Privy Chamber

The Privy Chamber (少府, m′ū-pwaq) is a traditional Themiclesian government department associated with the monarch's household. It was established during Antiquity, managing royal assets and a large number of derived functions. In later centuries, wholly unconnected functions were added to its supervision, and it has been called the "trash bin" of government departments.

Originally, it employed thousands of labourers and penal slaves, often entire households, to discharge its functions. From the 16th century, many of its manufacturing departments were closed in favour of procurement from the market, though these functions persisted into the 19th.

Chamberlain

The Privy Chamberlain (少府令) superintends the other commissioners and holds the high rank of 2,000 bushels in the civil service. The Vice Chamberlain (少府丞) is ranked at 800 bushels, and the Secretary to the Chamberlain (少府長史) is at 600 bushels.

Privy Chamber Court

The Privy Chamber also operated a law court for certain individuals and, most notably, the disputes over fines and amercements due to the Sovereign. In 1857, this court was merged into the Exchequer of Themiclesia but continued to exist as the Privy Chamber Division (𤔲少府事), which was led by a Chief Justice.

Structure

The Privy Chamber had an elaborate structure, probably making it the largest government department until the 19th century (with the exception of the army and navy). For ease of administration, the department was conceptualized along the lines of production, storage, and management sectors. Certain resources were shared by the entire Privy Chamber and could be transferred between different parts of it, often to pivot between priorities identified by the government.

Storage

• 中御府 Privy Wardrobe
• 御府 Wardrobe
• 大府 Sacrament Wardrobe
• 書府 Oracle Wardrobe

The Privy Treasury possessed one of the most elaborate bureaucracies in the whole of Themiclesia, and the extent of its jurisdiction derives from that of royal forests. Virtually all unused, unowned land in Themiclesia was considered royal forest, and the Privy Treasury was responsible for its administration and the extraction of its resources, which included timber, minerals, animals. Additionally, mineral and salt deposits on private lands were also deemed royal assets. In most periods, the public may hunt, fish, and grow crops in royal forests for a fee and a portion of their products. All the materials that these lands produce are stored and transformed by the Privy Treasury's departments into goods for royal use and sale.

To supply the skill and labour needed to manage these assets, the Privy Treasury employed, in broad terms, semi-free labourers called engineers (工室, qweng-stit) and penal slaves (隸臣妾, reps-ging-ktsap). The engineers were households that passed on their skills from generation to generation and continued to serve under the Privy Treasury. Some members of the households could earn their liberties for a fee, if their skills were not in short supply. Engineers were required to do whatever work assigned to them by the Privy Treasury, but they owned property, lived at private homes, and otherwise led ordinary lives.

See also

• Themiclesia