I

  Chapter 619 616【Post Office and Newspaper】

   Zhenjiang.

The catering and entertainment business of Zhenjiang Water Station in Daming, which has been making a lot of money every day, has been sold to private merchants—in fact, it was originally contracted by private parties, and the restaurant and passenger ships were all purchased by the owner. After the Datong court forcibly took over, the original investment Redeem at half price.

  However, the horses and clippers in Zhenjiang Water Station are still preserved, and the government provides funds to support them.

   Such situations are very common, including some post stations abolished by Chongzhen, which were also restored by the Datong New Dynasty. A lot of low-level meticulous work was converted into a post office on the spot, saving the trouble of having no place to settle.

  Yi Cheng belongs to officials, and Yi Zu is just a contract worker.

   This treatment is already good. The ordinary postmen of Ming Dynasty are often of the nature of corvee. The more remote the place, the more this is the case, because there is no oil and water, and there is food and drink for the officials who come and go. The local finances cannot afford it, and they need to rely on the postmen to pay for themselves.

  So no one wants to be a postman, but can only be used as a kind of corvee, forcing the people to work in the post. After a few years of being a postman, his family is often ruined.

  Now, the various post stations, catering, accommodation and postal services of the Datong Dynasty are divested.

  The catering of the post station is all left to private management, and the officials who come and go have to pay for their own food and accommodation. The days of eating and drinking for free are gone forever.

  Early in the morning, Zhenjiang Water Station became lively.

  The station chief congratulated Yipeng, commanding the station soldiers to replace the plaque, and the sign of "Zhenjiang Water Station" became "Zhenjiang Post Station".

  The shopkeeper of the restaurant next door came to see the excitement and said, "He Yichang, why did you change the brand for no reason?"

  He Yipeng said with a smile: "Your Majesty has an order. From now on, the post station will also serve as an errand for the letter bureau. People can also deliver letters to the post station. The general rule is that it will be handled by the private letter bureau, except that the post station must post stamps when delivering letters."

   "That's rare, show me the stamps." The shopkeeper was quite curious.

  At the end of the Ming Dynasty, both the official and the private sector had express delivery services.

  The official express delivery business is the most developed in Liaodong, and it is divided into express delivery offices and express delivery shops. The courier office is responsible for the delivery of official materials, and the courier shop is responsible for the delivery of letters and official documents.

  The private express delivery business is most developed in Jiangnan and Shanxi, and its name is "Xinju". The main customers are gentry merchants, who not only help deliver letters, but also occasionally deliver goods, which can be regarded as SF Express and Debang in the Ming Dynasty.

   There are three payment methods for private express delivery: payment by sending, payment on delivery, and half of each payment for receiving and sending.

  Unknown customers must pay when sending.

  Familiar old customers can not only pay cash on delivery, but also keep accounts, and make quarterly or annual settlement payments.

  The beacon fire lasted for three months, and the family letter was worth ten thousand gold. The war caused most of the national credit bureaus to close down, and even if they didn't close down, they continued to shrink their business. In the past few years, they have finally begun to recover.

  Now, the government has actually entered the express delivery industry, and even launched some **** stamps.

   "Here, this is it." He Yipeng took out a plate of stamps.

  The shopkeeper asked: "How much is it?"

He Yipeng said: "It depends on the weight of the letter and the length of the journey. For a letter in the province that does not exceed six taels, a five-cent stamp is sufficient. The heavier the letter and the farther it is mailed, the more expensive the stamp is, and the letter is not allowed to arrive. Payment. Moreover, no more than one catty will be accepted, if you want to send something, go to the private letter bureau."

   This is also to generate income for the station system, otherwise the expenses will be too high, after all, there are so many postmen to support. Unlike Daming, postmen had to pay back money, but now they are paid.

  An official ship came, and the postman stood on the ship and shouted: "Come and help me get things!"

   "Come on!" He Yipeng responded.

  The postmen in Zhenjiang ran quickly, carrying a sack, and the postmen disembarked by themselves with official documents.

  He Yipeng asked: "What's in this sack?"

"Newspaper," said the postman, "there will be no more mansion newspapers in the future. It will be renamed "Datong Monthly Newspaper", and more copies will be printed than before. Local government offices will distribute one copy for free. Notice boards everywhere will also post one copy." All the rest will be sold on consignment at the post station, and every time a newspaper is sold, the post station will get two cents. If it can’t be sold, it will be taken back to Nanjing after two months.”

  He Yipeng nodded: "Understood."

  The postman said: "The ones left in Zhenjiang Prefecture will be sent all the way to Shanghai."

  The level of the Zhenjiang post station is also very high. The post station official ships from Nanjing will go north along the canal after arriving here. As for the things in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Zhenjiang Station needs to send ships to forward them.

The postman then took out more than a dozen official documents and said: "Send these two copies to the Zhenjiang government office, this one to the Zhenjiang government court, and this one to the post stations in various places. The rest are not from the Zhenjiang government office, so send them out together." .You sign for it, and sign for it after the newspapers are counted."

  He Yipeng verified the official documents and newspapers, and quickly stamped and signed them.

  The postman got the signature form, returned to the ship immediately, and went to eat in the store after storing it.

   The Datong Navy has finally been dismantled, and now only half of it remains. The cut-off ships were not sold, but their weapons were dismantled and thrown directly into the station system, and some sailors were also turned into postmen.

  He Yipeng opened the newspaper curiously, and the shopkeeper also came to take a look, completely ignoring the business of his own restaurant.

