Chapter 446 Qing Post Office (Part 2)

"The war lasts for three months, and the letters of a family are worth ten thousand gold." Du Fu's poem describes the difficulty of delivering letters by the ancients. Even when the post station has spread throughout the country, it is still not easy to deliver letters, especially private letters. The post station is only used by the government, and the people do not have the power to use, and even if they pay money, they are not allowed. In today's era, the delivery of private letters is still very backward. In addition to asking acquaintances to help deliver letters, they can only entrust some "travelers" who specialize in helping people deliver letters. The timeliness and reliability are very poor. There is no doubt that the potential market for the post office is and is very huge, but whether it can still make a profit when it is convenient for the people is another matter. If Yinzuo uses the money from the treasury to constantly fill in the post office's losses, it is absolutely impossible.

The Eight Banners Business is an economic monster of this era. In terms of its turnover, it is also the largest economic complex in human history so far. The scope of its business covers almost all industries. The only industry that the Eight Banners Business has not been involved in is brothels. Liu Chang'e can become the helmsman of the Eight Banners Business. In addition to his father Yu Ze, the more important thing is that Liu Chang'e is a business genius himself, with a strong grasp of business opportunities and a good mind. As soon as Yinzuo proposed the concept of post office, Liu Chang'e was ready to go. After Yinzuo finished explaining the general idea of ​​the post office, Liu Chang'e had already sorted out the overall ideas.

"Reporting to the emperor, I thought this post office could be done, but whether it can make a profit depends on how the emperor planned to operate. If it is done by the slave, it will make profits and facilitate the people. If it is done by the general logistics department, I cannot guarantee it." As soon as Yinzuo finished speaking, Liu Chang'e replied respectfully.

Well, this is very reasonable. State-owned monopoly enterprises either make profits but cannot be convenient for the people, or they may lose money and make mistakes. But if they entrust this matter to the Eight Banners Trading Company, one is already a giant at this time. If everything is done and everything is monopolized, it is difficult to start a business strategy in the future. The two are the two. The official documents and military newspapers are passed on to the Eight Banners Trading Company, and it is difficult to ensure that there will be no trouble. If the military secrets are leaked, it will not be fun, let alone to other private individuals to set up the post office. Yinzuo was very moved, but he did not say anything he was considering. He just smiled and said, "Let's say it, if it is up to you, what should this post office do?"

"Yes, the emperor." Liu Chang'e pondered for a moment and said, "I thought that although the current post station system is available, there are many disadvantages. I have to welcome and send documents and pass on official documents. Not only are the complicated things, but there are countless things to be dismantled and dismantled. The slave thought that if I wanted to run a post office, I could take a few steps: the first step is to strip it, and the post station is to be divided. The horse reporting system is no longer related to the ushering and sending; the second step is to reorganize and strengthen the existing horse reporting system and adjust it according to the population density; the third step is to establish a specialized agency. A reasonable set of delivery fees will be organized, and the price will be calculated based on the distance of the post, the weight of the package, the urgency level, etc.; the fourth step is to issue stamps and envelopes as the emperor said, and implement them nationwide."

"Yeah." Yinzuo nodded without comment. After thinking for a while, he looked at Zhou Yongcheng, who was standing beside him with his head down, and said, "Change, please let the Eight Banners Company draw more personnel in this matter and cooperate closely with the General Logistics Department.   After research, come up with a charter as soon as possible. What should I do? I will give you the decree. Go."

"Yes, I'm leaving." Liu Chang'e was a waking man. Seeing that Yinzuo did not immediately agree to hand over the matter to the Eight Banners Store, he knew that Yinzuo still wanted to hand over the matter to the General Logistics Department in his heart. He didn't dare to have any dissatisfaction. He responded quickly and kowtowed respectfully. He exited the study room.

"You are lucky, you have heard it clearly. You have to hurry up and deal with the post office. Well, if you are nervous during this period, I will issue an order to draw some people from the garrisons in various places to deal with it. After the post office's regulations come out, then make a decision. Well, it's enough to give you a month to do it?" After Liu Chang'e left, Yinzuo looked at Zhou Yongcheng and said.

Although Zhou Yongcheng was silent all the time, he was very attentive. He had already made a secret evaluation of the post office system proposed by Yinzuo, and was deeply impressed by the wonderful thoughts. At this time, when he heard what Yinzuo meant, he planned to include the post office in the General Logistics Department leader. He was even more excited and nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, Master, I will sort out the regulations on time."

On the fifth day of the eighth month of the fourth year of Yuanzhuo, the fifteenth, twenty-fiveth, the second, third and fourth periods of the Beijing Chronicle were released one after another. The two sides had a fierce debate in the newspapers on the "Five Unexplained, Ten Thousand Words" mentioned in the "Ten Thousand Words" - there was no doubt about the merits and demerits of the Battle of Brento Haizi, and few people raised objections. After all, resisting foreign teachings is a good thing for most people to applaud; there is little controversy in diplomatic negotiations, mainly because scholars of this era did not understand what diplomacy is, and they could not raise too many objections at all. For the more diplomatic academy, the vast majority of scholars were still welcomed. Although some people raised objections to the military system reform, they could not even mention it.

