Ming Post Station System

Timeline

1. 1368–1398Nanjing (early Ming capital) · East ChinaIn the early Hongwu reign, the Hongwu Emperor ordered the establishment of water and horse stations, courier offices, and express relay stations, stipulating that land post stations be spaced sixty to eighty li apart, handling envoys, military documents, and supply transport, laying the framework of the Ming relay system.
2. 1403–1424Beijing · North ChinaAfter the Yongle relocation to Beijing, the post road network was reorganized around Beiping; tribute envoys and central officials alike relied on the relay system, and the number of stations and official road system expanded markedly, becoming the backbone of imperial transport.
3. 1441–1450Northern China post road trunk lines · North ChinaDuring the Zhengtong to Jingtai years, the relay system still handled delivery of central and local documents and reception of envoys; according to The Cambridge History of Ming China, there were then about a thousand post stations nationwide, but abuses from added corvée levies and extortion by yamen runners were already emerging.
4. 1522–1644Ming relay system network-wide · ChinaIn the mid-to-late Ming, the number of post stations dropped sharply, post runners deserted, and commutation to silver proceeded in parallel; Zhang Juzheng attempted to reform the relay system, but institutional decline proved irreversible, and by the late Ming the relay system existed in name only.