If you can't get down to your feelings, you will be in chaos. | General Secretary's usage wisdom. ④ If you get down to your feelings, you will be governed. If you get up to your feelings, you will be governed on a large scale. | Public opinion | Wisdom

One important aspect of closely connecting with the masses is to promote the trend of investigation and research.

"The upper level is governance, the lower level is governance, the lower level is governance, and the lower level is chaos." This is derived from Mozi's "Shang Tong", which means that politicians must fully grasp the lower level of public opinion in order to effectively govern society, otherwise it is easy to cause chaos. To understand the situation, one must firmly immerse oneself in the public.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was an official named Zhou Chen who enjoyed "going into the fields, chatting with the village elders, and asking about their suffering.". One night, Zhou Chen passed by a village and saw villagers enjoying the shade under a tree. He took the initiative to approach and chat. It was not until their subordinates arrived that the villagers realized that the person in front of them was actually the Governor of Jiangnan. In this way, Zhou Chen learned a lot about the local situation through face-to-face conversations with the people, saying, "Every time you sit down, let's talk about it, fearing that it won't be enough.".

Afterwards, Zhou Chen established the "square meter method" and reduced the rent on official farmland, reducing the burden on the people and solving the problem of tax arrears. He insists on seeking advice from the people, and many reform strategies are derived from research. According to the evaluation of the contemporaries, "Whenever there was a revolution, Zhou Wenxiang would repeatedly discuss with officials, scholars, and the people before taking action. For example, he would use a fine cloth method to summon Huang Po from the east gate to the platform for planning, often leaving a message until midnight."

The feeling of being able to obtain not only reflects the difficulties of farming and spinning, but also serves as an important basis for scientific decision-making. In history, Shang Yang's "Thirteen Numbers for Strong Countries" and Tang Dynasty's Two Tax Law were all governance strategies proposed after in-depth investigation.

Wang Zhiwang, an official of the Southern Song Dynasty, was the first person in ancient China to conduct large-scale public opinion surveys and revise national tax policies based on them. At that time, in response to the uneven distribution of land taxes and chaotic taxation, the Southern Song government decided to clear land, rectify taxation, and introduced the "Jingjie Law". However, there were significant differences among the people regarding this. Wang Zhiwang realized that "the matter is of utmost importance, with different opinions and questionable interests, and he dare not make biased judgments.". So he began to fully understand.

Wang Zhiwang asked his subordinates to go door-to-door to see how many supported the old tax law and how many supported the new tax law, and then summarize and analyze them. This survey involves a total of 9 states, more than 30 counties, and more than 330000 households, with a huge amount of work involved.

According to the research results, Wang Zhiwang revised the tax reform plan and submitted a memorial to the imperial court on the arrangement of the Tongchuan Road and the boundary of the classics. In the memorial, he emphasized the different opinions of the people of each state on the "Jingjie Law": "Many people in Changrong, Zizhou, Huai'an, and the four states of the army volunteered, while few people in Fushun, Suining, and Puzhou in Tongchuan volunteered." This solid memorial provided a reliable basis for the improvement of the court's policies.

Focusing on observing the people's situation and advocating investigation and research is an important aspect of traditional Chinese political culture. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, some poetry collectors went to various places to observe customs and understand gains and losses. Some people said that the Book of Songs was an ancient investigation report; Guanzi · Wen proposes dozens of questions to be asked, which is considered the "oldest and most comprehensive outline of social investigation"; Throughout dynasties, various inspection systems have been established, playing a role in conveying emotions from lower to higher levels.

Compared to ancient times, modern transportation and communication methods are becoming more and more advanced, and there are more and more channels for obtaining information. However, the convenience of technology also brings some problems. For example, some cadres would rather sit in the office and read various data, scrape materials online to gather research reports, than go to the grassroots to get stuck in mud, stand in the fields and chat with the people. This kind of "paper based" research cannot obtain the real situation. How can policies be formulated on this basis without going south and north?

Liu Xiang of the Western Han Dynasty said in his book "Shuo Yuan: Political Theory": "It is better to see than to hear, to see than to practice, and to practice, it is better to discern." Leaders and cadres must grasp the truth and conduct hands-on investigations and research, and go to the front line to see, listen, ask, and think. This is a work method and work style.