Advancement Brings Power, Retreat Spreads the Way!

The post of Privy Council Chief Secretariat Drafter—judging from the name alone, it was not hard to see where it belonged. It was an office within the Privy Council.

Great Rui's political structure was quite thoroughly divided in terms of court administration. Its core consisted of the Two Offices.

These Two Offices referred to the Council of State Affairs and the Privy Council. In the early days of Great Rui, they respectively oversaw civil and military affairs. After several rounds of reform, their powers had shifted somewhat, but the Privy Council's control over military administration had only grown stronger, bit by bit.

The Privy Council, also known as the Privy Office and alternatively called the "Pardon Office," was directly led by the Emperor. It handled confidential military and state affairs, military defenses, border preparations, and military edicts. Its highest-ranking official was the Privy Commissioner, known as the "Administrator of Privy Council Affairs," who assisted the Son of Heaven in wielding military authority.

The current Privy Commissioner was Wang Jing. There was also a Deputy Privy Commissioner, likewise called the "Co-Administrator of Privy Council Affairs," who served as the Privy Commissioner's deputy yet wielded scarcely less power. The current Deputy Privy Commissioner was Geng Chi, a former military officer—quite an exception.

Though the Privy Council controlled military affairs, it had traditionally been headed by civil officials. Few military men could ever rise to such a position, because in the eyes of the court's senior ministers, while the Privy Council was connected to the military, its work was not limited to leading troops into battle. It also involved much institutional construction and the like. To them, crude military officers were incapable of handling such duties.

After all, the two commissioners of the Privy Council were effectively chief ministers as well. A military