could only love one person in my life. "Not many people know Mu Xin, but many people know this song" Once Slow ". Yes, it used to be slow. Cars, horses and mail were all slow. The fastest place for cars, horses and mail may be the post office. " Posthouse will appear in many literary works with ancient background. Every time you arrive at a post, dismount first and follow the wall post to find your poem. ""Jiangtou drinks at dusk. At first glance, the snow is still clear, the hills are desolate, the lights are dim and people sleep alone. These words that travel through time and space have aroused our curiosity and imagination about the ancient infrastructure of today's post station. ▲ In the past, many people had the impression that the post station was a "free hotel", but in fact, the definition of the word post station was: people who delivered * * * documents in ancient times changed horses or changed places to rest and stay. But in fact, these explanations are very one-sided. The institution of "Post Station" runs through almost the whole feudal history of China, and it is the oldest local institution in China. For ancient society, the role of post station is undoubtedly important and special. ▲ Ancient Post Station This paper will start with the development history of the post station, evaluate the merits and demerits of the post station through the study of historical materials, and bring its own thinking and summary. The prosperity of the post station-you don't need to wait for the official report. The existence of the post station, like other feudal systems in the ancient city, has its own process of emergence and development. As early as the pre-Qin period, there were records about post stations. Like Zuo Zhuan? In Twenty-seven Years of "xianggong", there is ""which makes the kings worship. The word "."Zuo Zhuan? "Sixty Years of Wen Gong" and "Zi Chu takes a post". The original meaning of the word "post station" is horse, so it can be seen that the embryonic form of post station is a place for supplying horses. The real post system was established in the Qin Dynasty. (1) was founded in the history of the Qin Dynasty. People often regard "Qin Ershi's death" as a failure experience and lesson, as a warning material and a typical example for future generations. However, people have to admit that Qin Shihuang was a great emperor, which can almost be described as "an emperor through the ages". Because although the Qin Dynasty only existed for a short period of 15 years, many systems it established left an indelible mark on the feudal history of the following thousands of years. ▲ Qin Shihuang's statue post system is a little-known one among many institutional innovations in the Qin Dynasty. The most typical post road in Qin Dynasty is Wuchi Road, which is called the Southern Silk Road. According to Records of Historical Records of Qin Shihuang, in the twenty-seventh year, the first emperor toured Longxi and Beidi, went out of Jitou Mountain and returned to China. How to do the letter palace in Weinan has made it a polar temple, like the celestial pole. Because the temple road leads to Mount Li (that is, Mount Li), it is the front hall of Ganquan. The tunnel construction belongs to Xianyang. It's 20 years old, and I've been given a knighthood. Zhichi Road. In 2 19 BC, the State of Qin also built the "hengshan road" from Xianyang to Hengshan County, Hunan Province, to meet the needs of southwest operations. Where hengshan road passed by, there are still many remains of ancient post stations. According to historical records, there were only horses in the post station at that time, and there were also "rooms" for accommodation, which had the nature of early guest houses. ▲ Hengshan Road (2) flourished in the Tang, Yuan, Tang and Yuan Dynasties, which were two important periods for the development of the post system. In the Tang Dynasty, the company set up a national post station, the post station 1639, with 7 domestic and 7 international postal routes, with a total length of 50,000 kilometers, and the fastest speed of document delivery can reach 300 miles per day. Cen Can, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, had a position of riding like a meteor. Pingming sends Xianyang, dusk and Longshantou. " This sentence. Wang Wei also mentioned in his poem that "walking on the post road" means leading a horse in ten miles and raising a whip in five miles. "Visible postal system developed at that time. Yuan dynasty has always been an unrecognized dynasty, but it also left many things worth inheriting to future generations. The Yuan Dynasty made important adjustments to the post station system. The post station in the Yuan Dynasty was called "Zhanchi". Due to the vast territory and scattered population of the Yuan Dynasty, special attention was paid to the construction of the post office system. It was the first dynasty to formulate special laws for post stations. This law, called the Lichi Ordinance, includes more than ten basic contents, such as the organization and leadership of the post, the management of horses, the food supply of the post, the acceptance of horses and the restraint of post officials, the inspection of signs, the management of pastures, the supervision of envoys and timely dispatch. Each post station is equipped with a post order and a post officer, who is responsible for: supplying horses in full, checking the post station documents and counting the post station equipment. These specific regulations on the management of post stations and the assessment of post officials ensured the development of post stations in the Yuan Dynasty. ▲ In terms of hardware facilities, the post station in the Yuan Dynasty is also very good. Kyle Poirot, an Italian traveler at that time, said in his travel notes: "There are magnificent buildings and beautifully decorated rooms here", and the accommodation conditions for officials coming and going are comfortable. There are horses, donkeys and cows on land, boats on water, sedan chairs on mountains, and post dogs specially used on ice in remote areas of Northeast China. According to statistics, there were about 45,000 post horses in Yuan Dynasty119. In Harbin (now Harbin) in the northeast, there is a 15 dog station, which