On this day 164 years ago, on January 20, 1861 (December 10, 1860 lunar calendar), the Qing Dynasty established the Prime Minister's State Affairs Yamen. In order to handle foreign affairs and foreign affairs, the Qing Dynasty established the Premier's State Affairs Yamen (referred to as "Premier's Yamen", "General Administration", "Translation Office") in Beijing on January 20, 1861 (December 10, the 10th year of Xianfeng, the Qing Dynasty), and appointed Prince Gong Yixiao as the Chief Minister of the Premier's State Affairs Yamen. Its responsibilities are: to handle foreign affairs, send ministers to various countries, and also manage trade, customs, coastal defense, ordering arms, hosting the Tongwen Museum and sending international students. It also governs the three trade ministers (changed to Beiyang Trade Minister in 1870) and the five trade ministers (changed to Nanyang Trade Minister in 1866). He also appointed Gui Liang, a great scholar, and Lang Wenxiang, an attendant of the Ministry of Household Affairs, as ministers of the Prime Minister's Yamen, appointed Chonghou as the minister of trade of Niuzhuang, Dengzhou, and Tianjin, and appointed Xue Huan, the minister of the imperial corps, to also handle trade affairs in Shanghai and other departments. The Prime Minister's Yamen became an important decision-making body above the six ministries. In 1901, it was reorganized into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.