"When I came, I heard someone sing 'Two chopsticks holding bowls, the barrier is in the west and south, the east is not flat, the north is flat, and Huangshan is better than Jiuhua Mountain.' Can anyone explain to me what this folk song means?"

Wang Weihe and others naturally did not dare to take Ma De's "invitation" seriously. Three days after the birthday party, they found the governor's yamen early.

Since Wang Weihe just wanted to come and explore Ma De's words this time, he did not notify too many people, and only brought a few big merchants who were always influential in Huizhou. They thought Ma De would ask for money in a corner, but they would definitely say something like Anhui had just suffered a disaster and the people lived in a difficult life, and they urgently needed everyone to donate generously. For this reason, they discussed for a long time, and in order not to offend the landlord, they also discussed a minimum payment limit for paying money. However, after seeing this, Ma De did not say that, but just chatted with them for a vague time, and after Shi Shilun and Lu Longqi arrived, they officially spoke. However, they still did not ask for money, but asked such a folk question.

"Return to Futai Master, this folk song sings about our Anhui. Two chopsticks refer to the Yangtze River and the Huai River; Chaohu Lake is like a bowl; Dabie Mountain to the west and Tianmu Mountain to the southeast are like a screen; to the north is a plain with a flat river, while in southern Anhui there are Huangshan Mountain, which is particularly beautiful in the five mountains and Jiuhua Mountain, one of the four famous Buddhist mountains." A Hui merchant named Liu Yuqing brought by Wang Weihe replied.

"So that's it! It seems that our Anhui is indeed a good place! There are mountains, waters and flat land... But I want to ask you, why is Anhui so poor? Moreover, such a good place always causes disasters!" Ma De asked a few people with a smile.

"This... Sir, I wonder if you have ever heard of a folk song from Anhui?" Wang Weihe thought for a while, then looked up at Ma De's face, and then asked.

"Oh? It's a folk song again?" Made asked.

"This folk song is actually very famous, called "Fengyang Dictionary"!" Wang Weihe replied.

"So it's this song! I've heard it. The song "Since Emperor Zhu came out, there have been nine years of desolation in ten years", right?" Ma De asked.

"What the lord said is right, it's this song!" Wang Weihe replied.

"Taking this folk song... President Wang, are you trying to blame Zhu Yuanzhang for his poverty in Anhui?" Ma De asked Wang Weihe again.

"I dare not, don't dare!" Wang Weihe waved his hands repeatedly. Although it was the Qing Dynasty now, when Kangxi visited the southern tour, he still went to the imperial tomb in Nanjing to pay homage to Zhu Yuanzhang, and called himself a "subject" to Zhu Yuanzhang in the tribute! Although doing this would win people's hearts and be aware of stabilizing Jiangnan, Zhu Yuanzhang was still not a person who could criticize in public.

"Fengyang was indeed a good place. However, because it was Zhu Hongwu's birthplace and was named "Zhongdu", there were a lot of officials and eunuchs, and the search was excessive, which made this place fall from then on. Moreover, the corruption of officials in the former Ming Dynasty was so fierce that Zhu Hongwu's method of "stripping the skin and filling the grass" could not be deterred, let alone the emperor after him..." Shi Shilun also said.

"You are talking about the officials not being honest enough! Isn't it?" Ma De asked.

"This is exactly what the officials mean!" Shi Shilun replied. Wang Weihe and others did not dare to say anything.

"Is this the only one?" Ma De asked again: "If a province is defeated for so many years just because the officials are not honest enough, and has been poor for so many years, so that local bold and knowledgeable people have left one after another and made a name for "Hui Shang" that has traveled all over the world, it would be a bit too much, right?"

"..." Wang Weihe and others looked at each other and were speechless. They didn't hear what Ma De meant for a while. Are they praising them or saying that they are rich? Moreover, Ma De's problem is too big, and it is not something that the merchants like them dare to come forward to talk casually. Wang Weihe just wanted to get along with him, but unfortunately Ma De didn't buy it.

Shi Shilun and Lu Longqi also looked at each other and didn't know how to answer it for a while. Although Ma De's question seems simple, it is impossible to answer it clearly, if you don't study it easily.

...

"Officials! People! Geography! Customs! Astronomy and climate!... And merchants! Scholars!" Ma De stared at the people in front of him without blinking. "Ben Fu wants you to find out the reasons why Anhui has always been a poor province and the solutions to these things from the following I have listed. I will give you a month... no, it has been less than a month. Ben Fu gave those prefects and prefects a month to find out how to make their jurisdiction better. You are more than ten days behind them, but you are all smarter than them! So Ben Fu asked you to join them at that time and hand over this answer!"

