Related experts: The research is of great value (Figure)
Expert: It is of great reference value for studying the official document post system in Ming Dynasty.
This official seal of the Ming Dynasty was collected by me in the early 1990s. It has been identified from the aspects of paper, ink color, seal, signature and traces handed down from generation to generation, and it is a very rare original. Later, it was unanimously affirmed by many papermaking experts as a genuine product of the Ming Dynasty, which is rare in the world. After Chutian Metropolis Daily reported this news for the first time on 20 14, nearly 100 news media such as China Cultural Relics Network and Hongkong Phoenix Network all forwarded this news. This official letter was sent from "Xijing" to "Ministry of War's Department of Driving History" during Qin Long's reign in the Ming Dynasty. The envelope is 35.5cm long and18.5cm wide. On the front, there are eight characters of "Imperial General Town Governor's House Seal", and on the back, it is clearly written that the date of posting the letter is "August 3rd, the second year of Qin Long", which was issued by Xijing and sent to the Ministry of War.
In addition, there are warning words and red seals on the envelope, such as "urgent documents are attached to the postal pond along the way, and the horse must travel 300 miles day and night." Anyone who dares to scratch and damage a military aircraft will be punished by military law "(pictured).
The place where the letters are sent is the "Central Post Office", a subordinate institution of the Ministry of War, which is responsible for the affairs of horse administration and postal delivery throughout the country. After the letters are sent there, they are sorted and sent to the destination. At the same time, the delivery place is Xi 'an.
This official seal fully embodies the post system of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty on 1368, proclaimed himself emperor on the 22nd, and ordered the rectification and restoration of the national post office. The following year, he issued another imperial decree, changing all the "post stations" in the Yuan Dynasty to "post stations" and changing the names of more than 230 indecent post stations in China to be more elegant. At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang also vigorously engaged in the construction of postal facilities in border areas.
At the same time, it is stipulated that "non-military affairs are not allowed to give jobs"
In view of the chaotic lessons of the post office in the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang restricted some privileged people with strict laws from the beginning. He clearly stipulated that "no postal service is allowed unless it is a military matter" ("King Zhao Zhang"), that is, no postal service is allowed unless it is a national or military matter. In the 26th year of Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, namely 1393, the Regulations on the Merger of Post Stations was promulgated, which stipulated that additional conditions should be added *** 12, and those who met the requirements for using the post-horse post boat were not allowed to "take the post-horse post boat without authorization", otherwise hell to pay would be offended.
The Ming Dynasty ritual "Minghui Hall" records: "From the capital to the four directions, there is a post, in Beijing, with the pavilion, and outside, the water horse post and the delivery office." This record shows that "Huitong Pavilion" in Ming Dynasty was the general hub of the national post station in Beijing at that time.
Huitong library has two functions: one is to deliver letters as a post office; At the same time, it also plays the role of a state-level senior guest house, which can receive foreign envoys, business trips from Wang Fu and senior officials. Sometimes, the government will hold state banquets here to entertain tributes from neighboring countries such as Japan, North Korea and Vietnam. Zhang was a famous reformer in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. His reforms in taxation and official management had a great influence on the later feudal social history of China. He also carried out a series of reforms on the later biography.
Since Zheng De and Jiajing in Ming Dynasty, politics has become increasingly corrupt, and the postal system has also produced many drawbacks. The highest ruling class used the postal service and squandered it. During the period of Zheng De, there were many incidents in which eunuchs went to various post stations to extort postal money and bind postal officials. Liu Yun, the eunuch of Li Si, took advantage of being ordered to visit the living Buddha in Tibet and squandered it on the water hills along the way. In Chengdu Post, Daily Mail provides grain 100 stone and vegetable silver 100. It costs 132000 silver to buy Tibetan materials here. Zheng De's trip to Jiangnan costs more. He ordered the stations along the way to prepare beautiful women in case the emperor came to have fun at any time. This time, the waterway station alone hired hundreds of thousands of servants, which seriously harassed people's lives and hindered normal agricultural production. The post office can't bear such a heavy burden. Many postal officials have fled outside, and the post office is wasted.
