Ming Post Road System

Timeline

1. c. 1401–1403Yingtian Prefecture (Nanjing) · NanjingIn the early Yongle reign, the Ming court reorganized the post relay system in the two capitals and the provinces, which had fallen into disrepair since the late Yuan, restoring water and horse relay stations and transport offices, and regulating horse allotments, document tallies, and labor conscription, so that the national post road network again carried out the transmission of central government orders.
2. 1403–1410Beijing · BeijingAfter the Yongle Emperor moved the capital to Beijing, the post roads from the capital to Xuanfu, Datong, and Liaodong, as well as southward to Nanjing and Guangzhou, were greatly expanded, with relay stations, bridges, and transport granaries added, tightening the overland links between northern military dispatch and the southward grain transport.
3. c. 1405–1410Jinan Prefecture, Shandong · JinanDuring the Yongle reign, express courier stations were set up on the trunk lines of each province, transmitting urgent documents by foot and horse relay, with prescribed distances between stations, time limits, and courier garrison organization; together with the water and horse relay stations they formed a two-tier postal system of fast and slow services, increasing the speed of official communication.
4. c. 1410–1644National post road network · ChinaIn the mid-to-late Ming, the post road system continued to carry out administrative and military transport functions; though repeatedly consolidated and reformed due to the excessive burden on relay stations, it remained the core overland infrastructure connecting the empire's regions until the late Ming, also indirectly affecting trade routes and intelligence transmission.