prosperous age

The book "Da Ming Hui Dian" was mainly compiled based on the official books of the Ming Dynasty such as "Zhu Si Zhi Zhang", "Huang Ming Zu Xun", "Da Ming Ji Li", "Xiao Ci Lu", "Da Ming Lu" and the registers of hundreds of ministries. It records the rules and regulations very comprehensively, and explains many things that are not recorded in "Ming History". It is an important document for studying the history of the Ming Dynasty.

In the 26th year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, ordered the compilation of "Responsibilities of Various Departments" based on "Six Codes of Tang Dynasty".

It is divided into six ministries, namely the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Works, as well as ten departments, namely the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Five Military Commissioners' Headquarters. There are a total of ten volumes, recording the various major official systems created and set up from the founding of the Ming Dynasty to the 26th year of Hongwu.

It began to be compiled during the reign of Emperor Yingzong. After Emperor Xiaozong succeeded to the throne, as the systems and regulations of the dynasties after Hongwu were scattered and had not been compiled, they were not sufficient for the subjects to follow. Therefore, in March of the tenth year of Hongzhi, the emperor ordered Grand Secretaries Xu Pu and Liu Jian and others to carry out a systematic compilation. It was completed after fifteen years and the book was named "The Ming Dynasty Code".

However, the "Great Ming Code" was not promulgated until the death of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty.

In the fourth year of Zhengde, Emperor Wuzong ordered Grand Secretary Li Dongyang and others to re-edit it. In the sixth year of Zhengde, it was printed and promulgated by the Imperial Household Department and was known as the "Zhengde Hui Dian".

During the Jiajing period, the Hui Dian was revised twice.

In the eighth year of the Jiajing reign, the precedents that had been revised from the fifteenth year of the Hongzhi reign to the seventh year of the Jiajing reign were collected and compiled according to previous practice and included in the collection by category.

From the 53th to the th year of the Jiajing reign, the emperor ordered the cabinet ministers to continue to revise the new rules, and the revised version of the Code reached volumes, which was known as the "Jiajing Continued Code", but it was not promulgated.

In the fourth year of Emperor Shenzong’s Wanli reign, Emperor Shenzong Zhu Yijun of the Ming Dynasty “ordered” Zhang Juzheng to be the chief executive officer to revise the “Da Ming Hui Dian”.

In fact, according to Wei Guangde's judgment, Zhang Juzheng presided over this matter in order to incorporate his reforms into the Huidian as a permanent rule.

Wei Guangde did not participate in the revision of "Da Ming Hui Dian", but it was easy for him to add things, after all, the writers mainly came from the Hanlin Academy.

The last ray of golden sunlight on the eaves of the Forbidden City faded away quietly, and the evening drums of the Bell and Drum Tower shattered the circling paths of the pigeons.

The soldiers of the Patrol Army turned the capstan of the gate, the hooves of horses clattered on the bluestone slabs, and the mule carts loaded with goods rolled over the residual heat of the chessboard street.

The arrow tower of Zhengyang Gate picked out the first infuriating lantern. The sedan chair of Wanping County Magistrate passed through Qipan Street. The word "Silence" on the lantern turned into two cinnabar balls in the twilight.

The wooden fence of the Chongwenmen Customs House creaked down, but the silhouettes of the masts of the canal boats were still swaying on the Tonghui River. The boat girl scooped up a bucket of canal water with locust flowers floating on it and splashed it to shatter the moon city of Dongbianmen reflected in the ripples.

The gauze lanterns in the Eight Great Hutongs were lit one after another, the clerk in the Liulichang bookstore stood on tiptoe to take down the nanmu plaque with the words "Shen Du Zhai" on it, and a wisp of sandalwood smoke overflowed from the caisson of the Zhihua Temple, entwining with the clear sound of the wind chimes in the Dalongfu Temple.

The hoarse voice of the night watchman, "Be careful with fire," spread over the reeds of Paozi River. The lanterns of Shuntian government office patrolled to the eaves of the Imperial College, waking up the jackdaws perched on the Lingxing Gate.

This was the last scene of the capital city under the night sky. Wei Guangde met Lao Kan again in his study.

"I have already talked to Lord Chen, but he has not yet expressed his attitude. He said he needs to think it over carefully."

Lao Kan sat on the armchair and said in distress, "I have said everything I need to say. Facing the current situation, the best candidate is actually Hai Rui."

"Lord Chen should be worried that he won't be able to pass the test of the Prime Minister. To be honest, I was thinking the wrong thing at the beginning. He has just arrived. If he rashly recommends Hai Rui to come back and serve as the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate's Assistant Censor, it would be somewhat disrespectful to Zhang Jiangling."

Many times, you just don’t realize some very simple things at the time.

But if you just wait a little bit, when you bring it up again after a while, you will suddenly understand everything and figure out many details.

"I was also thinking about this. It should be for this matter. Now it seems that it may be difficult for the Censorate to recommend Hai Rui."

Lao Kan whispered.

