Chapter 49 Section 3 "Assembly Hall" and "Delivery Office" System

The Ming Dynasty's legal code "Ming Hui Dian" records: "Since the capital has set up post offices in all directions, it is called the Hui Tong Hall in Beijing, and the Water Horse Post and Delivery Office outside." This record shows that the Ming Dynasty's "Hui Tong Pavilion", which was the general hub of the national post station located in the capital Beijing at that time. The Huitong Hall has two functions, one is to deliver letters as a post office, and the other is to serve as a state-level high-level guest house, where foreign envoys, palace officials and senior officials can be accommodated.Sometimes the government holds a state banquet here to entertain tribute personnel from neighboring countries such as Japan, North Korea, and Vietnam.

There are quotas for horses and grooms in the same hall. Generally, there are 400 housekeepers, 171 horses, and 173 donkeys.Sometimes there are not enough personnel, and service personnel are temporarily transferred from the private sector.For example, during the reign of Emperor Zhengtong of the Ming Dynasty, 344 monks and laymen came to Beijing from Tibet.The Beijing Association was short of manpower, so it hired some citizens from outside. Some of the local post offices in the Ming Dynasty were responsible for receiving Chinese and foreign guests.There is an article "Reconstruction of Wuhu County Guanyi Ji" records that: Wuhu is the place where overseas southeast countries must go to Beijing.Guest envoys from various countries in the southeast must first stay temporarily in Wuhu Post before going north with "Yi Yi Guan Zhou".Suzhou in Jiangsu is also a major transportation city in the southeast.The Gusu post station in the Ming Dynasty was very particular, with pavilions, halls, buildings, platforms, etc., and there are 20 large-character couplets on the stone pillars at the gate: "When guests come to cook tea, the guest has the right to be the host, and the moon post pavilion with lanterns is hung to reflect the Xujiang River."This pair of couplets reflects the service situation of the post station in the Ming Dynasty in my country.

Along the Beibei Post Road in the Ming Dynasty, there were also many gorgeous buildings, some of which were of high standard and very artistic, and it was simply a high-end garden scenic spot.Yongnian County, Hebei Province was called Guangping Mansion in the Ming Dynasty. During the Wanli Period, the local magistrate built a "Lotus Pond Resort" building in the east of the city in order to receive guests from all over the country. According to records, there are five main halls and a side room There are three rooms, one side of the pool, pontoon bridges, painting pavilions, and pavilions. There are many places with elegant names, such as "Guanlianfang", "Deyuetai", "Lotus Pavilion", "Tiankai Painting" and so on ("Guangzhou") Ping Fu Zhi").However, generally speaking, especially in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, most of the northern posthouses were relatively simple. "Wan Shu Miscellaneous Notes" records that at that time, the post house in Wanping County next to the Lugou Bridge in the southwest of Beijing was dilapidated.Due to years of disrepair, walls and houses collapsed, there was nowhere to live in the shop and soldiers, so they had to rent a house next to it for a temporary stay.When a postal letter arrives, it takes a long time to greet it before it can be sent out.

Water horse post and delivery station both refer to post stations and transportation agencies in various places.The water horse post is the same as the "post" and "zhanchi" in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.As the name suggests, there are two types of water horse stations: water stations and horse stations, one for river stations and the other for delivery of documents on land.In the Ming Dynasty, a station was generally set up at 60 or 80 li, and each station had 30 or 80 horses, while small stations had as few as 5 to 10 horses.The water station prepares boats.The Ming Dynasty was basically the same as the Yuan Dynasty, "regular things are delivered, and important things are handed over to the post", that is, ordinary documents are handed over to the walking delivery shop, and important and urgent documents are handed over to the horse post.The delivery station is a transportation organization specialized in the delivery of military supplies and tribute items in the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the general delivery and post offices.This kind of organization is also divided into land transportation and water transportation.It was first established in the Hongwu period of the early Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1398).The establishment of the delivery office was a great progress in the transportation of the Ming Dynasty, which made the transportation of goods have a special organization.For all the officials responsible for the delivery, there will be an ambassador, a deputy envoy, and a centurion.The transportation task was carried out by the army soldiers, and the waterway was carried out by the ship owners from all over the country.This kind of delivery transportation basically adopts the method of fixed point, fixed line and relay.This full-time delivery business well organizes land transportation, sea and river transportation.It is a pity that the delivery station system in the Ming Dynasty could not be maintained. In the Hongzhi period, there were 324 nationwide, but in the Wanli period, it was reduced to more than 100, and gradually disappeared.A system of "horse and fast boats" was also implemented in the water transportation of the Ming Dynasty.It was a vessel for quickly transporting tribute from the water.When this kind of boat is transported on the river, it "supports the husband and the pawn, making noise day and night. The north-south travels, the road is like weaving" ("Ming Jing Shiwen"), it is very lively.