O ARE SET OVER ALL THE AFFAIRS OF THE GREAT
KAAN.

You must know that the Great Kaan hath chosen twelve great Barons to whom
he hath committed all the necessary affairs of thirty-four great
provinces; and now I will tell you particulars about them and their
establishments.

You must know that these twelve Barons reside all together in a very rich
and handsome palace, which is inside the city of Cambaluc, and consists of
a variety of edifices, with many suites of apartments. To every province
is assigned a judge and several clerks, and all reside in this palace,
where each has his separate quarters. These judges and clerks administer
all the affairs of the provinces to which they are attached, under the
direction of the twelve Barons. Howbeit, when an affair is of very great
importance, the twelve Barons lay in before the Emperor, and he decides as
he thinks best. But the power of those twelve Barons is so great that they
choose the governors for all those thirty-four great provinces that I have
mentioned, and only after they have chosen do they inform the Emperor of
their choice. This he confirms, and grants to the person nominated a
tablet of gold such as is appropriate to the rank of his government.

Those twelve Barons also have such authority that they can dispose of the
movements of the forces, and send them whither, and in such strength, as
they please. This is done indeed with the Emperor's cognizance, but still
the orders are issued on their authority. They are styled SHIENG, which is
as much as to say "The Supreme Court," and the palace where they abide is
also called _Shieng_. This body forms the highest authority at the Court
of the Great Kaan; and indeed they can favour and advance whom they will.
I will not now name the thirty-four provinces to you, because they will be
spoken of in detail in the course of this Book.[NOTE 1]

NOTE 1.--Pauthier's extracts from the Chinese Annals of the Dynasty, in
illustration of this subject, are interesting. These, as he represents
them, show the Council of Ministers usually to have consisted of twelve
high officials, viz.: two _Ch'ing-siang_ [Chinese] or (chief) ministers of
state, one styled, "of the Right," and the other "of the Left"; four
called _P'ing-chang ching-sse_, which seems to mean something like
ministers in charge of special departments; four assistant ministers; two
Counsellors.

Rashiduddin, however, limits the Council to the first two classes:
"S