"Well, let me think about this matter again. If it is not appropriate, I will discuss it with Zhang Jiangling first and see his attitude."

Wei Guangde did have the idea of ​​employing Hai Rui. Among all the ministers in the court, he was the only one he could trust to be responsible for collecting commercial taxes for the court.

Wei Guangde was somewhat worried about other people, especially when the system was first established, there were more problems.

If the system cannot be improved at the beginning, there will probably be a lot of trouble later.

Otherwise, if you really encounter resistance, just forget about it and there is no need to worry about it.

"I heard that your Agricultural Promotion Department is planning to set up offices in every province?"

After talking about Hai Rui, Lao Kan suddenly asked about Quan Nongsi.

"Why, did you hear any news?"

As far as Wei Guangde knew, Minister Pan had accepted Wei Guangde's suggestion and agreed to return to the Ministry of Rites to write a memorial, requesting that the Agricultural Promotion Office be set up at the provincial level to facilitate guidance on farming in various places.

However, two days have passed and the Ministry of Rites has not submitted any memorial.

"Haha, I heard that the Ministry of Rites has been arguing about this for the past two days. Many people think that opening offices in various places to encourage agriculture is a waste of people's money and they strongly disagree.

It is said that there is a ritual department within the Provincial Administration Office, which directly connects with the Ministry of Rites. There is no need to open a separate office."

Lao Kan said with a smile, "I just heard the censors below discussing this matter today. If it is you who is pushing for it, have the Ministry of Rites issue a document as soon as possible. If you delay any further, I am afraid that one of the censors will make a memorial to express his attitude."

"What are the opinions of the censors? Are they for or against?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

"There are two people who are against it, three who are in favor of it, and the others haven't made up their minds yet."

Lao Kan immediately replied, "Those who oppose it think it violates the ancestral system, which is similar to the current opposition in the Ministry of Rites.

Those who support it believe that doing so will demonstrate the court's emphasis on agriculture and should be implemented as soon as possible.

After all, everyone has been admitted step by step from the local area, and no one will ignore the importance of agriculture to the country.

Taizu attached great importance to agriculture when he founded the country. Now Your Majesty also participates in the spring ploughing ceremony every year, which shows the importance of the Agricultural Promotion Office.

Especially before, you asked the Agricultural Bureau to send a batch of sweet potatoes to each household in Beijing, and everyone thought they were delicious, sweet and fragrant.

By the way, I was not in the capital at that time, so I did not receive the sweet potatoes distributed by the government. Should I be given some instead? "

“It’s not like you haven’t eaten that before.

Besides, there don’t seem to be many sweet potatoes left on the plantation. Apart from distributing the ones that were harvested previously, the rest were being studied for storage, but they all went bad.

Until now, the expansion of sweet potato cultivation still depends on sweet potato vines. I heard that the climate in Luzon is good and it can be planted all year round. They can directly cut the sweet potatoes into small pieces and plant them in the fields. "

Wei Guangde sighed.

"The storage time is short, right? I've heard that. It's fine if you eat it within two or three months. But if you don't finish it within three or four months, it will go bad."

Lao Kan said.

"Have you sent the letter to Zhang Ke?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"It has been sent out by post."

At this time, the canal was in a semi-suspended state, with only ships heading south, and no ships heading north.

However, for merchants, if there were goods to be sent south, they would have been sent out long ago, so naturally there were no fellow villagers who could help take the letter back. However, since they were all officials, they could send the letter to Jiujiang Prefecture through the post, and then have the Jiujiang Prefecture officials deliver it to Zhang Ke.

Although there is suspicion of misusing public property for personal gain, the post house is just sitting there and is not being used.

However, the Ming Dynasty established a huge post system, but it was only used to deliver official documents and urgent matters, which felt somewhat wasteful.

During the Ming Dynasty, the post system reached its peak in ancient times.

In the early Ming Dynasty, detailed post laws were established, stipulating the management of postmen and the dispatch of materials. Post stations, delivery offices, and express delivery shops together formed a huge post network, ensuring the efficient transmission of state policies.

The main job function of the Ming Dynasty post station was to deliver documents at full speed, and all the people coming and going at the post station were officials and guests.

"Do you think it is possible to allow the post office to accept the delivery of private letters and small amounts of goods as it did in the previous dynasty?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

The concept of post can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties. At that time, post was just a prototype, called "馹传". Although the transportation and communication tools of this period were still quite primitive, methods similar to post had begun to appear.

After Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, the post system ushered in a qualitative leap. Qin Shihuang not only established a post road network centered on Xianyang and covering the entire country, but also promulgated the first postal law in Chinese history, named "Qin Post Law".

This law specifies in detail the specific procedures of the post system, such as the time limit for document delivery and the method of handover.

It can be said that the Qin Dynasty's post system was the cornerstone of the ancient postal system.

The requirements for postmen at that time were extremely strict. They had to be young, strong, honest and trustworthy. Every document needed to be sealed and stamped to prevent leaks or private opening. The postmen shouldered great responsibilities, and if there were any mistakes in the delivery of documents, they could be severely punished.

