Though Xie Zhi's hair had already turned gray, he still carried himself with elegant charm, a handsome old man by any measure. Since he cared most about appearance, he had a favorable impression of the Duke of Dai. He smiled now. "Duke of Dai, I would not dare speak of correcting you. But if there is anything you do not understand, you may ask us. We work in the Grand Secretariat and have gathered a little experience."
After a round of modesty, they began their work.
Su Ziji had a desk and chair of his own, positioned at the very end. The five Grand Secretaries sat down in order before him. Memorials were reviewed by the first man, then passed to the second Grand Secretary, and onward in sequence. Once the final review was complete and opinions had been written on the endorsement slips, they were passed into Su Ziji's hands.
Su Ziji was not merely allowed to observe. He was also made to use paste to attach the endorsement slips to the blank spaces on the memorials. To put it bluntly, he was now a paste worker.
The memorials with their slips attached were piled up and sent at any time to the Imperial Study for the Emperor's inspection.
Every memorial that reached the Grand Secretariat concerned major provincial or commandery affairs. Unless it was a secret memorial, which bypassed the Grand Secretariat and went directly to the Emperor, ordinary memorials first passed through the Grand Secretariat before being delivered to the Emperor for his final review.
Since five Grand Secretaries were working today, each memorial bore five endorsement slips, with all five men responding to it separately. Some Grand Secretaries were merely Grand Academicians and held no concurrent posts, while others, such as Cui Zhaoqian, had only recently