"This Mid-Autumn Festival poem is indeed excellent. I also know a bit about poetry, so I naturally know its place among Mid-Autumn Festival poems."

Prefect Xu nodded: "If this poem was written by Chief Jing, then let alone half of the talented people in the world, I can say that he is the greatest talent in the world!"

"..."

After a moment of contemplation, everyone finally understood the hidden meaning in Magistrate Xu's words. Immediately, someone asked, "What does Magistrate Xu mean by that? Could it be that 'When Will the Moon Be Bright Again' wasn't written by President Jing?"

Instead of answering directly, Prefect Xu laughed and asked in return, "Before last year's Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering in Jingzhou, had any of you heard of President Jing's name? Or heard of President Jing's works?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Magistrate Xu continued, “It seems that everyone, like me, heard about President Jing through that Mid-Autumn Festival poem. Moreover, after the Mid-Autumn Festival Poetry Gathering, President Jing wrote many more poems, and each one is of excellent quality.”

"..."

The crowd was astonished. As ordinary people, they could only know some poems that were widely circulated in other places. Naturally, they could not know as much as an official like Prefect Xu. At this moment, the crowd suddenly realized that President Jing had written more than just the Mid-Autumn Festival poem!

“Our Jiangling has many scholars, and everyone has been studying since childhood. Naturally, we know that writing poetry and lyrics requires a foundation and constant practice to master; it's not something that can be achieved overnight. But look at President Jing. Before last year's Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering, he was unremarkable. However, after going to Jingzhou, he shone brightly and wrote several poems of good quality. Do you all know why that is?”

"..."

Everyone was bewildered, but at the same time they felt that what Prefect Xu said made some sense. If Jing Zhe was so talented, his reputation should have spread only now, right?

Everyone hurriedly asked, "Prefect Xu, what is the reason for this?"

Magistrate Xu was very pleased to see that he had piqued everyone's curiosity, but he did not answer. Instead, he asked again, "You all know the position of Chief Jing, right?"

"Of course I know, isn't he the editor-in-chief of the Da'an Daily?"

Magistrate Xu nodded and continued, "Do you know who is qualified to join the Da'an Newspaper Office?"

Who is it?

"To be able to enter the Da'an Newspaper, one must at least be a Grand Scholar. In other words, any member randomly selected from the Da'an Newspaper would be a talented scholar. Therefore, the Da'an Newspaper can be said to have gathered all the learned young literati of Jingzhou, no, to be precise, most of Anguo. Naturally, there are many talented and extraordinary people among them, and there are quite a few who are good at writing poetry and lyrics."

"Moreover, I've heard that the newspaper published by Da'an Newspaper has a literary section that publishes poems, mostly by President Jing. Every single one of them is a masterpiece, while the poems written by others are quite ordinary, which is rather strange..."

"..."

Guided by him, everyone suddenly understood.

"Prefect Xu, are you saying that the poems written by President Jing, whether it's the Mid-Autumn Festival poem or the other poems published in the newspaper, were not written by him personally, but rather were conceived by all the scholars in the newspaper and then published under his name?"

"There's no doubt about it! If he were truly that talented, why had no one heard of him for over ten years, only becoming famous after he went to Jingzhou and joined the Da'an Newspaper? Haha, he's quite the editor-in-chief. A group of scholars pooled their wisdom and efforts just to help him become famous for his poetry. Impressive!"

"Now that you mention it, it really makes sense! Logically speaking, it's already quite an achievement for someone to write one Mid-Autumn Festival poem in their entire life, let alone write other good poems. It's undoubtedly ghostwritten! Prefect Xu, don't you think we're right?"

"That's not what I said!"

Magistrate Xu waved his hand repeatedly, but his smile only grew wider.

"These are all your own ideas, and have nothing to do with me. I'm just explaining the situation to you."

At this point, Prefect Xu continued, "However, the reason why President Jing was able to become the president of the Da'an Newspaper at such a young age must be because he has some ability. Besides, when the third prince of Southern Qi went to Jingzhou to marry Princess Mo Chen, the court had to put forward someone. This person could be President Jing, or it could be President Li or President Wang, as long as the face of Anguo is preserved."

Moreover, Anguo's literary style is more orthodox than that of Southern Qi, and it is most flourishing in Jiangling, even surpassing that of the capital, Jingzhou. At this time, sending someone out to write excellent poems would not only boost the morale of Jingzhou's scholars but also prevent them from losing too much face when facing the talented men of Jiangling. That's quite good!

"..."

Prefect Xu said he didn't say it, but what he implied was that Jing Zhe was just someone the court put forward to fight against the Southern Qi and even against the talented scholars of Jiangling. Behind him were all the talented scholars in Jingzhou City, which was why, after Jing Zhe appeared, there were no other good poems or lyrics in Jingzhou City besides him.

Therefore, after Magistrate Xu finished speaking, everyone was in an uproar.

“I’ve always had a bad impression of northern cities like Jingzhou. After hearing the Mid-Autumn Festival poem last year, I thought it was my bias to think that a talented person from Jingzhou could write such a timeless masterpiece. Now it seems that this talented person from Jingzhou is not only untalented, but also lacks virtue!”

"That's right! If you can write, then write; if you can't, then don't. Why bother getting a bunch of people to write words and phrases? What good are the poems they produce, no matter how good they are? It's an insult to the integrity of us scholars!"

"I heard from my friend in Jingzhou that the Da'an Newspaper is extremely popular there. So His Majesty has decided to open branches of the newspaper all over the country. President Jing has already left Jingzhou with his people after the New Year, and I'm afraid he will also come to Jiangling to open a branch of the newspaper!"

"Ha, someone as incompetent and immoral as him wants to open a branch of a newspaper in Jiangling? I'll be the first to object!"

"I won't agree!"

"Absolutely not!"

After listening, Prefect Xu waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then said with a serious expression, "Everyone, don't be so resistant to the Da'an Newspaper. After all, the opening of a branch of the newspaper is His Majesty's decree, not any one person's. Besides, if you all act like this, and if President Jing and his party come to Jiangling, they will think that I instigated you to deliberately prevent him from opening a branch of the newspaper in Jiangling!"

These words sound like advice to others, but in reality, they are clarifying one's own position.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, everyone immediately patted their chests and assured him, "Prefect Xu, don't worry, these are all our spontaneous actions and have nothing to do with you!"

"..."

————