Chapter 727 Postman
Outside Chang'an City, Bashang.
In the afternoon, Xu Jingzong was exhausted. When he saw the carriage at the gate of Baqiao Station, his eyes showed surprise.
"stop!"
"Ah Lang wants to rest at the station?" the attendant hurriedly asked.
Xu Jingzong dismounted, but went straight to the post station.
At the gate of the post station, a team of Qianniu guards stopped Xu Jingzong.
"Xu Jingzong, the new transfer envoy, may I ask if Duke Wei is in the station?"
Qian Niuwei didn't seem to know this man who was dressed in ordinary clothes and looked not too old, but claimed to be the new transfer envoy. Xu Jingzong didn't expect that no one knew him, so he smiled awkwardly and took off a goldfish bag Show up.
Goldfish bag, specially given by the emperor to the ministers of the third rank and above to hold goldfish charms. Being able to wear a goldfish bag means that he is at least a third-rank minister.
Transportation envoy, a third-rank post.
The young Qianniuwei was a lot more polite to Xu Jingzong, "What's the matter with Xu Zhuanyun, the younger one can pass it on to Prime Minister Qin!"
The Transshipment Envoy Yamen is known as the Department of Planning, in charge of many affairs such as salt and iron, water transportation, Changping warehouses, monopoly, etc., and has great power. The establishment of the Changping Division has a very heavy authority.
Because the three transfer envoys Qin Lang, Dai Zhou, and Ma Zhou all served as prime ministers, everyone used to call the transfer envoys Jixiang.
Xu Jingzong was recommended by Qin Lang as a transfer envoy, and was transferred back to the capital. The journey was also speedy. He met Qin Lang's chariots and horses in the suburbs of Beijing, so he naturally wanted to pay a visit.
"Please inform Duke Wei that Xu Jingzong is passing by to see you."
"Please wait!"
Qian Niuwei did not dare to offend Xu Jingzong. Although he did not pay homage to the prime minister, who knows if he will.
When Qin Lang heard the report, he was chatting with Yicheng.
The Tang Dynasty had a well-developed post-transmission system. There was a post station every thirty miles, and in the heart of the Central Plains like Guanzhong and Henan, there was a post station twenty miles away. Responsible for management. But the postmaster is just a low-level official.
Although there are many welcomes and send-offs, no one really treats the post chief as a dish. It is rare to meet a gentleman who visits and can actively talk to him about the situation in the post, but this little post chief is very excited.
The post stations of the Tang Dynasty inherited the previous generation. After the founding of the country, the post system extending in all directions was restored. The post stations of the Tang Dynasty have three types of post stations: water, land and combined land and water. There are three grades of water stations, seven grades of land stations, and seventy-five horses in the seventh grade stations.
With the two capitals as the center, post stations radiate in all directions, which is equivalent to several high-speed information networks of Datang. The post station is under the jurisdiction of Shangshu Province, specifically managed by the Ministry of War, and locally managed by the governor and county magistrate.
The post station in the Tang Dynasty is quite special. As the head of a post station, it is usually served by a wealthy family relatively close to the local area. Sometimes they have to rely on their connections to run for election. Moved into the station and took charge of the management of the station.
The posts are served by nearby villagers, which also have wages and benefits, similar to being a soldier in the government, and they have to compete for posts.
Officials are mainly responsible for management and supervision duties, local states and counties are in charge, and the Ministry of War, Yushitai and other yamen are responsible for inspections.
The main responsibility of the post station is to communicate information, the most important thing is to deliver official documents. The administration of the Datang government is mainly based on official documents.
Followed by Fengyi transmission, Dibao circulation.
The second duty of the post station is transportation and reception. It is mainly responsible for the board and lodging of passing officials, and the post station also undertakes the transportation of tribute.
Of course, the post station also has some secret tasks, such as the execution of special prisoners. Sometimes the emperor will kill some exiled criminal officials halfway.
Stay stations are sometimes ordered to check official documents and road guides, etc.
In general, Datang’s post station is somewhat similar to a site contracted by rich households. Nowadays, next to every official post station, there is also a post station. This is actually a postal service for the private sector. It was Qin Lang who set it up first. He brought together many partners and took the lead in the name of Donggong to spread out a business. .
In essence, it is business. People can pick up letters and send things. Anyway, the official post station only receives officials and delivers official documents, etc., but the post office accepts all kinds of business. The post office is also a road hotel. , restaurants, car repair shops, pharmacies, etc.
"Does the postal station affect the post station?"
"Master Hui, basically it doesn't matter, we each perform our own duties. In fact, the postal station is next to us, which is a bit of an advantage, at least we have a companion."
