Chapter 18 Section 2 Contributions of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang to the Post Office in Sichuan

At the same time that Cao Wei established the regime in the north, Liu Bei established the Shuhan regime in Sichuan.At that time, the transportation in Sichuan was relatively backward, and there were mostly mountain roads.Liu Bei and Prime Minister Zhuge Liang made important contributions to the development of post offices in Sichuan. After Liu Bei built the Han Dynasty, in order to deal with Cao Wei in the north, he established a military base for the Northern Expedition in the Hanzhong area.In order to open up the main roads for military transportation, four main roads were opened between Sichuan and Hanzhong, namely the famous Ziwu Road, Tangluo Road, Baoxie Road and Jinniu Road.The State of Shu also set up Baishuiguan, an important military pass in Hanzhong.The mountains around Baishuiguan are full of beacon towers.A series of pavilions and barriers were set up 400 miles from Baishuiguan to the capital Chengdu to ensure the normal operation of the post post.In the Jingzhou area on the border with Soochow, general Guan Yu also set up a military communication "rebuke" along the river, and the beacon towers reached from the rear to the front line of Xiangfan.

There were correspondences between Shu and Wei in the north and Wu in the east.According to historical records: after Xu Jing, a famous scholar, served as the Taifu in the Kingdom of Shu, he and his good friends in the north, Hua Xin and Wang Lang, ministers of the Kingdom of Wei, kept exchanging letters, "Admonishing the Old Friends". "Three Kingdoms" quoted "Wei Lue" as a letter written by Wang Lang to Xu Jing, saying that "there were books in the previous summer but they were not reached, and now there are books, but I sent them to ask."Other ministers of Wei State and some ministers of Shu State also often communicated with each other.Chen Qun, the official of the State of Wei, sent a letter to Zhuge Liang to inquire about Liu Ba, the official of the State of Shu.There are more friendly correspondence between Shu and Wu.The history books say: "East and West, post envoys communicate, crowns and covers face each other, and Shenmeng is good at the beginning of the alliance." Zhuge Liang has close correspondence with his brother Zhuge Jin and general Lu Xun.

When Zhuge Liang ruled Shu, he also made great achievements in the post office in the frontier area. Located in Yuexi [xixi] in Xichang area of ​​Sichuan today, when Zhang Yi [yi doubt] served as the prefect, he persuaded the local minority leaders to jointly repair the Qianli The old road restores the ancient pavilions and posthouses that have been abandoned for many years, and restores the communication between Shu and the postposts in this area. The post post in Shu State is characterized by almost no vehicle transmission, and most of the postal delivery is carried by post horses. The people who are engaged in this work are called "post men".This is probably because Shu is located in the southwest, most of which are remote mountainous areas with uneven roads.

Zhuge Liang was a famous military strategist during the Three Kingdoms period. There are many vivid stories about his military talents. He also made many achievements and inventions in military communications.For example, in the "Wuhou Art of War" passed down today, many examples of Zhuge Liang's use of sound and light for military communication are recorded.Among his "seven prohibitions on running the army", there is the so-called "do not pass orders, pass orders without trial, so as to confuse the soldiers; the golden drums are not heard, and the banners are not shone", which is called "slow army"; The blade is not good, which is called "deception of the army"; the so-called "hearing the drum is not good, the sound of the gold is endless, the flag is not down, the flag cannot be lifted, the command is not followed, and the front is behind", which is called "backing the army" and so on. , are strictly prohibited.This is the application of sound and light communication in the march.He also said: "Within ten miles or several miles away, there are five people in the army, holding a white banner, climbing high and extroverted, seeing clearly the hidden places..." Shout out, the master will send a galloping horse to inspect it." This is an organic combination of sound and light communication and post post communication.

In the "Bing Yao" left by Zhuge Liang, it also records the five-color flag method of sound and light communication used by him to govern the army before the battle.This is especially applicable during the march: first, "make the waiter ride forward, holding the five-color flag: when you see ditches and pits to reveal yellow, roads and roads to reveal white, water and streams to reveal black, forests and bushes to reveal green, and wild fire to reveal red." Stand up to hear about each other."It means that the first marching army holds a five-color flag, and uses the flag color to mark the progress of the army behind.If there are ditches, raise a yellow flag, if there is a smooth avenue, raise a white flag, if there is a water stream, raise a black flag, if there is a forest blocking the road, raise a green flag, and if there is a wildfire, raise a red flag.If the army behind has seen the color of the flag clearly, they will hear each other with their flags and drums.The above examples all show that Zhuge Liang attached great importance to the effect of communication in this aspect in military command.