It is precisely because thousands of "related households" in Qian Qian ride horses for free that the local people are under great pressure and the central financial burden is huge (the post attendants are prepared by the state and institutions). During the Chongzhen period, there were frequent wars at home and abroad (the invasion of the late Jin Dynasty (Qing Dynasty) and frequent peasant uprisings), and the drought and crop failure in the Central Plains and Northwest China caused a huge national fiscal deficit. In order to save money, Emperor Chongzhen accepted the minister's suggestion and cancelled unnecessary post stations. Abolished more than 200 post stations (accounting for one third of the total), reducing funds by 802,000. However, tens of thousands of post office workers were fired (without unemployment benefits), including a thin young man named Li Zicheng. This is a big game. In a disaster year, a large number of able-bodied men will be forced to be laid off instead of paying for work. What can others do except rob the uprising?
In A.D. 1644, Li Zicheng, a young man laid off from a post station, rose up and led an uprising, which led to the founding of the country. In March, he captured Beijing and hanged himself in Chongzhen. As a national rule, the Ming Dynasty ended.
? Xiangwan Ancient Road and Xiangyang Guyi Town. A major feature of ancient Xiangyang traffic is that it goes hand in hand with land and uses similar river valleys to connect a road. The ancient post is located in Tangbaihe area, a tributary of Hanshui River. Except for the plain in the east, all the other three sides are hillsides, and the water flows in a "Y" shape, where the land is fertile. It is also found from archaeology that from the Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, the ancient post was economically developed and the traffic was busy.
The ancient post is the only way from Xiangyang to Xinye County, Henan Province. The post station set up here in the early Ming Dynasty was one of the three water horse post stations in Xiangyang at that time. In the early Qing dynasty, the establishment of the Ming dynasty was followed, and the inspection department was set up here. The large-scale post station is the north gate of Xiangyang, and its economy, transportation and strategic position are important. According to the Book of History Yugong, it is recorded that "floating on the river, drowning in water, diving in water, Han transcends Tao, and as for Yu. According to legend, during the Xia and Shang Dynasties, Jingzhou paid land tax to the royal family, which entered the summer water from the Yangtze River, turned to the Dongjing River, then entered the Hanshui River from Qianjiang River, passed the Baihe River to the south foot of Funiu Mountain, and then was transported to the Imperial Capital by land. During the Han, Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, a large area in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River was connected with the Central Plains through the Hanshui River and with Guanzhong through the Danjiang River. The grain in the south of the Yangtze River is also transported from Hanshui to the north, passing through Nanyang, and then transported to Kyoto by land. The road from Xiangyang and Jingmen to Jingzhou, a major town in the south, is called Xialu, Zhoudao, Nanbei Avenue and Nanyou Road. For a long time, this ancient road was one of the most important official roads in China and the main land passage between the north and the south. Later, I went north to Beijing and south to Yunguichuan. The section from Nanyang to Xiangyang, commonly known as the Vientiane Ancient Road, is a section of Xialu Road in Nantong, Jingxiang and Yungui. " "A Journey to Land and Water in the World" contains: the road from Beijing to Guizhou and Yunnan provinces passes through Nanyang Prefecture, enters Ye County from Xiangcheng County, travels 60 miles to Baoan Post, then travels 60 miles to Yuzhou, and then turns to Tangxian County to enter Jianghan and Huguang. Or land via Wang Bo Post, 60 miles to Nanyang House, 60 miles to Linshui Post, 70 miles to Xinye County, and then to Xiangyang House. Closely connected with the ancient road is the post station. Post stations played an important role in the ancient transportation in China. Under the primitive means of communication, the post station undertakes all kinds of political, economic, cultural and military information transmission tasks. There is Guyi Town between Xinye and Xiangyang, and the ancient post station is there.
? Vientiane ancient road connects Sanya ancient road north of Nanyang to Luoyang. South of Xiangyang is Jingxiang Road, which leads to Wuhan and Yunnan-Guizhou. Xiangyang City, the section from Jingmen City to Jingzhou City, is also called Jingxiang Road, Xiangsha Road, Jingxiang Road, Jingmen Road and Jingzhou Road. Folk commonly known as Jingxiang ancient road. Jingxiang Ancient Road connects Xiangyang in northwest Hubei, Jingmen in central Hubei and Jingzhou in south Hubei, connects the Yangtze River and Han River, and connects Jianghan Plain and Nanxiang Basin in series. It is an extremely important land corridor between the north and the south in ancient times, and its importance is second only to the Oriental Avenue and the later Silk Road.
(National Post Road Map)
September 8, 20 18, Scholar's Academy in Xiangyang.