大学士
The Grand Secretariat gradually had more effective power since the Xuande Emperor's time. During his reign, all memorials from the Ministries to the emperor had to go through the Grand Secretariat. Upon receiving a memorial, the Grand Secretaries first scrutinized it and then decided upon proper response. The rescript was then pasted to the face of the memorial and submitted with it to the emperor. Through this process known as "piaoni", the Grand Secretariat became "de facto" the highest policy-formulation institution above the Six Ministries, and the senior Grand Secretaries had power comparable to the Chancellor of old.