Master Yuan, start!

Zhong: "Mingye, how's the Tokyo Station investigation going?"

"Some Japanese military and police officers have indeed shown signs of heading north, and according to intelligence personnel, the immigration railway to Hokkaido is also undergoing frequent maintenance on weekdays. This has never happened before."

really!

Yuan Xiangcheng clenched his fists and let go of his anxious heart.

: He guessed right. The Russians did have their sights on Japan, but it was not known whether they were targeting Hokkaido or the Kuril Islands.

In the original time and space, the Russians were afraid to attack Japan and targeted the Qing Dynasty.

In this time and space, the Russians are afraid to take action against themselves and are targeting Japan.

An inexplicable sense of pleasure emerged in Yuan Xiangcheng's heart. It was a kind of refreshing feeling of adjusting the timeline and disrupting the existing destiny.

"Probe again and report again."

Yuan Xiangcheng stood up and gave instructions to Mingye.

"Yes!" Ming Ye saluted with a standard military salute and went straight to the telegraph office.

Looking at his receding back, Yuan Xiangcheng turned and walked into the study, took out the "Speech at the Railway Completion Ceremony" that he would read aloud in the afternoon, wrote and drew on it, and added a lot of content.

...

Shengjing City, Huanggutun Railway Station.

The scorching sun was high in the sky, and the yellow dragon flag was fluttering everywhere. The nearby streets were packed with people, and seven or eight wooden boards were placed at the station gate, with the words

"I have something to do today, so departure will be postponed!" written in large letters.

The square in front of the train station was cordoned off by military police to form an open space the size of a football field, and the onlookers looked at the erected platform with anticipation.

The weather was also quite good, and a cloud was willing to be sent down to cover the people in front of the train station, allowing them to feel a little cool in the hot summer.

When the population increases, shrewd people who want to make money will come here when they smell the scent.

“Commemorative stamps are exquisite and inexpensive; commemorative stamps are exquisite and inexpensive!”

The peddler with a cargo box hanging around his neck walked and shouted, and from time to time he took out stamps from the box and gestured with them.

"Hey, the salesman!"

Liang Qichao and Chen Qianqiu, who were outside the crowd, called out to the peddler.

"Excuse me, you want stamps, don't you?"

When the peddler heard someone calling him, he thought that business was coming, and he grinned and trotted to Liang Qichao at the edge of the crowd.

"Let me ask you, what is this commemorative stamp?"

1Chen Qianqiu pointed at the wooden box on the peddler's chest and asked.

Finally someone came to ask, and the peddler thought he was planning to buy it, but he didn't expect it to be a Korean bumpkin who had never seen the world.

When Qi saw that the two men had no braids, the peddler's face immediately fell.

Now that he was here, he could only explain aloud:

"This is a railway commemorative stamp issued by the Northeast Border Industry Bank. You know, stamps are essential for sending letters."

"Of course we know what stamps are," Liang Qichao said. "We've even used telegraphs quite a few times, so how could we not know about stamps?"

4 He saw the impatience on the peddler's face, so he deliberately mentioned that the two of them had used a telegram.

The third telegraph was unaffordable for ordinary people in that era. A few words cost one or two taels of silver.

Sure enough, after hearing the word "telegram", the peddler was no longer annoyed and took out the stamps from the wooden box for the two men to look at.

At the end of the 19th century, if ordinary people wanted to contact someone, it was no different from hundreds of years ago. They could only use the traditional method of asking someone to deliver a letter.

The Qing Dynasty also had a postal system, and "600-li express" and "800-li express" were delivered through this system, but this system was only used to serve the official court and was never open to the public.

: Although postmen are sometimes entrusted to deliver letters, those are personal requests from middle and high-level officials and are not common.

In 1890, the Qing Dynasty also tried to promote a modern postal system, but it happened to experience the Curtain Restoration War, so the matter was delayed.

After taking charge of the Northeast, as more and more people came to the Northeast, the demand for communication between the Northeast and North China gradually increased, and it was natural for Yuan Shikai to start a modern postal business.

The Qing Dynasty had previously issued a set of stamps, but the postal business was not independent at the time, but was set up in the customs office, so it was somewhat unjustified.

After deciding to promote modern postal services, Yuan Shikai immediately contacted Robert Hart, the Inspector General of Customs, and asked him to assist in handling postal services outside the customs.

In Yuan Xiangcheng's view, there are only three key points in modern postal service.

First, it must be a government monopoly. Private individuals can serve as supplements, but if it is to reach the entire country, official power is necessary.

Second, it must be open to the entire population. No matter how frequently a few people use it, the cost will not be as low as universal access.

3. Put stamps on it.

That’s all.

Before the advent of stamps, when asking someone to send a letter, one would face a problem: should it be paid by post or paid on delivery?

It’s okay if it’s paid by mail, but if you can’t find the person after you pay on delivery, or if you find him and he’s unwilling to pay, then the order will be in vain.

In the 19th century when communications were not yet developed, it was common for people to be missing.

Therefore, stamps are very important. Stamps themselves are a kind of "currency" circulated in fixed occasions. As long as you affix stamps with the corresponding postage, you don't have to worry about disputes because you have already paid.

