The Anton Protectorate City is actually not far from the city of Beijing. The post office of the Imperial Court has set up ten post stations along the way to send messages back and forth. It usually takes three days, and the fastest express delivery of 800 miles only takes one day and night.
Today's postal supervision has covered the major states and counties in the north and south of the Ming Dynasty, and is spreading to the southwest, northwest, and remote provinces such as Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan.
Compared with the traditional post stations that were abolished by Chongzhen, the new post office is far from being comparable to the post stations in terms of functions and transmission speed.
The current postal administration is headquartered in Beijing and South, with one post in each province and countless transfer stations.
The entire communication network is divided into main lines and branch lines. The busiest main line is undoubtedly Beijing to Nanjing. For the time being, it only delivers letters and official documents for the official and royal families. The delivery methods are divided into ordinary, 600-mile express, and 800-mile express.
Three types of expedited.
The main line is mainly the communication between the northern and southern capitals and the provincial governments. Basically, there is a transfer station every fifty miles. A transfer station is basically stationed by a couple and equipped with three fast horses.
For ordinary letters and official documents, after receiving them at each transfer station on the main line, you only need to ensure that they are delivered to the next transfer station within two hours. If it is late, you can wait until dawn the next day to deliver them.
It is true that the express delivery within 600 miles must be delivered within one and a half hours, even if it is dark, and the express delivery within 800 miles must be delivered within one hour.
The branch line is not so urgent. It is mainly used for communication in various states and counties in the province. Basically, it can be a transfer station hundreds of miles away. However, there are also clear time regulations. Official documents from each county must be delivered to the state capital within three days.
The transfer station in each state capital must be delivered to the branch of the province within five days. This is just an ordinary official document. If it is an urgent official document, there must be no delay and it must be delivered immediately.
Of course, under normal circumstances, there will be no such urgent documents.
As for the reception of passengers and officials, it is run by the couple in the transfer station themselves.
Because each transfer station is a public-private partnership, the transfer station nominally belongs to the royal family, and the couples at the station are also nominally members of the royal family.
But there is no salary. Instead, he has to pay a sum of money and related business taxes every year, and he also has to spend his own money to buy three horses.
Even so, the number of business travelers each transfer station receives every year can make the contracting couple a lot of money. Especially for the transfer stations on the main lines, each couple has to hire a large number of manpower.
In order to avoid competition from other merchants, apart from the transfer station, there are basically no other inns on the main line.
Because inns without business licenses along the official road will be directly sealed, except for transfer stations, the Ministry of Commerce will not issue business licenses to other businesses.
This resulted in business travelers along the way either going to nearby towns or settling in these transit stations. In order to ensure the safety of the transit stations, the imperial court also allowed contractors to equip their men with weapons.
Because of this contracting model, the operating costs of postal inspections are very low and they can even make money.
Of course, it is mainly the transfer stations on the main line that make money. The royal family can charge a lot of contracting fees every year. The amount of the contracting fees is charged according to the different main lines. For example, there are more than 50 transfer stations on the main line from Nanjing to Beijing. Every year
The contracting fee is as high as more than 500 taels, and the contractors of official documents are also obliged to deliver them. Only urgent documents will be compensated with a sum of money.
Even so, the transfer stations on various main lines have now become a hot commodity, and have been robbed to pieces by countless people, but they are basically acquired by retired disabled soldiers.
The transfer stations on the branch lines are not so popular, and the royal family not only does not charge annual contracting fees, but also compensates a sum of money for every first official document delivered. Of course, the war horses also have to be purchased by themselves.
Even for some transfer stations in remote areas, the royal family has to subsidize them every year, otherwise no one will contract them at all.
Generally speaking, the Postal Supervision Bureau is basically able to balance its income and expenditure.
For those transfer stations that are unable to deliver official documents on time, or whose war horses are not up to standard, the royal family will impose corresponding penalties.
