Chapter 28 Section 5 The first postman uprising in history

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, those who served in various posts were generally called "posts", "posts", or "posts" or "posts".Judging from their names, their status is relatively low.As mentioned above, the life of the "water husband" in one of the water stations is quite difficult, "the more hard work, the less happy the day".The postmen on land were also suffering.Under the scorching sun, in the cold winter, and in the downpour, without exception, they have to carry paper bags and rush on the post road.There is a mural in Dunhuang titled "Lady of the Song Dynasty Traveling", which depicts the image of a postman carrying a cloth bag at that time.Their daily tasks are very heavy. In addition to running and delivering documents on the way, they also have to take care of sweeping post courts and other things.

What is even more unbearable is that the post office communication system was very strict at that time.In the laws of the Tang Dynasty, the penalties for various mistakes in the postal delivery process were stipulated in detail.Any mistakes will be severely punished.The Tang Dynasty stipulated that the postmaster should bear several responsibilities. First, he must report the death, loss and fertility of the posthorse every year, and report the expenditure of the posthorse.If there is any death or damage to the post horse, the post chief is responsible for compensation; if the post station staff and horses are deducted privately, it will be "one hundred rods".The punishment for Yi Ding is more severe.The Tang Dynasty stipulated that when a postman arrives at a post, he must change his horse to make another move. If he does not change his horse, he will have eighty sticks.The law of the Tang Dynasty also stipulates that anyone who delays his trip on the way to the post and does not send him will be punished with one hundred rods; if the document is late, the rod will be eighty one day, and doubled on two days, and so on, the most serious punishment will be two years of imprisonment.If the delay is an urgent military document, the crime will be added to the third class.If the battle was lost due to the delay of the letter, the sentence was to be hanged.Tang law also has heavy penalties for lost or misplaced documents. "Tang Guoshi Bu" once recorded that an official named Yuanwailang was responsible for issuing official documents. He handled the documents of a prisoner dispatched from Hebei to Lingnan. He should have issued documents to Hebei and Lingnan. , Hebei has not issued.After the incident, Yuanwailang was dismissed from office.Leaking secrets should be punished more severely. Tang law stipulates that those who leak important secrets will be punished by hanging, and sixty to eighty sticks of letters will be demolished privately.

Most of the postmen are ordinary people who are forced to do hard labor, and some are prisoners of various crimes.These people were already oppressed by the feudal system, and they were sent to remote areas as post households.After the mid-Tang Dynasty, the post post system began to be chaotic, and some corrupt officials used the post post to arbitrarily deduct the rations of post posts, making their lives more difficult.During Tang Wuzong's time, the first Yiding uprising in the history of our country finally broke out in the Suzhou (where the government is located in Jiuquan, Gansu) area.The leaders of this uprising were Si (〔si〕〕Guozhong) and Zhang Zhong, both of whom were desperate prisoners. They fought from Suzhou to Shazhou, and received support from various station households along the way. The government either received no information or received False information, panic and bewilderment, but the rebel army "show off their military power". Because usually they are fast horses, "running thousands of miles, and arriving in three nights". The loss of troops and generals of the Tang government greatly shocked the ruler.