This was also the main reason why Yuan Shikai wanted to run a postal service.

Issue stamps and make a lot of money.

Once stamps were issued, there was no worry about them being unsold or expiring. In that era, there were no mobile phones or satellite communications, and telegraphs were still expensive. If one wanted to communicate with friends and family, one could only choose to send letters by post.

During these three years, the post office has successively opened branches in Beijing, Tianjin, Niuzhuang, Yantai, Lushun, Incheon, Shengjing, Jilin, Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Mongolia, and even set up a small branch in Malacca in Southeast Asia.

Due to cost reasons, postal points are currently only opened in coastal and border cities.

Liang Qichao and Chen Qianqiu had many friends and naturally had used "stamps", but they did not know what "commemorative stamps" were, so they asked this question.

"Oh, that's what's going on, sir."

After hearing the two people's story, the peddler grinned again and performed the face-changing to the extreme.

"Last year, the Northeast Post Office issued over one million 100-cent standard stamps."

"You are talking about this thing?"

Chen Qianqiu took out a red stamp from his pocket with the words "China Northeast Post" written on it and a huge "3 cents" printed on it.

"Oh, yes, that's it." The peddler pointed at the red stamp and identified it. "It's a pity that it's not presentable now. If you want to talk about real value, it's the one I have."

"Why? They're all stamps. Just stick yours on them and the letter will fly over, right?" Liang Qichao on the side became interested.

"My dear guest, you may not know that this commemorative stamp is very particular." The peddler changed his address very naturally and began to introduce the card to Liang Qichao.

"This year happens to be the Year of the Horse and the Jiawu Year. To celebrate the opening of the Shenglu Railway, the Northeast Post Office has specially issued a new stamp."

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The peddler took out a stack of stamps from the wooden box in front of his chest and handed them to Liang and Chen.

"My two distinguished guests, please take a look. This has a wide border, exactly the same as the Big Dragon stamp from that year." The peddler took two steps forward and gave the two a detailed introduction.

"Look at these clouds and waves, and this horse print. They feel much better in your hand than a red three-cent stamp."

Following the peddler's finger, the commemorative stamp showed a galloping red horse. Behind the horse was a continuously extending railway, with a train engine spewing thick smoke, which rose straight into the clouds.

"My dear guests, look! The horse is fiery red, and so is the carriage. That's why it's called the Jiawu Fire Horse stamp."

Chen Qianqiu touched it and nodded:

"Well, it doesn't feel dry or rough to the touch, and it's in no way inferior to top-quality rice paper. The horse's hooves are strong, and the printing quality is really good."

Seeing this, Liang Qichao wanted to ask a few more questions, but as the crowd around him grew larger and larger, he was afraid that he would not be able to squeeze in, so he quickly signaled Chen Qianqiu to make a quick decision.

"What's the price?"

"A set of 10 tickets, 3 each in 5-cent and 5-cent denominations. The original price is 6 yuan. I see you two have come from far away, so I'll charge you 5 yuan."

"Five yuan?" Chen Qianqiu took a step back in fear. "Why don't you just go and grab it? Ten bills total only 5 cents. Do you think I can't count?!"

The two of them ate a plate of beef, a serving of sweet and sour pork, and drank some wine, spending a total of only 312 wen, less than 5 cents. Chen Qianqiu, a student, was really shocked by the fact that he dared to ask for 5 yuan for a set of stamps.

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"Oh, my dear guest, I've already told you this is a commemorative stamp. Only 1 have been issued worldwide. Scarcity makes things valuable!"

"Forget it, Zhuoru, let's go."

Chen Qianqiu took Liang Qichao's arm and pretended to leave.

"Hey, wait a minute, my two distinguished guests!"

Seeing the two men about to leave, the peddler quickly reached out to stop them.

"My dear guests, there were 3 million red 100-cent stamps printed, and you had to pay a 1-cent markup to buy one. Only 10 of these Jiawu Fire Horse stamps were issued, so 5 for yuan is not expensive at all."

The peddler once again emphasized the scarcity of the stamps in his hands.

　"I can raise the price, but this is a bit outrageous. How can you raise the price tenfold?"

Chen Qianqiu seemed to have made up his mind to leave and no longer lingered.

"How about this, 4 yuan? Take it all, and I'll give you two some red 4-cent stamps."

The peddler stamped his feet and saw that the deal was about to fail, and couldn't help but speak up to stop the people.

"3 yuan, not a cent more!"

Chen Qianqiu slowed down his pace and spoke in a firm tone.

"3 yuan, no two red 5-cent stamps."

"Deal!" Chen Qianqiu immediately agreed and pretended to take money out of his pocket.

But then, he looked at Liang Qichao who was standing beside him with some embarrassment: "Zhuoru, lend me one dollar."

"Tongfu, you..."

Liang Qichao was very puzzled, but still took out a banknote from his pocket and handed it over.

Chen Qianqiu immediately took out two one-yuan notes and one fifty-cent note from his pocket, plus Liang Qichao's one-yuan note, and handed them to the peddler.

"Thank you very much, dear guest!"