During the Han Dynasty, the post system was further improved. A dense network of post stations was established across the country, with a post station every five miles, a pavilion every ten miles, and a post station every thirty miles. The number and density of post stations increased greatly.

These post stations were not only used to deliver documents, but also to transport officials and goods. The Han Dynasty also introduced the "post ticket" system, which required officials to hold post tickets when traveling, similar to today's passes.

The postmen of the Han Dynasty also had uniform clothing. They wore crimson turbans and sleeves, and their identities could be recognized from a distance. This uniform uniform design was similar to the clothing of couriers in later generations. It was easy to identify and made the postmen more dignified when performing their tasks.

By the Tang Dynasty, the post system not only served the purpose of conveying state policies, but also began to be opened to the public. Merchants and ordinary people also began to rely on the post stations for cargo transportation and communication.

By the Song Dynasty, the post system had become more sophisticated, and in the middle and late stages it also allowed private documents to be delivered. Ordinary people could deliver letters through post stations, solving the need for private communication.

The emergence of this system has greatly facilitated exchanges among the people and promoted social and economic development.

However, in the current Ming Dynasty, the post office seems to have returned to its original purpose, which is to ensure the smooth implementation of the court's policies.

Officials' letters could be delivered via post, but it was not open to civilians.

"In fact, there have been private letter bureaus in the southeastern coastal provinces for a long time, but they usually only deliver letters and goods within the province."

Unexpectedly, Lao Kan immediately responded to Wei Guangde's words.

"The People's Credit Bureau? What is that?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously. When he heard this word, he felt like he was back in the Republic of China period.

"It was founded by Ningbo merchants during the Yongle period. The Minxin Bureau was a privately run chamber of commerce that earned money by running errands. Its business included mailing letters, goods, and handling foreign exchange."

Lao Kan had worked in Fujian for many years and was familiar with the local Credit Bureau. He quickly explained the situation to Wei Guangde.

The more Wei Guangde listened, the more he felt that it was like the post office in later generations, delivering letters and goods, and also handling wire transfers.

Of course, money is charged during the service.

The reason why the coverage is narrow is mainly because whether it is letters or goods, they all rely on the original trade routes. That is, in addition to their own business, they also help civilians bring some goods, letters and money.

"If the imperial court runs the post office like the People's Post Office, what do you think?"

Wei Guangde tried to ask, "Of course, private letters and goods do not need to be delivered urgently. They only need to be relayed between post stations every day like ordinary official documents. The money collected will be counted as post station income to offset the cost of maintaining the post stations.

In this way, the amount of money the post station asks the local government for each year can be reduced. "

In the early Ming Dynasty, the post stations were under a corvée system and the postmen were not paid and were considered to be doing corvée labor.

However, after operating in this way, it was found that the frequent changes of postmen made the efficiency of delivery extremely poor, so they changed to hiring special postmen to complete the work, and the required silver was levied by local governments, which led to the item of post station silver.

Moreover, the post stations would often enclose the land around the station and cultivate it as post station fields to meet daily needs.

After all, many post stations are often located in remote areas and it would be difficult to maintain them without this feature.

“It’s difficult. The local government has been collecting post station silver for a long time and everyone is used to it.

However, it is feasible to develop the postal service to the private sector. The money earned can be used to subsidize the Ministry of War or the postmen. The income of the postmen is not high, and it can be said that their work is still very hard. "

Wei Guangde had a good idea, but Lao Kan immediately realized that it was difficult to implement.

A routine of collecting this tax has already been formed. If the imperial court reduces the silver collected from the post stations, I am afraid that the local governments will not reduce this tax either. In the end, the people will still bear this responsibility, but all the benefits will flow into the pockets of local officials.

Rather than letting them get the benefits, it would be better to send them to the Ministry of War or give them as subsidies to the postmen who work hard to run errands.

Of course, the postmen would not get all of their wages, as there would always be some deductions from the higher and lower levels, but they would always get some.

"Besides, the delivery of private letters is limited after all, and it is almost impossible to make money from it. It is just a convenience for ordinary people.

The postage can be lowered and the income can be distributed to the postmen every year. This way, the people will benefit and the postmen will also earn money. "

Lao Kan analyzed it again and figured out the account relatively clearly.

At that time, the population mobility in the Ming Dynasty was indeed very low, and the people had little demand for delivering letters. It was still a daydream to want to make money from postage.

"So, this is feasible?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"I think it should be possible. It won't take much effort. The postal services are readily available. We just need to talk to the Ministry of War."

Lao Kan laughed.

"In that case, let him do it. How about letting the Censorate and the Ministry of War coordinate this matter?"

Wei Guangde said.

"Well, OK, then I'll go talk to the Ministry of War. It's just a few cents for a letter, and I need to think it over carefully."

Lao Kan nodded and agreed, "The Ministry of Rites."

"I'll go and urge them."

Wei Guangde said with a smile. (End of this chapter)