For example, if you delay an ordinary official document for the first time, you will be fined, and the second time you will be directly disqualified from contracting.
For an expedited service of 600 miles, the contractor will be directly disqualified if delayed. For an expedited service of 800 miles, not only will the qualification be directly disqualified, but the contractor will also be held accountable.
Therefore, contractors on various main lines will basically send their crews to the next transfer station on fast horses after receiving official documents, whether it is urgent or ordinary, even at night, not because they are afraid of delays, but because they are afraid of people.
The official documents were lost due to the many eyes.
There is a main line from the Anton Protectorate to Beijing. Both Huang Degong and Hou Xun chose the six hundred miles express route. There was no delay at the ten transfer stations. Late that night, their memorials were sent to the Postal Supervision Headquarters.
Then he was rushed to the ceremonial supervisor in the palace.
Compared with the past, when the palace gate was closed at night, it was difficult for information to enter and leave the palace, but now there is no such restriction.
As long as an urgent document is delivered to the palace gate, the guard guard must hoist it up in a hanging basket and then immediately send it to the Supervisor of Ceremonies, who also has female officials on duty at night.
The current Director of Ceremonies can be said to have completely become the emperor's secretariat, and its location has also been moved to the south wing of the Qianqing Palace.
Nowadays, there is no eunuch in the entire Forbidden City. Except for palace maids, female officers, and female soldiers, even the imperial doctor who was on duty before was replaced by a girl from the private sector.
It can be said that in the entire Forbidden City, Zhu Cihong was the only man, and even his two younger brothers were driven to live in the imperial city. The relative improvement of the environment also made Emperor Xiao Zhu no longer as suspicious as before. Even at night, he could move around at will, except
It is strictly forbidden to open the gates of the palace walls of the Forbidden City at night, but the gates of other palaces and courtyards are not so strict.
In addition, at night, the entire Forbidden City is brightly lit, causing many palace maids who cannot sleep at night to secretly go to the Imperial Garden to enjoy the cool air.
Of course, the premise is that you don't get caught by the female soldiers patrolling on guard, otherwise you may be fined at the least, put in solitary confinement or slapped with a board at the worst.
At this moment, the female officer on duty at the Supervisor of Ceremonies received two urgent documents costing six hundred miles. After opening them and checking them, she didn't know whether she should report them to His Majesty immediately.
Because the 800-mile express report must be delivered immediately, while the 600-mile express report is determined by the female officer herself.
However, this female official's analytical skills were obviously lacking. She was worried that she would make a fuss, wake up His Majesty and make His Majesty unhappy, but she was also worried that if she reported it tomorrow, it would delay the important affairs of the court.
So I read the two memorials carefully twice, gritted my teeth and carried the memorials to the main palace of Qianqing Palace. As a result, I was stopped by a group of female soldiers as soon as I arrived at the gate.
"stop!"
"This urgent document must be submitted to His Majesty immediately."
The female officer did not panic. She first took out her badge and then handed over the official document.
Although the leading female general recognized her, she still took the badge and pretended to read it. Then she took the official document and found that there were only two urgent documents of 600 miles. She couldn't help but ask: "Are you sure you want to apply now?"
To His Majesty?"
His Majesty and Manager Liu have been having a fuss tonight. The noise was so loud that it could be heard outside just now. The fight is probably getting heated right now, so I really don’t want to report it now.
If she had this kind of opportunity in the past, she would naturally be eager to do so, but now if she is carried to the dragon bed by his enthusiastic Majesty in a daze, it will be over.
"Yes, sure." The hesitation on the female officer's face flashed away, and then she nodded firmly.
If he made a fuss, he would be scolded by His Majesty at most, but if he delayed something important, it wouldn't be a scolding that would solve the problem. She could still tell the difference between what was minor and what was serious.
"Wait, then."
The female general returned the official document to her, glared at her fiercely, then said nothing and pushed the door open.