军机处

The Yongzheng Emperor set it up around 1729, at first to run his war against the Dzungars in secret, which is why the name means 'office of military affairs' (军机). It soon took policy-making away from the Grand Secretariat (内阁), and its ministers, the 军机大臣, drafted the emperor's edicts until it was abolished in 1911.

Its plain duty rooms still stand in the Forbidden City beside the Gate of Heavenly Purity (乾清门), a few steps from the emperor's living quarters: real power sat right next to the throne.