supplies 3000 postal dogs. If this Yuan Dynasty country is compared to a giant, the post road is more like a peripheral nervous system distributed all over the body, and the post station is a neuron. If this system collapses, the operation mechanism of the whole country will be paralyzed. ▲ Yuan Dynasty Post Station Map (3) Stepping on the shoulders of giants in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the construction of post stations in the Ming and Qing Dynasties reached its peak. According to the records of Qing dynasty, there were 1969 post stations, 143 16 postal shops and 46,799 soldiers in the middle of Qing dynasty, which was unprecedented in scale and coverage. In Shandong Province alone, there are 5 postal routes under the jurisdiction of 10 mansion, 3 counties of Zhili, 104 mansion, with 139 post stations and about 1080 postal shops passing through Shandong from Beijing Huanghua Post. No matter in scale, organizational form or division of labor and cooperation system, it has reached perfection. The function of the post station-exchanging luggage, its lonely post station can exist in this land of China for thousands of years, and of course it has its irreplaceable social function. It won't be as simple as a hotel, and of course it won't open the door to welcome guests like a hotel. In fact, the post station is a comprehensive institution integrating information transmission, logistics and transportation, military defense and official reception. (1) is an ancient "expressway" for transmitting information and handling ancient post roads. However, when there is no satellite communication and many people still rely on the primitive communication mode of "Hu Er cooks carp with a book in it", the highway of traffic is often the highway of information. Therefore, the post station will be defined as a place where "people who send * * * documents" change horses and rest. Maybe you will say, isn't there an inn? What do you want with the post office? You only need to provide accommodation at public expense. However, the location of each local inn is not fixed, so it is unrealistic to go to the local inn when delivering urgent news. The post station is fixed. As long as you ride a horse on the post road, there will be one within a certain distance. Besides, horses are not machines, they will get tired, get sick and even die, so one of the most important functions of the post station is to provide horses. ▲ The improvement of the horse station system also determines the speed of information transmission and the speed of policy implementation. So "Yongle Dadian" describes the post roads in the Yuan Dynasty, which are dotted with veins. "When the Anshi Rebellion arose in Fan Yang (now Anshan County, Hebei Province), the news of Anshi Rebellion spread to Chang 'an, more than 3,000 miles away, which won valuable time for putting down the rebellion. (2) The shortage of transshipment materials is easy to understand. In ancient times, when there was a war or a major natural disaster, the materials and expenses exported by * * * were transported through post stations set up in various places. Because of this, the post road is usually an "official road", and not everyone can walk. (3) Take on the defense and stabilize the position. If we only regard the post station as a "guest house"+"gas station"+"logistics transit center", it is still underestimated. The post itself also has certain military functions. Take Ji Ming Postal City, the most complete existing large-scale post station in Ming Dynasty, as an example. The circumference of the whole city is 2330 meters, that is, four miles. The wall is as high as 12 meters, with a bottom width of 8- 1 1 meter and a top width of 3-5 meters. There are two doors, east and west, and there are two floors above the gate. The thickness and height of the city wall even overshadowed Kaifeng, the capital at that time, and it was easy to defend but difficult to attack. ▲ Postal soldiers in Ji Ming Postal City and Postal City are not ordinary vendors, but trained by the army. Most of them can ride horses and draw bows. Li Zicheng, who later overthrew Ming Chengzu, used to be a post-bearer. Stations in border areas and mountain pass areas will have more prominent military functions. (4) Post roads for international cultural communication can be divided into domestic post roads and international post stations. In some periods of strong national strength and great influence on the outside world, international postal routes and post stations have made important contributions to the spread and exchange of culture. For example, the post stations on the "Silk Road" in the Han Dynasty, such as the Yuan Dynasty, had frequent contact with the West through post roads. At that time, there were three international postal routes between China and the West: one from Mongolia to Central Asia; The other is a post road leading to the upper reaches of Yenisei River, ob river River and Irtysh River; The third is the traditional Silk Road leading to Central Asia and Europe through Gansu Corridor. Historians in the early Qing Dynasty said: "Yuan is the best in the world, but thinner than at home and abroad. Wherever people go, they set up post offices to make the exchanges between them as in the countryside." A series of interconnected post roads and dotted post stations spread the valuable experience of medicine, agriculture and mulberry that originally belonged to the Central Plains to distant places, and also brought foreign advanced production technology and civilization to China, which promoted the country's opening to the outside world and national integration. ▲ The biography of the Yuan Dynasty International Traffic Station-the official power is like a tiger, and the king's life is like silk. It is true that everything has two sides. Especially after the scale is expanded, its defects and problems tend to expand. With the development and improvement, the negative impact of the post system has also emerged. Some people joked that the abandoned post station in Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty was the biggest loss in history. But why did he abolish the post office? Not only because the station really brought disaster to the people. (1) Spend too