Emperors in Ming and Qing dynasties had officials who were responsible for the daily life of the emperors and kept records, which were called "gathering notes". Historians found in Juju Note that the emperor was surrounded by eunuchs, ladies-in-waiting, concubines and princes, and there was also a lot of information about traveling incognito.
Then some people will ask, how did the wise Emperor Kangxi know the real situation of the people? In fact, the early Qing dynasty inherited the secret service system of the Ming dynasty on a large scale, but the official secret service system of the Qing dynasty was used in a more suitable place than that of the Ming dynasty. The emperor often monitors bureaucrats at all levels and observes the real situation of the people through these eyeliner, instead of competing with the people for profits, so the emperor can grasp the real situation of the people.
There was also a unique memorial system in the Qing Dynasty, in which officials with more than four grades could write memorials to the emperor. There are many memorials about the emperor's horse, but more about the local situation. The secret folding system in the memorial provided a platform for officials to report to each other, and the emperor could monitor the behavior of officials' servants through secret folding (in modern terms, informers).