The principle of personal governance had long stood at the heart of Russia's political system, and it was especially important during the reign of Nicholas I. Jealously preserving his role as autocrat, he regarded law as an instrument of rule, preferred administrative solutions, and often bypassed established institutions of state, particularly in his use of informal committees. Recognizing the rampant corruption in the bureaucracy, he sought to combat abuses through acts of intervention, police surveillance, and the appointment of upstanding servitors. He consequently strengthened the supervisory powers of governors, who formed an extension of his personal authority in the provinces, and established His Majesty's Own Chancellery, which soon became a powerful new administrative apparatus. At the heart of Nicholas's system was the Third Section of his chancellery, the secret police or gendarmerie. Though chiefly concerned with sedition, the Third Section possessed a wide sphere of competence, including matters relating to sectarianism, foreigners, counterfeiting, statistical information pertinent to policing, and “reports about all occurrences without exception.”