  The emperor personally wrote a message for the founding of the publication: Dibao started in Tang Dynasty, flourished in Song Dynasty, and flourished in Ming Dynasty. In the old days, the residence newspaper circulated copies of edicts, official documents, and important events to inform the feudal vassals and local officials. In the Ming Dynasty, gentry and merchants could also see it, so there was a mansion newspaper printed with movable type. I am in harmony with China, and I am born to respond to the people, and the people are the most important things in the world, and I should know the important affairs of the country with my head hanging down. Because of the "Datong Monthly", the government orders can reach the people directly. With this heart and this intention, you know it well and admire it.

  The shopkeeper said: "He Yichang, give me a copy."

  He Yipeng glanced at the official document about the newspaper, which gave the selling price, and immediately said: "One piece for thirty renminbi."

  Thirty Wen, according to the prices of the Datong New Dynasty, you can buy six catties of rice in a good harvest year, and you can buy two catties of rice in a disaster season.

   But not expensive!

  Because of the former Imperial Palace Newspaper, if you want to get it immediately, the manuscript needs several taels of silver. Obtained that month, a Dibao is about one or two. After two or three months, the movable type printing plate will be released, and at that time it will sell for tens of hundreds of dollars.

  The shopkeeper bought a newspaper and went back to the store, only to find that it was divided into several sections.

  One section is current political news, and the first news is related to the emperor. The newspaper summary published the content of the court meeting, where the emperor and his officials discussed the post-disaster reconstruction issue, and also discussed the disaster relief gains and losses of the past dynasties.

  The emperor once again emphasized that in the event of natural disasters, one should not rely on offering sacrifices to the gods, and both the government and the people must contribute. God help those who help themselves. If people do not help themselves, the sky will not help them.

  The main content of the Chaohui report is presented in the form of dialogue, and a comment from the editor-in-chief is added at the end.

  The shopkeeper found it very novel. After reading this newspaper, it was like hearing the emperor speak with his own ears. For the first time, he felt so close to the emperor. Some time ago, the emperor visited the north and never disembarked. The shopkeeper felt that the emperor was far away.

   "Your Majesty is wise!" The shopkeeper sighed while holding the newspaper.

  A businessman happened to pass by the counter. Hearing this, he couldn't help asking: "What's the matter? Has there been any new decree?"

  The shopkeeper took the newspaper and said, "Dear guest, please read it."

  The merchant took the newspaper, glanced at it casually, and said happily: "Which newspaper is this mansion newspaper printed? It's really novel, and even the details of the court meeting can be obtained."

  The shopkeeper was a little speechless: "Please read the first message, it was written by His Majesty himself."

  The merchants hurriedly read, and then flipped through the pages at the back, and found that there was government auction information and a military material bidding information.

   "Good stuff!"

  The merchant was overjoyed and asked, "Where can I buy it?"

  The shopkeeper pointed to the inn next door: "I heard that all the inns sell it."

  The merchant immediately ordered the servant: "Hurry up and buy a copy!"

   Ordered food and wine and sat down. The merchants read carefully, and the more they read, the more pleasantly surprised they were. In the newspaper, he also saw information on the transfer of officials three months ago, all of which were promotions and transfers of officials above rank five—the release was deliberately delayed so that the public would not be informed of the transfer of officials in advance.

   Zhenjiang Shuiyi Restaurant, the business is extremely hot, and most of the customers are merchants from other places.

   At noon, the news that the post station sells newspapers has spread rapidly, and it is actually sold out. The remote places will definitely not be sold out, but the Zhenjiang station, newspapers are definitely in high demand, and they can only apply for an increase in sales next month.

  In the lobby of the restaurant, two business travelers got into an argument on the spot because of the contents of the newspaper.

   "It turned out that the previous rumors were all false. The newspaper published the royal genealogy. His majesty is the Zhao family of Tianshuitang, Gansu. He moved to Shanxi during the Tang and Song Dynasties, and immigrated to Hebei in the early Ming Dynasty." A merchant said enthusiastically.

  The person at the same table said: "Isn't it a descendant of the Zhao Song royal family? Liaodong fierce general Yang Zhenqing, I heard that he is a descendant of the Yang family general, and the general came down to earth to help the old master."

   "Hey, it's all made up by the people." The businessman said before.

The businessman at the next table was not happy, and stood up to retort: ​​"My surname is Zhao, and all people surnamed Zhao come from Tianshuitang in Gansu, and the royal family of Zhao and Song also came from Tianshuitang. Today's family has the same ancestor as that of Zhao and Song." .Besides, there are countless descendants of Zhao and Song Dynasties, and it may be some prince who moved to Shanxi."

   "It's nonsense, His Majesty has published the newspaper to disassociate himself from it."

   "Who said to separate the relationship? Your Majesty only said that he came from Tianshuitang, and his ancestors moved to Shanxi during the Tang and Song Dynasties."

   "The Tang Dynasty moved to Shanxi, so it doesn't matter if it is Zhao Song!"

   "..."

  The people at the two tables were arguing red-faced because of a small newspaper.

   No matter who wins or loses, everyone knows very well that the "Datong Monthly" will be indispensable in the future, and a lot of information must be obtained from this thing.

   Some businessmen also used their brains. The imperial court can run newspapers, why can’t they themselves?

  The main content of the previous newspapers was copied from the Di Bao, and also included some business information, as well as major news, such as the explosion of the Wang Gong Factory.

  The magazines and publications originating from literati gatherings are all poems, novels, and operas.

  Why not combine the two types, report some interesting folk stories, and make it into a reading material that ordinary people prefer to read?

  A folk tabloid is about to be born.

  (end of this chapter)