"Article 8: Popularize postal stations." Zhao Kuo said.
Since the beginning of mankind, there have been various means of transmitting information, such as drumming and sound transmission, beacon towers, sending letters, etc.
Every dynasty is well aware of the importance of message transmission, especially when there is a border war or an invasion by a foreign enemy. Receiving the message one day earlier and one day later may have completely different results.
Therefore, even if a large amount of investment every year does not get a return, no dynasty in the past dynasties has abolished the postal system, but instead continued to invest money in it.
Generally speaking, those who deliver letters on foot are called postal stations, and those who deliver letters on horseback are called postal stations. They are collectively called postal stations.
Historically, the Qin and Han dynasties set up a post office five miles away and a post office thirty miles away. They arranged specialized personnel to deliver documents and ensure the delivery of local contacts so that the court could receive news and respond in time.
Zhao State also has postal stations, but they are mainly set up at the borders and major cities to deliver military intelligence. They are not popular in all regions, and they do not deliver family letters to ordinary people.
If the husband is away guarding the border and the wife misses her husband and wants to send him a letter or some clothes, she can only walk hundreds of miles to the place where her husband is guarding the border, or she may have someone from the same town visiting her and ask them to help her deliver it there.
In troubled times, the risks of such visits can be imagined.
Even if the wife goes through all kinds of hardships and finally reaches the place where her husband is guarding the border, the husband is likely to have passed away. Just like Meng Jiangnu looking for her husband Fan Xiliang, in the end she could only see the piles of corpses piled under the Great Wall.
Although the story was written about the Qin Dynasty, in fact it is the same in every country. Qiliang's wife "wept over her husband's body lying under the city. Ten days later, the city collapsed." It was not the Great Wall of Qin that was crying. .
"Each county, every county, and every township should build at least one postal station. The county-level postal station should have at least fifteen horses and five postmen. The county-level postal station should have at least six horses and two postmen. Townships. A first-class postal station has at least two horses and a postman."
Historically, a first-class postal station in the Tang Dynasty needed to be equipped with 60 horses and 20 postmen. Zhao State could not afford to be so big, so it could only be equipped with 15 horses and five postmen.
It's not that there aren't so many horses, it's that they're not necessary. These are enough for the official documents and letters of the State of Zhao to run.
Moreover, having too many horses will indeed increase the burden on the local government. If the horses are abandoned on the grassland, Zhao basically does not need to take care of them. They can only chase them with soybeans and other concentrates every once in a while to ensure that they do not lose weight, and there is also the problem of catching them. Complete wild horse.
But in the Central Plains, all the fodder must be supported by the State of Zhao, plus the cavalry horses, the expenses are a bit high.
So far, the plan to plant grass on the grassland is just a plan, not even grass seeds have been sown, and there is no trace of alfalfa suitable for pasture.
Zhao Kuo remembered that in history, Zhang Qian was on an envoy to the Western Regions and arrived in Dayuan. He saw that the horses were eating alfalfa. He later brought it to China. In the Han Dynasty, alfalfa began to be grown to feed horses.
But Dawan is too far away from Zhao State, and Zhao State's caravan traveling westward from the Juyan Ancient Road has not returned yet. A month after departure, someone sent someone to deliver a letter, but after that the letter was gone.
Now I don’t know whether they are alive or dead. The Hexi Corridor is already very dangerous in this era. The Juyan Ancient Road is surrounded by desert, which is even more dangerous than the Hexi Corridor. Zhao Kuo only hopes that they can return safely.
"In addition to military documents and official documents, all Zhao people can send letters through the postal station. To send letters, you need to purchase special envelopes, which cost five yuan each, and letter paper, which costs one yuan each. Soldiers who are serving and their relatives, There is an opportunity to send a letter for free once a year.”
In this era when most people are illiterate, writing letters is very luxurious, but if there is a chance, even if everyone relies on connections to find someone, they will find a way to write a letter to the wife who stays at home and the husband who is fighting outside. .
The envelopes and stationery are mainly used to recoup part of the cost. In addition to their own prices, Zhao Guo can also print advertisements from the Zhao Guo Chamber of Commerce on the envelopes and earn some advertising money.
In this way, Zhao State only needs to invest about half of the money every year to maintain the postal station.
As for making money in turn, it is impossible without a miracle happening. From the time the postal station was established, no court had ever made money from this thing for the next two thousand years.
The officials below did not have much reaction other than discussing how much money it would cost and whether Zhao Guo could support it.
So far, none of Zhao's reforms, except for the initial land survey, re-establishing agricultural taxes, building colleges, and popularizing education, have touched their interests. Instead, they have given them a lot of benefits.
The inventory of land and the re-establishment of agricultural taxes were finally implemented smoothly because the upper class nobles sided with Zhao Kuo. The big landowners don't care about this, and the remaining small landowners have no chance to resist if they want to.
As for the construction of a college, although Zhao Guo has been clamoring for so long, it is undeniable that until now, Zhao Guo has only built a Handan College...
There isn’t even a second academy!
As for the conferment of military honors, there are only benefits to everyone and no harm. Of all the people here, none of the official titles were passed down from their ancestors.
The State of Zhao has long since abolished the system of senior ministers and nobles. If you are lucky, it can be passed down to one or two generations. If you are unlucky, after someone dies, the State of Zhao will take back the title directly.
It is completely different from the Chu State where there are feudal lords who have been entrenched for hundreds of years, so the pressure of Zhao State to reform is much less than Wu Qi's reform in Chu State.
"Article 9: Within the next five years, all counties and counties in Zhao State will be connected to official roads. Wei Qi is mainly responsible for this matter, and all regions will cooperate." Zhao Kuo continued.
Up to now, the main official roads of Zhao State, except for the two roads that cross the Taihang Mountains from Jinyang to Shiyi and Shangdang to Handan, the rest of the roads have been completed.
There are enough materials and manpower, and it can be done very quickly even if multiple lines are being started.
As for the road across the Taihang Mountains, it really isn’t due to materials and manpower.
There was no experience, and there were many reasons such as tools, technology, craftsmanship, etc., so he was rebuilding and renovating, and he was renovating and building at the same time. When Chen Heng left his team and came to Handan to attend the court meeting, he only built less than half of it, which was still relatively small. That's half the job.
According to the current progress, the originally planned completion next year may very well become a luxury.
As for building official roads into rural areas, Zhao Kuo didn't dare to think about it.
The difficulty of this thing does not increase exponentially, but increases exponentially.
It will take five years to spread official roads to the county. The time it takes to spread it to the countryside is not ten years, but thirty, forty, or even fifty years. This is assuming that everything goes well and Zhao's territory does not increase.
As for spreading it to rural areas, it would not be possible for a hundred years. In some villages, there are only a dozen families living in mountain cols. It takes two or three hours to walk to get there. Zhao State is not yet so wealthy.
