The most famous express business in the history of express delivery in China should be that the emperor sent lychees to Yang Guifei, and the poem left by the poet Du Mu said, "There are piles of embroidery in the north of Chang 'an, and thousands of doors open at the top of the mountain. Riding the world of mortals and laughing, no one knew it was litchi. "
What is the earliest express delivery?
In ancient times, express delivery was a luxury business, which was mainly used by the state to transmit government decrees and military information, and its folk use was far less extensive than that of modern times. And because there is no other way to spread information, even a sentence without any weight must be delivered by manpower. According to research, there was a similar express delivery as early as Shang Dynasty? The pass system was confirmed in Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Yin Ruins. The distance between horses is to set up a post station every day. This is called "?" .
And "Zhou Li? It is clearly recorded in Qiu Guan that an official in charge of postal services and logistics was appointed as a "porter" in the Zhou Dynasty, and the requirement for his duties was that "although the road is difficult, the time will come". At that time, the most important way was "step by step delivery", that is, manual delivery. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Huangong set up a "Kuai" as a postal delivery and express delivery agency every 30 miles on the road of Qi State.
"Jianbu" is one of the most commonly used names of ancient couriers. In the Zhou dynasty, the courier was called "rustic", which was just the opposite of the "gas transmission" of mail delivery. It was called barefoot in Qin Dynasty, postman and post foot in Han Dynasty, farewell husband in Song Dynasty and post husband in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Official couriers all hold tokens such as brand symbols, that is, customs clearance certificates, which greatly reduces the time for customs clearance procedures.
What are the delivery methods of express delivery?
In ancient times, manpower was worthless, and a large number of "couriers" carried letters by foot. At this time, they have extremely high requirements for personal strength and speed. According to Sui Shu, at the end of Chen Dynasty and the beginning of Sui Dynasty, there was a wheat iron staff that traveled 500 miles a day and rode horses on foot. It once sent Beijing-China letters to Xuzhou at night and "returned at night". At this level, it is not a problem to win several gold medals in the Olympic Games. Of course, when the cities behind are developed, the business of short-distance transportation comes into being. The riverside scene in Tomb-Sweeping Day in the Song Dynasty can clearly show that hotel staff are delivering takeout to other people's homes. Bianjing's catering industry is extremely developed. "Market brokers' homes often only buy food and drinks from market stores, and don't care about the food at home."
In addition, with the development of animal husbandry, horses have become an important communication tool besides fighting. The Han dynasty inherited the practice of the Qin dynasty, "five miles and one post, ten miles and one pavilion". At that time, there was a special bus at the post office, which was called "passing car", express delivery by car was called "Chuan" and express delivery by horse was called "Yi". The post station is only used for raising horses and dry food, not for people to rest. Usually, it's always Matthew. The courier arrived at the post office, had a meal and a drink, and left immediately. Sometimes they don't even have time to wash their faces, let alone go to sleep.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, due to the excavation of the Grand Canal, waterway express delivery became more prominent. Express delivery of aquatic products and fruits became popular in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, Shandong presented crabs to the capital Chang 'an. In order to ensure that they are alive, they are sealed with felt when presented every year. They took a boat first, and were finally tied to a post horse and sent to Beijing by express delivery. During the Xuanzong period of the Tang Dynasty, there were about 1639 post stations in China, including 260 water posts, 297 land posts 1297 land posts and 86 land posts. The poet Cen Can wrote what he saw with his own eyes: "After a post, the post rides like a star stream; Pingming sent Xianyang, Twilight, Longshantou? "
What is the way of express packaging?
Since ancient express delivery was mostly a kind of military affairs, if the express delivery became slow delivery, or the mail was sent wrongly or lost, it would be severely punished. The courier endured the scorching sun, even if it was freezing or raining cats and dogs, he had to carry an envelope and run on the road.
And document packaging is more not to protect the goods from damage, but to keep secret! In order to prevent important articles from being packaged, the court stipulated that different kinds of articles should be packaged in different ways.
In the Han Dynasty, packaging and packaging technology were quite professional. According to the size and shape of the goods, the courier puts the goods into letters, baskets and bags respectively. Among them, the letter is a small wooden box, which is usually used to hold bamboo slips. The board of the letter was covered with three lines and a square hole was cut. After the rope is tied, the square hole needs to be sealed with mud. The reed is a wooden box and the bag is a bag, both of which are usually used to hold larger items. There are three layers inside and outside, with seals, stamps, mud and seals.
As for the lychee mentioned above, you need to use more elaborate methods. First, cut off half of the bamboo tube, put litchi in the bamboo seam, then tie the bamboo tube tightly with iron wire, and coat the opening with yellow mud, and then transport it after it dries and solidifies. This is also the earliest cold chain packaging assembly line.
At the same time, the past dynasties have different degrees of punishment for accidents such as express leaks. In the Tang Dynasty, people who delivered express delivery late or didn't follow the postal route were also punished, and the heaviest punishment was the death penalty. Even the act of opening the mail without permission should be severely punished. "The Law of the Tang Dynasty" stipulates: "Private printing of official documents requires 60 clerks' staffs and 80 clerks' staffs. If the secret matters are dropped to the second class according to the leakage, that is, those who mistakenly see them will be dropped to the second class, and those who do not see them will not sit down. "