How big is the gap between ancient 800-mile express and modern express?

In costume dramas, we can always hear a word, 800 Li is in a hurry. Is this speed very fast? What is the level compared with today's express delivery? In fact, this speed is really not very fast.

In ancient times, due to the limitation of conditions, the most developed mode of transportation was always land transportation, and land transportation was naturally inseparable from horses and post stations, which was equivalent to the significance of express delivery stations and transport vehicles now. In the Tang Dynasty, horses that traveled more than 180 Li a day were called fast horses, while horses with higher requirements could travel 300 Li a day. A horse that can run 500 miles a day is almost the fastest. When the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty began to do things, it took six days for Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, three thousand miles away, to know and basically understand that horses traveling thousands of miles a day basically did not exist.

In ancient times, in order to ensure the delivery speed of mail, a large number of post stations and post horses were set up all over the country. Take the prosperous Tang Dynasty as an example. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, there were post stations all over the country, and more than 20,000 people matched them. When transporting particularly urgent articles or letters, change horses without changing people, because horses will gradually slow down with the consumption of physical strength, and even the strongest horses can't stand running all the time. In the Tang Dynasty, the post stations were generally 20 miles apart. In order to achieve the highest transmission efficiency of 1390 stations nationwide, the senior officials of the imperial court are also committed to the management of the stations. There are not only staff and horses, but also special post stations and post houses, and with the gradual refinement of the post station network, the division of labor is gradually clear.

The "courier brother" in the ancient post station can work better than the limited couriers and takeaways. They don't have modern means of transportation, so they can only fly by horse, and they have to run non-stop whether it is windy or rainy. Once the post station receives an express delivery, such as 800 Li, it will mark the words "fly at once" on the goods to show that it is necessary to equip this express delivery with the best horses. The most basic thing is to travel for 300 Ali days, and the fastest can reach 800 Ali days. This transportation speed is close to that of modern express delivery.