 Departing from the main central administrative system generally known as the Three Departments and Six Ministries system , which was instituted by various dynasties since late Han ( 202 BCE – 220 CE ) , the Ming administration had only one Department , the Secretariat , that controlled the Six Ministries . Following the execution of the Chancellor Hu <unk> in 1380 , the Hongwu Emperor abolished the Secretariat , the Censorate , and the Chief Military Commission and personally took charge of the Six Ministries and the regional Five Military Commissions . Thus a whole level of administration was cut out and only partially rebuilt by subsequent rulers . The Grand Secretariat , at the beginning a secretarial institution that assisted the emperor with administrative paperwork , was instituted , but without employing grand counselors , or chancellors . 
