Chapter 17 Section 1 The first "Post Post Order" in history

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, warlords fought in chaos, and the Central Plains was in great chaos. It was difficult for ordinary people to maintain their daily lives, let alone normal communication post activities.The historical records record the situation at this time: "The roads are congested, and fate cannot pass." The so-called "fate" refers to the written orders of the emperor and the government. Because of the war, these written orders could not be issued smoothly. "Three Kingdoms Chen Tai Biography" said that due to the war at that time, "something happened on one side", that is, "the false voice disturbed the world".Therefore, postal delivery is very difficult, and local governments seldom send letters to the central government, and the "post book" delivery does not exceed 600 miles at most.It was not until the politician Cao Cao unified the north that this situation gradually changed.

Cao Cao and his successors strengthened the management of post offices.After Cao Pi established the Wei Dynasty, he built Chang'an, Luoyang, Xuchang, Ye, and Qiao into five major military towns, which were called "Five Capitals".A communication network extending in all directions has been established around these five capitals.At that time, the vast majority of Cao Wei's correspondence was military documents, which were mainly delivered by fast horses and less by foot mail.This was mainly because the social order was not very stable at that time, and it was very unsafe to deliver mail on foot.Even if a small amount of foot mail is delivered, there is no need for relay transmission, but to find some people who are good at running fast, and make a special trip to deliver the mail.These people were called "Jianbu", and later called "Quick Foot" or "Quick Walker".They often run the full course without changing players halfway.Some of Cao Wei's special messengers are very high-ranking, and they can often sit with the minister.When the female poet Cai Wenji once pleaded with Cao Cao for her husband Dong Si, she encountered a scene where the post envoy sat with the minister. "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Biography of Dong Si's Wife" records the scene at that time: "Dong Si was the captain of Tuntian. The reason for the higher status may be related to social instability, and the messenger must be acted by someone close to him to be reliable.The general status of these prominent cronies is much higher than that of the officials who served as messengers in the past.

Cao Weishi’s greatest achievement in the history of postal stations was the formulation and implementation of the “Postpost Order”.This was formulated by ministers Chen Qun and others during Emperor Wei Wen (reigned 220-226 AD).The content includes the sound and light communication in the military formation, the transmission regulations of "sending envoys to the four directions", and the political prohibition of prohibiting communication with the five princes, etc.This is the first special post post law in the history of our country, which has a profound impact on later generations.It is a pity that the original text of this postal post method has been lost, but some of the content can be seen in some later compilations such as "Beginners" and "Taiping Yulan".For example, "Taiping Yulan" has several quotations from this decree about the acousto-optic communication used by Cao Cao in the march: "Wei Wu (that is, Cao Cao) military order: Listen to the sound of drums and flags in the morning. The front of the army is the front, and the rear of the army is the front." "Later", "Hearing the sound of thunder and drums, raise the white flag and crimson flag, all boats and boats will enter, and those who do not enter will be cut off" ("Taiping Yulan" Volume 340, 341).The sound of the drum is sound, and the white flag and crimson flag are color and light. This is the continuation of ancient sound and light communication.The book also mentions the emergency text "plugging feathers", that is, inserting feathers, which is quite similar to the later chicken feather letters.

From the above materials, it can be seen that the communication facilities of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period were relatively developed. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the post post management system of the Han Dynasty was inherited, and the organization in charge of the post post was owned by Facao.During the Jin Dynasty, the officials of Facao also used the post office to announce new laws. "Book of Jin Criminal Law Records" records that Zhang Hua, the official in charge of law and Cao in the Western Jin Dynasty, once copied the death penalty items of the new law and posted them on post kiosks in various places to show the common people.

During the Three Kingdoms period, the communication between China and foreign countries developed greatly. Wu in the south and Wei in the north both communicated with Rome in the west.At that time, Chinese history books called Rome "Great Qin".It is said that when Sun Quan ruled Soochow, Qin Lun, a native of Great Qin, came to the capital of Sun Wu and was warmly received.Cao Wei also had land contacts with Daqin. "Wei Lue" records that the post post system of the Great Qin Dynasty is very similar to that of China: "The flags and drums, the white-covered carts, and the post post kiosks are set up like in China... The people belong to each other, one pavilion for ten miles, and one for thirty miles."Since this is recorded in the history books, it can be inferred that there must have been postal exchanges between Cao Wei and Da Qin at that time.

After the Western Jin Dynasty unified the north and the south, it took advantage of the foundation of the original post post in Cao Wei and made great progress.We can see the scale of post post development at that time from the frequent correspondence between literati in the Jin Dynasty.Brothers Lu Ji and Lu Yun, famous writers in the Western Jin Dynasty, exchanged letters frequently on weekdays. There are 35 letters written by Lu Yun to his elder brother Lu Ji in the "Quan Jin Wen".In the letters, they learn from each other, talk about warmth and comfort, and encourage each other.Lu Yun also had frequent correspondence with his good friends Yang Yanming and Dai Jifu.Judging from the words in his letters to Dai and Yang that "diseases are far away, and people's trust is scarce", "I don't know about books, but I take comfort in books, time flies, and half a year's travel" and other words, the correspondence between people The distance between the residences is far away, which shows that the post office reached a very far place at that time.

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Sixteen Kingdoms period, there was a long period of war in the north, and the post office was affected.But judging from some historical records, the military post was still going on at that time.Liu Kun, a general of the Jin Dynasty who was as famous as Zu Ti, wrote a letter to the Jin prince and the prime minister during the Northern Expedition, reporting to the government the difficulties of going north to fight.These two letters are preserved in "Beitang Shuchao" and "Taiping Yulan".The fact that these two letters survived shows that Liu Kun's letter had successfully reached the capital of Jin at that time, passing through Shangdang in Shanxi and Zhengding in Hebei, the battlefields of Liu Kun's Northern Expedition, a distance of thousands of miles.