Was there a business similar to "take-away food delivery" in ancient times?

In ancient times, private logistics business was very difficult. The national postal system does not accept private orders, so most private communications are carried by private individuals. My neighbor is going on a long trip. That's perfect. Help me with something. There is a poem "Drinking Horses in the Great Wall Grottoes" in Han Yuefu, in which there is a sentence: "Guests come from afar and leave me a pair of carp. Hu Er cooks carp with books in it. " It's a letter brought home by a fellow countryman.

If you have more money, you can send someone to deliver the letter. If you do business, you are responsible for the transportation of goods yourself. There are some unconventional methods. In the story of Su Wu herding sheep in the Han Dynasty, Su Wu tied the letter to Hongyan's leg and sent it back to the Han Dynasty, so there was a saying that "Hongyan handed books", and in the Tang Dynasty, flying pigeons handed books.

In the Tang Dynasty, with the development of transportation, private hotels were developed, and the situation of private communication was better. According to Tongdian, Hunan, Beijing, Sichuan, Gansu and other places were originally remote places with many hotels.

From 1963 to 1965, Zhao Yishen's letters unearthed in Turpan, Xinjiang, were real letters at that time. It can be seen from this letter that it was sent from Xizhou (now Turpan) on September 5th and received in Luoyang on February 3rd. The distance between the two places is about 3000 kilometers, which is received in three months, with an average of about 30 kilometers per day.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the People's Credit Bureau, which specializes in the people's credit industry, gradually emerged, and escort agencies appeared in freight transportation, but they only transported valuables.

Think about how much trouble it was to mail an item in ancient times. Now the express delivery speed is from three or four days to several hours the next day, which makes our life more and more convenient.