What's the telephone number of Yanjiao Post? I need to deliver something.

Postal origin

The earliest communication records in China came from Oracle Bone Inscriptions unearthed in Yin Ruins. Yin is the Shang Dynasty, also known as Yin Shang. The capital of Yin is now Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan Province. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, tortoise shells and animal bones were dug up here and engraved with words, which were later called Oracle Bone Inscriptions. According to Oracle Bone Inscriptions, during the Pan Geng period of Shang Dynasty (around 1400 BC), Xu bian reported the military situation to the emperor, using the word "Laigu". After textual research, "Laigu" is similar to today's reconnaissance signal soldiers. In the ancient book The Book of Songs, there are also records of "simplified books", which are official emergency documents engraved with animal bones and passed by signalmen. "Jian Shu" originated in the late Yin Dynasty and early Zhou Dynasty (BC12nd century-BC 1 1 century), which is the predecessor of postal service.

The communication between post office and beacon tower originated from the political and military needs of slave countries. According to historical records, in the era of Zhou Youwang 2700 years ago, there was a method of communication by using beacon towers. There is a story about beacon communication called Daughter Laughs. The central idea of the story is that Zhou Youwang has a lovely princess who praises her. Although she is beautiful, she refuses to smile easily. To this end, Zhou Youwang made a reward: "Whoever can make the empress laugh will be rewarded with 1000 kilograms of gold" (metal was called gold at that time). So someone came up with a way to light a bonfire, hoping to get a smile from the queen. One night, Zhou Youwang boarded the tower with a lovely princess and ordered bonfires to be lit everywhere. When the governors of neighboring provinces saw the bonfire, they thought it was an attack by Dog Rong (a tribe in the west at that time), so they led the troops to help at the gate, but they saw the lights shining brightly and the drums blaring. When I asked, I knew it was a funny thing for Zhou Youwang to tease the queen. The warlord dared not speak out, so he had to withdraw his troops angrily and return to camp. He saw it and smiled indifferently. But not long after, the dog Rong really attacked. Although the bonfire was lit, no reinforcements arrived. As it turns out, the governors think that Zhou Youwang is doing the same thing again. As a result, the enemy occupied the castle and killed Zhou Youwang, thus destroying the Western Zhou Dynasty. This historical story not only vividly describes the use of beacon communication at that time, but also warns future generations that no matter who and when, communication should not be taken lightly.

Using beacon towers to transmit information is faster, but it can only play the role of alarm, which is difficult to meet the needs of grasping the enemy's situation and commanding operations. Therefore, with the development of society and the needs of politics and military affairs, from "Laigu" in Shang Dynasty to Zhou Dynasty, a relatively strict postal system for delivering government documents was gradually formed, and it complemented and cooperated with beacon towers.