"Master Futai, you... are you talking about letting us?" Liu Yuqing pointed at himself, Wang Weihe and others, and he couldn't believe it and was incredible wherever he could hold things on his body.

"That's right! You are businessmen and smart businessmen. You probably know more about Anhui than the people in some places themselves. So Benfu came to you! Remember, you don't have much time left, Benfu asked you to write down everything you can think of! Of course, if you are afraid of trouble or someone is afraid of making a big fuss, then you can find someone to write it on your behalf, or even print it out, or you don't need to sign it. However, the number of copies must be sufficient, otherwise Benfu will have to settle the accounts with you. Remember, you can't copy each other." Ma De said.

"Sir, we don't mean that! But you said we would help you think about it, this..." Wang Wei and the others still felt a little incredible, and they were a little scared... If Ma De asked them to pay at this time, they would definitely gain a lot.

"Of course it's not just you. Benfu also wants to find the scholars and talents in Tongcheng, but it has not yet been achieved. As the saying goes, you can understand. Benfu will not only believe in officials, nor will he only believe in you. However, since you are all from Anhui and have achieved something now, you should do more things for your hometown. As far as I know, although you are doing business, you have bought more than 100,000 acres of land to plant, just in northern Anhui, right?" Ma De asked.

"Yes, what the lord said is good." Wang Weihe replied.

"That's right. Who doesn't want your home to be better? With your financial resources, you can go to Yangzhou and Jiangning, and buy better and more land in the Taihu area. But, you are back... Why is this? The fallen leaves return to their roots!... Benfu is just an outsider, Lord Shi and Lord Lu are also outsiders. We all want to get things done. As Anhui people, are you just willing to watch from the side?" Ma De asked.

"I dare not! What Lord Futai said really makes me feel inexplicably. Please rest assured, we will definitely do what you ordered!" Wang Weihe and several merchants bowed deeply to Ma De and said.

"That's good! I'm waiting for your 'ans answer'!" Ma De smiled and sent someone to send a few businessmen out.

...

"Your Highness thought that Master Futai, you came to ask these people to donate some money to do things, but you didn't expect that the master just said a few words and then put them back!" As soon as Wang Weihe and others left, Shi Shilun said to Ma De, with some complaints in his words.

"Haha, these people are rich people, of course they will ask them to pay at that time. But Brother Shi, what you mean is to ask them to pay once, at most two or three times. The money may be a lot of money each time, but it cannot last long, and it will also attract resentment from these people. Don't think that these merchants are respectful to us on the surface, but if you really want to act arrogantly, you are no match for them." Ma De said.

"Yes, Anhui suffered a severe drought last year. Some of these merchants, together with corrupt officials, bought and sold relief food allocated by the imperial court, and some hoarded goods and raised prices. At that time, the whole of Anhui was in chaos, and there was a lot of the contributions of these people!" Shi Shilun said.

"That's right. I admit that it's a bad sheep. Moreover, if each of these people was willing to take out something to help the victims at that time, Anhui would not be in such a mess. But Brother Shi, would you be willing to send your money to corrupt officials?" Ma De asked back.

"This is different! Even if they don't give money and food to corrupt officials, they can still open a porridge shop to help the victims!" Shi Shilun said dissatisfied.

"That would be like offending those corrupt officials!" Lu Longqi said with her beard.

"Yes! Merchants are all in this kind of temperament, seeking profit and avoiding evil. If it weren't for you, Lord Shi Shilun, who was like you, if someone else came, I'm afraid there would be a pot of porridge in Anhui now! Moreover, even if you, Lord Shi, if there was no emperor who insisted on holding on, you would have lost even the scum. Under such a situation, what would those merchants dare to do?" Ma De asked Shi Shilun again.

"Sir, why did you ask these businessmen to write an answer sheet?" Shi Shilun asked again.

"Yes, sir, this move may be criticized!" Lu Longqi also said.

"I know! But my purpose is actually to inspire these merchants to come out and help me pay attention to the situation in various places at any time. Not only within the province, but also outside the province. In this way, I have three sources of information: officials; scholars; merchants! At that time, I am still afraid that someone will make trouble for me?... Two adults, 'The informant survive'! This land in Anhui is not a good place to stay, and you must have more guarantees!" Ma De replied.

"..." Lu Longqi and Shi Shilun were silent at the same time.
Chapter completed!