much money and exploit people. Accurately speaking, the post office belongs to public resources. Once public resources are abused, it is easy to get out of hand. As mentioned above, the Yuan Dynasty promulgated the "Lichi Regulations" specifically for the post station system. The promulgation of the "Lichi Ordinance" objectively greatly promoted the development of the post station system and was appreciated by the rulers of all dynasties. On the other hand, the exploitation of the bottom people by the Lichi Ordinance was intensified, which was also one of the reasons for a large number of uprisings in the Yuan Dynasty. ▲ The station was abused, and this problem was more obvious in the Ming Dynasty. There is no "travel expenses" in the financial expenditure of the Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, there were few bureaucracies, and Zhu Yuanzhang was very strict. It is said that when Yipin Guan goes out, his entourage does not exceed 10, and his luggage does not exceed 200 Jin. So the expenditure in this area is not too much. During the Jiajing period, bureaucracy expanded, red tape increased, officials exchanged frequently, and reception expenses soared. These expenses are all solved by the local state and county governments themselves. In the end, it will naturally fall on the local people, and the central government will not realize it at all. (2) Maintain privilege and breed corruption. It is worth mentioning that the post station was originally a place open only to the privileged class. Over time, it will inevitably corrupt and deteriorate. Du Muyou said in a poem, "When riding a princess in the red dust and laughing, no one knew it was litchi." It is said that in order to send litchi to Yang Guifei every year, several horses are exhausted and several foot soldiers are killed. This also reflects the phenomenon that the post office system has become a pleasure tool for the privileged class. ▲ The Ji Ming Postal City mentioned above is also a typical luxury post station in the late Ming Dynasty. These places have become places to establish relationships and seek promotion, while more post offices are in disrepair and chaotic management. As an imperial edict in the twenty-first year of Jiajing said, "In recent years, the postal service has been too tired and there are many servants, and what it does is to rely on public invasion fees." The total cost of a year in the post station is millions of silver. (3) Poor management and abuse of public property. In addition to the phenomenon of private use of public property by privileged classes, the abuse of other classes is also obvious. Theoretically, the station is not open to the public, and you can only stay if you get official documents. In the Ming Dynasty, this kind of document to prove "I am performing official duties" was given by the Ministry of War, but it was only given by the Ministry of War, regardless of recycling and inspection. Therefore, it is not difficult to get this certificate. This caused Mao to criticize the post station: "The Ministry of War issued a questionnaire, but it was not handed in. The gentry made a holiday, and a piece of paper made up four. " The official is as big as a tiger, and the king's life is as silk. "phenomenon. ▲ The Ministry of Military Affairs aims at these problems. This is not to say that no one has thought about reform. Both Zhang and Harry thought about it, but both failed, because they hindered the convenience of some groups. No wonder Chongzhen took a radical approach to adventure. However, he did not expect that the abolition of the post station would make a large number of people in some border areas unemployed. "A Brief History of the Ming Dynasty in the North" records: "Qin Jin has no land to cultivate, and its people spare no effort. Those poor hooligans make a living by boat, but at best they can't eat. A few days later, the Qin dynasty was hungry, spent thousands of dollars, the people were poor, and the grass roots and bark were exploited ... and the livelihood of the station was lost, and the soldiers were defeated, so they became thieves and Shaanxi was restless. "Although this practice of Chongzhen saved a lot of financial expenditure for Daming, it also drove a large number of postmen who barely made a living by the post to the wall, and finally Li Zicheng was born. ▲ Post culture in the eyes of Li Zicheng, king of China. In today's eyes, "post station" is often a warm and poetic word. For example, "Station Agent" and "Love Station" may be the result of separating time and space to appreciate beauty. No matter what kind of merits and demerits the post station has had, it is disgusting. At least those who travel day and night must be happy, warm and happy when they see them. Because it not only means that they can have a chance to breathe, but also means that they have finished at least part of the long and tiring journey. Today, many places are named after ancient post stations, and many post stations have become scenic spots. Maybe what we like is not the architectural style of the post station, but the time. Or I missed the sincerity I used to convey with Slow because of my clumsiness and simplicity. ▲ In the initial design, most of the current system of station attractions has good starting points, but the implementation effect is often not the same as envisaged. This may be an initial decision-making mistake, an inadequate implementation, or a problem naturally exposed after a long period of implementation. But these problems are always borne by the people at the bottom. Therefore, any system that cannot be implemented has become a "prosperous time" and the people suffer. The death of the people is behind this. But we can't deny the role of the post office. In ancient society, the transmission of information is the most important, because it is not only related to the efficiency of decision-making, but also plays a connector role in various feudal organisms. As a national transportation network, the post station played an important role in conveying imperial decrees and maintaining imperial rule. References: Zuo Zhuan, The History of the Later Han Dynasty, An Introduction to the North of Ming Dynasty, Historical Records, and History of China Post Office.