Chapter 8 Section 8 Private Correspondence and Private Biography in the Warring States Period

In the pre-Qin period, apart from official correspondence, there was no official private correspondence organization in my country, and ordinary people could only send and receive letters through acquaintances.There have been several poems about soldiers on the border hoping someone will send a message.There is a song called "Caiwei", and there are a few lines that sing: "Worry is fierce, hunger and thirst, I am still undecided, and the envoy returns to hire." , how can I find a handy person to send a letter of safety to my family?There is also a song titled "Bandit Wind", which has these two lines: "Who will return to the west? Huai's good voice." It means: who will return to the west?I want to ask him to send home a safe greeting.

During the Warring States period, ordinary people and ordinary officials did not have the possibility of direct communication. Only a few nobles who held great power at that time could hold the power of private mail and establish their own communication organization.At that time, a group of emerging landlords emerged, and they often had a large number of personnel to form a private communications intelligence network.The famous "Four Princes of the Warring States Period", that is, Lord Mengchang of Qi State, Lord Pingyuan of Zhao State, Lord Xinling of Wei State and Lord Chunshen of Chu State, all have their own intelligence and communication agencies. There is a plot in "Historical Records" that is recorded like this: Once, the official communication agency of Wei State received the beacon fire information from the border, saying that it was Zhao Guobing Chen Border, who wanted to attack Wei State.The king of Wei panicked and asked Mr. Xinling to discuss countermeasures.Lord Xinling was as stable as Mount Tai, and told King Wei that this was just King Zhao going out to hunt, not raising troops to attack Wei.Soon, the report from the front confirmed that Mr. Xinling's words were correct.King Wei wondered why Mr. Xinling could not predict the prophet, and Mr. Xinling explained that it was reported to him by the diners in his family.This example shows that Mr. Xinling has a highly efficient private communication and intelligence agency, which can quickly, accurately and timely inform him of the situation.

With the expansion of the power of the officials, there appeared a number of private posthouses built by the nobles in the Warring States Period.These posthouses can be used not only as their private post facilities, but also as a gathering place for a large number of "guests" who advise them.The four princes of the Warring States period all recruited many counselors.According to "Historical Records", there are as many as thousands of guests in the fourth son's guest house.The post houses set up by Monarch Mengchang of the State of Qi have different specifications of different grades. The highest class is called "Dai She", the middle one is called "Xing She", and the lower one is called "Chuan She".The famous clip player Feng Huan (Huan Huan) was not reused and was placed in a general biography house. Feng Huan felt that he was being treated poorly. He moved to Xingshe and Daishe.In order to repay his kindness, Feng Huan made an astonishing act of burning bonds for Mr. Mengchang, which greatly bought people's hearts.Lord Pingyuan of Zhao State also has great influence in Chuanshe of his own country. "Historical Records Biography of Lord Pingyuan" said that when the Qin army besieged Handan, the capital of Zhao, Lord Pingyuan was very anxious. Li Tong, the "Chuan Shezi" of Handan, came to Lord Pingyuan to ask for a fight. Later, Li Tong died in the battle. His father, who was the head of the house, was sealed For Lihou.The head of the post office is the officer who manages the post.

According to historical data, in addition to noble officials building post houses based on their power, in the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, there were also hotels opened by ordinary merchants. "Mandarin·Jinyu" says that Fu Yang, the Tai Tai of the State of Jin, went to visit the State of Wei, and lived in a "Ni Lu" opened by Ning Ying's family on the way.The master of the rebellious journey originally wanted to follow Chufu Yang to do some business, but later saw that this person was prone to big talk and insincere, so he changed his mind and left.Later, Chufu Yang really ended up being killed.In addition to the above-mentioned records, the historical materials of the Warring States Period also recorded that many celebrities once lived in the post post, the building, and the Nilu.For example, Zhang Yi, a famous political strategist, and Lin Xiangru, a famous minister of Zhao, both lived in Chuanshe and Nilv.This shows that due to the development of postal stations, small inns for receiving messengers and travelers on the roadside have gradually become popular.