This postmaster is a wealthy local family. After serving as this postmaster, he can get a lot of funds for raising horses every year. In fact, his income is not bad.
The post horses were provided by the imperial court. They were responsible for raising them, and the fodder was paid for. The post horses were recruited from the local people, and they were paid according to the standard.
It is relatively easy for postmasters to make money. For example, raising posthorses, etc., they can earn money normally. For example, entertaining officials, there are standard board and lodging, and they can also earn some money.
After the post station opened next to it, these postmasters sometimes use their own post stations to take on some private work by the way. increase cost.
"There are 1,639 stations in the Tang Dynasty, 260 water stations, 1,297 land stations, and 86 water and land stations. If each station can be like this The Baqiao Station is also running so well, the Ministry of War can save a lot of worry."
Baqiao Station is a seven-level large post station with seventy-five stage horses and many carriages. The post station is equivalent to a small castle. It has stables covering a large area and several warehouses. There are several food and dishes in the living room.
The accommodation area has multiple courtyards, many rooms, and two canteens. This is probably because it is close to Chang'an City and there are many senior officials passing by.
This postmaster hired hundreds of postmen, paid one hundred a day, and some subsidies, etc., the treatment was quite generous, and the villagers were very happy, and the postmaster contracted this post station, easily earning thousands of guan a year.
The most important thing is that they greeted and sent them all day long, contacted a lot of officials, and made good contacts for the post chief, and even got a lot of useful inside information.
Anyway, the postmaster chatted with Qin Lang, the prime minister, without stage fright at all, and talked freely.
Qin Lang chatted with him for a long time, mainly looking at the situation of the post station staff at the grassroots level, and at the same time comparing the development of his own post station, listening to the report is always not enough.
After chatting for a long time, he found that his postal station was indeed doing well, filling the important needs of the people. The official post station has eight hundred miles to expedite the delivery of official documents, military information, etc., and his post station is the same.
Letters are also divided into ordinary letters and registered letters, as well as urgent registered letters. There are several types of urgent letters. For example, ordinary letters have no time limit. Registered letters are delivered at 200 miles a day, and urgent letters are delivered at 300 miles a day. inside.
The express delivery is 500 miles per day, and the other is the express delivery of 800 miles, which guarantees the delivery of 800 miles a day. It is mainly for those businessmen who sometimes deliver some particularly important business information and pay a lot of money. You can send letters eight hundred miles away.
In addition to sending letters, it can also deliver goods, and even send people.
Anyway, whatever the customer needs, Qin Lang will give it here. The postal station mainly uses four-wheeled postal carriages, which are special large and long-sized caravans. The postal carts are equivalent to passenger shuttles. One cart can carry a dozen people on board at most, although it is very crowded.
It can travel fifty miles a day, and in addition to carrying people, it can also carry many letters and many packages. There is also a kind of heavy carriage specially used for cargo transportation, which can carry a hundred stones, can also travel fifty miles a day, and can be pulled by several cows or several horses.
The post stations of the imperial court are mainly fast, while Qin Lang's postal delivery can be both fast and complete. Along the main line of the postal network of the imperial court, postal stations are all over the prefectures and counties. The most special thing is that there are more than a thousand counties. In the county, there will be a postal terminal station, equipped with a special postman, responsible for receiving and delivering, and even sending letters to the village.
The stalls of the post station are very large, and the number of postmen alone exceeds 20,000. Although the expenses are huge, there are really no competitors these days. The imperial court has nearly 2,000 post stations, but they do not receive private letters, let alone send private letters. thing.
As for the postal station in the name of the Eastern Palace, the name seems to be official of the imperial court, especially where there is a post station, there must be a postal station, like twin sisters, and even further throughout every county, so that the postal station More gold-plated.
Posts, logistics, passenger transportation, board and lodging, car repair, rental, pharmacies and medical centers... this kind of diversified business, coupled with more than 3,000 interlocking stations, makes the postal station simply It is an invincible existence.
Especially with such a strong relationship behind it, there is no need to worry about this kind of business that spreads all over the country, being screwed locally.
More than 30,000 postmen, tens of thousands of post horses, and thousands of post cars are walking on the roads all over the Tang Dynasty day and night,
Mail all over the world, and deliver goods all over the world.
The stamps of different denominations promoted by the postal station have greatly improved the efficiency of the postal station. The postal service can not only send letters, but also send goods. and other consumption.
Stamps are universal and unlimited throughout the country. Although they are only used at postal stations, this thing is simply cross-generational. It is more effective than bank notes and bank notes. After all, there is no bank that can do it all over the country. The scale of more than three thousand.
(end of this chapter)