In terms of the point, it is basically nonsense and nonsense, and it is not even qualified to be published in the newspaper. The erroneous criticism of the ministers of military affairs has basically disappeared due to the confession of the ministers in the first issue of newspapers and magazines, and even some controversy is difficult to be elegant. The controversy over the local changes in the imperial examination proposed by Yinzuo was quite serious. However, because Yinzuo carried Confucius' "Six Arts" theory, many scholars were helpless, and they could only complain about the increase in the burden of examinations. As for the reform of the military examination, no one mentioned it. One reason was that the military examination had little to do with scholars, and no one would complain about the military examination. Secondly, after the reform, the military academy replaced the military examination, which not only did not reduce the number of military officials, but increased dozens of times. No one would get a bargain and act obedient.

The focus of the debate is on the money law and business path. Both sides of the debate expressed their opinions on the pros and cons of the current money law. However, in general, the opinions that agree with each other have an absolute advantage. At this time, the money law has been implemented for more than eight months. Although the currency exchange work is still in progress, it is almost over. According to the new money law, tax transactions and tax payment benefits have begun to appear. The facts are always better than eloquent, right? However, the dispute over commercial status is extremely fierce, and it is difficult to distinguish between the two parties. Both parties either quote the classics or list examples, and the debate has caused smoke.

Whether in Confucian classics or in the royal domination of China's dynasties, the status of the people is always the scholars, farmers, industry and commerce. Shang people have always been ranked last. Whether in the eyes of scholars or ordinary people, Shang people have no status. This is a tradition. Although this tradition is a very unreasonable tradition, the vitality of the tradition is extremely powerful. In fact, the number of people who support the improvement of the status of Shang people in this big debate is far lower than the number of people who oppose it. If Fang Bao and others had not had outstanding literary style, they would have been at a disadvantage.

Yinzuo has always attached great importance to business. This is true whether he was the prince or now he became an emperor. Various policies to encourage industry and commerce have been introduced. However, Yinzuo never dared to directly put forward the slogan of "building a country with commerce", and even dared to immediately push the various research results of those laboratories to the market. In addition to worrying about the market's digestibility, the more important thing is that Yinzuo was not sure that he could immediately change those deeply rooted traditional concepts. For emperors, they must not make a random order without regard for the tradition. If this causes turmoil, it would be more than worth the loss.

"I have done a good job in this newspaper. The "five unsolved, ten major mistakes" in the "Wanyan Book" are now only one unsolved. It doesn't matter if you don't understand. Facts are better than words. The status of the merchants can be put on hold first, and then a decision is made in the future. I'll come here for this debate. Well, the General Logistics Department has proposed a post office idea. You all have a good idea to give it a comment. If you think it is feasible, you might as well let the newspapers be published first. One can change the focus of the debate, and the other can also create momentum for the post office." Yinzuo pointed to the newspaper in his hand with a smile and said to the military ministers gathered in the study room.

After a son went to the study, the minister circulated the feasibility report jointly produced by Zhou Yongcheng and Liu Change, Ma Qi was the first to stand up and said: "Master, this matter is a benefit to the people and should be feasible. It is only the official document. It is still unknown whether the transmission of the military newspaper will be affected. Is it better to do it separately?"

"What Mr. Ma said is reasonable, but the officials think that the official documents are recorded with the special postmarks of the government, and military newspapers also have special military postages, which are not mixed with ordinary letters when they are delivered. Moreover, emergency military newspapers and official documents are also delivered on a dedicated line, so there should be nothing wrong." Zhou Yongcheng, who was confident, explained calmly.

Zhang Tingyu frowned and thought for a while, "Mr. Zhou, according to your constitution, a letter from Jinling to the capital requires a stamp of 20 cents. It can be reached in fifteen days, a quick message can be posted on four corners, ten days, and a special octagonal, and a delivery in five days. I have two questions. One is whether such a fee can be offset by the cost, and the other is, can the public accept such expensive fees?"

"If you go back to Zhang Zhongtang, in terms of ordinary letters, you can send them in a carriage. If a carriage can carry more than 30,000 letters, you can still get a profit of three cents per letter after deducting the cost. As for whether the people can accept such fees, the officials have conducted research and conducted investigations in dozens of places such as Jinling, Luoyang, Xi'an, etc., and the people's ability to accept ordinary letters is still reliable. As for express letters and express, it is prepared for merchants. As long as they can guarantee timely delivery, ordinary merchants can afford the money." Zhou Yongcheng replied calmly.

...At the same time, the Minister of Military Affairs raised some opinions and doubts about all aspects of the post office. Zhou Yongcheng answered them one by one calmly. Seeing that everyone had nothing to ask, Yinzuo said with a final say: "Forget it, let's publish this matter first in the newspaper. In addition, in Jinling, Changsha, Xi'an, and Chengdu, try it out in Jinling, Changsha, Xi'an, and Chengdu, and then summarize the experience before pushing it to the whole country. The Military Affairs Office prepares and cooperates with the General Logistics Department to come up with a postal law. When it is fully promoted, I will issue a clear edict."
Chapter completed!