"Monsieur Pierre, what's the matter with this postal thing?"

Guan Zhuofan, the governor of Jiangsu, took Yang Shiquan, a fellow governor of Suzhou Prefecture, Shao Desheng, a poster of Qingpu County, and a French interpreter, to the consular office in the French Concession in Shanghai. According to the agreement, the French consul Aitang and a Frenchman named Pierre were already waiting in the public office and welcomed them warmly.

It is said to be a consular office, but it is actually a rather simple white wooden house. After seeing each other, and just sitting down, Guan Zhuofan went straight to the topic and asked this sentence.

Since he was promoted to governor, he changed his previous calculations with foreigners in meeting etiquette, and suddenly became much more easy-going, like today, in order to see Aitang and this Pierre, he wanted to ask for advice, so he personally went to the French Concession to ask questions, and he didn't care.

However, no one dared to underestimate him because of this. Now foreigners know that in Beijing, they have to deal with King Gong, and in Shanghai, they have to deal with this governor of Guan, and these two people are the most familiar with foreign affairs in the imperial court. Therefore, they all believe that only those who really grasp the overall situation can see their own grace in humility, and do not have to rely on domineering to maintain the respect of others.

For Kwan Cheuk-fan, there is also such self-confidence.

Since I brought Yang Shiquan and Shao Desheng here today, what I want to ask is naturally about the postal service. I asked Pierre because I had already inquired that in Shanghai, only the French had opened a "guest mail" close to the modern postal service, and Pierre was the person in charge of this business.

For China's postal history, Guan Zhuofan has not studied it seriously, and he doesn't know much. But he at least knew. Modern Post. Thirty or forty years from now. It will start in China, and in this era, the imperial court still uses the post mail system that has been passed down for thousands of years. What to do with the new post, what are the similarities and differences between the old and the new, you can't help but ask this Frenchman for advice.

"Governor Guan, in fact, the post station system of your Qing Empire also includes the meaning of postal services." Pierre didn't hide anything, he had something to say. "But unfortunately, neither you Chinese businessmen nor our foreign businessmen can enjoy such convenience."

Guan Zhuofan thought to himself, the French are right, the imperial courts of all dynasties have had a huge post delivery system, but they have always only served the imperial court, passing on military intelligence and government orders, and official documents. Not only the merchant people could not enjoy, theoretically. Even the private messages of officials at all levels cannot be delivered by post stations. Therefore, even in the days of Chengping, the saying that "family letters are worth 10,000 dollars" is not false - if you want to send a letter to a distant relative, you can only entrust it to relatives and friends who have traveled far away, or a familiar businessman and traveler to bring it, if it can be delivered safely, it is already a thankful thing.

"This is the biggest difference between our French postal service and your Qing postal service, and it is also the biggest difference between modern postal service and ancient postal service." Pierre said with a shrug of his shoulders.

According to Pierre, there are three places that must be done in order to run a "modern postal service" - the first is the monopoly of the government, because only the government can guarantee national access, and the second is that it must be open to the general public.

Government monopoly, that's not necessarily, Guan Zhuofan thought to himself, the French devil must have never seen how awesome our courier company is. But in this era, of course, this is something that can't be talked about, so it's better to think about the present first.

"And what about the third?"

"The third, hehe," Pierre smiled reservedly, "Governor Guan, have you ever wondered how the postal service should collect fees?" ”

This is what he thinks is a unique secret, and he plans to use it to teach this court member a good lesson.

"Oh, you said this," Guan Zhuofan didn't think about it, and replied casually, "Paste stamps." ”

When the interpreter translated Guan Zhuofan's words, Pierre paused visibly, and the smile on his face immediately changed to an expression of admiration - this official of the Qing Empire actually had such insight!

"Governor Guan, I have to admire your extensive knowledge!" Pierre said sincerely, "As far as I know, you don't have this kind of thing in China, and even the guest mail I run has not been used. Only in Europe did stamps really be used—"

Before the advent of stamps, mail was paid for by the recipient, not only to collect trouble, but also once the recipient could not be found, or the recipient was unwilling to pay, then the postal service, will face a loss. It wasn't until the advent of stamps, as the best and most convenient advance payment voucher, that the postal service really developed.

"This is the third place I want to talk about - the postage system, together with the government monopoly and general openness, which have become the three indispensable elements of modern postal service." Pierre summed it up.

Three elements? Guan Zhuofan nodded, but said in his heart, I have to add one more to you.

Private mail, sacrosanct.

However, this is China's unique "national condition", and there is no need to say more about the French devils. When Pierre finished talking, Guan Zhuofan mentioned another meaning of today's coming to Aitang and Pierre.

"I plan to try out a new type of postal service in Jiangsu Province, so I want to hire Mr. Pierre as a consultant, if there is anything I don't understand, so that Yang Tongzhi can come and ask for advice at any time." He said with a smile on his face, "As for the bride price, of course, it is preferred. ”

For Guan Zhuofan, opening a new post can not only be convenient for himself, but also take back the postage rights that have been usurped by the "guest mail". As far as foreign businessmen are concerned, running their own postal service is, after all, a troublesome and unavoidable thing, and now the imperial court says that it will run a new type of postal service, of course, it is optimistic.

"I'm honored to be able to help with this." Pierre and Aitang glanced at each other and nodded.

*

*

When I returned to the governor's yamen, it was already noon, and after a hurried meal, I sent people to invite Zhao Jingxian, Ding Shijie, Liu Xunjiao, Yang Fang, and Libin to the yamen, and we wanted to make the postal affairs a foregone conclusion.

These five people are his team in Jiangsu, and they can be regarded as a "new policy committee" set up by him after his practice when he was the magistrate of Shanghai. In his own absence, all things related to foreign affairs had to be carried out by these five people. The beginning is important, but it is more important to be consistent and ensure that the things you set are not out of shape or deviate.

He told him about the experience of meeting Pierre, and everyone present felt that it was fresh, and in addition, Zhao Jingxian felt that Guan Zhuofan's insight was very profound.

"The marshal said that personal mail should not be opened and examined at will, which is too true. If it is like the old one, not only private mail, but also official documents of the state, there is no secrecy at all. ”

Guan Zhuofan had never heard of this statement, so he was very surprised and asked, "Brother Zhu, where did you start with this?" ”

"I'll tell you a story to the marshal," Zhao Jingxian said with a smile, "This is still one of the things I heard when I was an official in Zhejiang—"

The official documents of the imperial court are transmitted from Beijing to the province, from the province to the province, from the province to the government, and then from the government to the county and the county. The person who manages the post station is called the post officer, and the official in this position is extremely idle when there are no passing officials to receive. Most of the postmen, when they have nothing to do, will take out the official documents that need to be forwarded and read them, as a kind of fun to kill time, and after reading them, they will put them back in the sealed bag.

Over time, I have developed a habit of doing it occasionally, and if I don't peek at the official documents that I have passed, I will feel uncomfortable. There is a post man in Huzhou Mansion in Zhejiang, because of this habit, almost got into a big disaster - half leaning on the kang at night, holding the candle on the kang head, as usual, took out a stack of official documents in a sealed bag, one by one, and looked at it, but when he saw that he was drowsy, he accidentally ignited an official document, and when he was shocked, he had burned most of it.

This time, holding the remaining small half of the charred paper in his hand, his heart was broken, and he wanted to die, so he had to go to a friend of his overnight to ask for a way to live.

This friend of his, is a bookkeeper in Huzhou Mansion, and he is an old official. After listening to him, he pondered for a long time, and really came up with a way for him - take a blank piece of paper, make it an official document, and stuff it into a sealed bag.

"How does this work?" Guan Zhuofan laughed and said, "When I got to the Yicheng at the next station, I saw a blank piece of paper, so don't you shout?" ”

"Don't you dare to shout, doesn't shouting prove that you are also peeking at official documents?"

"It's really," Guan Zhuofan suddenly realized, and praised the joint, "This is really a fairy move in the belly of a dead chess!" ”

"That's why I said, private mail really can't do such a thing again, otherwise the merchants and the people, who would dare to send it with confidence?" Zhao Jingxian shook his head and said, "The current post station, people are floating in things, and the national post has become a place for officials from all walks of life to be sent to us, which has been corrupted from the root, and it is inevitable to open a new post!" ”

These remarks have made the most haode footnote for the new type of postal service to be opened. Therefore, it was agreed that the organization to be set up should be called the "Jiangsu Post Office" and put it under the name of the General Telegraph Bureau.

Within the five prefectures of Jiangsu, Zhenjiang and Shanghai are the two ends, so it was decided to open another waterline.

"The specific charter, please negotiate with Yang Shiquan, as for the matter of postage and stamps, I will wait until I go to Beijing to ask for a decree. The mail horses and mail trucks running on land can hang the flag of the middle battalion of the Xuan Army, and the mail ships on the waterline can also hang the flag of the Xuan Army Naval Division, so you can rest assured. ”

"Sir, please rest assured, the tone has been set, and we will do the rest, and we will not delay." Liu Xunzhi smiled, "It's your post, isn't it time to post it?" I'm afraid that if it's too late, my brother who is farther away won't have time to come back. ”

"What post?" Guan Zhuofan rarely showed a hint of timidity.

The rest of the people laughed together.

"The happy day is coming, who doesn't want to drink a glass of Hou Ye's wedding wine?" Yang Fang broke it for him, "Even Xueyan's wife is afraid that she is in a hurry to send Miss Hu over." ”

*

(On Monday, ask for a recommendation ticket with everyone, xiexie~)

*(To be continued......)