The speaker was Master Kongjing, the abbot of Peach Blossom Temple.
Logically speaking, as the abbot of Peach Blossom Temple, Master Kongjing, a monk, was not familiar with poetry; he was more familiar with Buddhist scriptures and should not have commented on poetry.
But at this moment, he stepped forward.
Upon seeing this, Feng Mubai was even more delighted and immediately asked, "Oh? What is Master Kongjing's opinion on this poem?"
Master Kongjing stepped forward, bowed to Jing Zhe, and said in a deep voice, "As a monk, I should not comment on the poems of you benefactors, but I have a few words to say about this benefactor's poem!"
Before he knew Jing Zhe's identity, Master Kongjing was already unhappy because his disciple had been beaten by Jing Zhe. He originally intended to confront Jing Zhe, but Jing Zhe later revealed his identity, and even his old friend Prefect Xu was unable to do anything about it, so he had to give up.
However, due to his official position, Prefect Xu was directly suppressed by Jing Zhe, making it virtually impossible for him to stand up for him. Therefore, Master Kongjing decided to step in himself.
Master Kongjing is not afraid of Jing Zhe.
Although he did not hold any official position, as the abbot of Peach Blossom Temple, he still held a very high status in Jiangling. Not to mention Jing Zhe, even if Emperor An came, he would have to pay homage to the Peach Blossom Buddha.
Therefore, he could criticize Jing Zhe without restraint, but he was powerless against himself—any official with a brain would not dare to offend a monk!
Therefore, he deliberately did not address Jing Zhe by his official title, but instead addressed him as "benefactor," in order to give him a warning.
"Oh? If this old monk has something unpleasant going on, he should just vomit it up."
Jing Zhe smiled, his eyes narrowing.
"This humble monk is the abbot of Peach Blossom Temple, and my Dharma name is Kongjing."
"I am Jing Zhe, the president of the Da'an Newspaper."
"..."
Jing Zhe looked at him coldly, thinking to himself, "You call me benefactor, then I'll call you old monk, and we're even." Of course, actually, it would be a draw if Jing Zhe called him venerable monk, but by calling him old monk directly, Jing Zhe had gained a slight advantage.
"That was my rudeness, President Jing!"
Over the years, even before he became the abbot of Peach Blossom Temple, everyone who saw him had to respectfully address him as "high monk." This extremely disrespectful title of "old monk" was something Master Kongjing had never heard before, and he felt increasingly uncomfortable with it. So he had no choice but to back down and address Jing Zhe as "President Jing."
But to his surprise, Jing Zhe didn't give him any face at all!
"Yes, old monk."
"..."
I'm already being very lenient by not calling you a bald monk, and you're still pushing your luck. You're really asking for it!
“Speak up, old monk.”
Seeing that Master Kongjing remained silent, Jing Zhe did not forget to remind him.
"You... then this humble monk will discuss your peach blossom poem with you today!"
Master Kongjing, panting heavily, looked extremely indignant: "This poem was written in advance, and you couldn't even be bothered to revise it. It's utterly worthless!"
"Whoosh!"
These words shocked everyone present.
The happiest person was undoubtedly Feng Mubai. He was already excited when Jing Zhe and Master Kongjing had a minor disagreement over how to address each other. Now, hearing Master Kongjing's blunt and blatant criticism of Jing Zhe's poetry, he was practically ready to applaud.
"Oh, then this old monk will explain in detail!"
Jing Zhe said with a mocking expression.
"Ever since I came to Peach Blossom Mountain more than 20 years ago, Peach Blossom Temple has been here. But what President Jing mentioned in his poem is Peach Blossom Hermitage, and what he said about picking peach blossoms to sell for money to buy wine? That's utter nonsense! Who would dare to pick the peach blossoms in Peach Blossom Temple to sell for wine money? Moreover, repeatedly mentioning wine in such a sacred Buddhist place as Peach Blossom Temple clearly shows that he doesn't respect Peach Blossom Temple or this humble monk!"
Master Kongjing raised his arms and shouted, and those who didn't know better might have thought he was going to lead everyone in a rebellion. However, his words were indeed persuasive, and he gained the support of the crowd as soon as he finished speaking.
Indeed, the "Peach Blossom Hermitage" mentioned in Jing Zhe's poem is not the same place as Peach Blossom Temple at all, and the outrageous act of picking peach blossoms to sell for wine money could not possibly happen here.
So, just as Master Kongjing said, this poem doesn't seem to have been written on the spot, but rather it seems to have been written in advance somewhere. Jing Zhe was too lazy to even revise it, which is very much in line with the persona Jing Zhe had in their minds—that he always had his poems ghostwritten.
"Master Kongjing is right!"
"It is truly inappropriate to repeatedly offer wine in this sacred Buddhist site!"
"Mistaking Peach Blossom Temple for Peach Blossom Hermitage does indeed sound like a poem prepared in advance, don't you all think?"
"..."
Jing Zhe paid no attention to the comments of the crowd, and instead looked at Master Kongjing with a cold smile: "Old monk, whose Peach Blossom Temple is this?"
“Naturally, it belongs to this humble monk.”
"How dare you!"
Before he could even open his mouth, Jing Zhe roared, startling everyone: "Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king. This beautiful land of Anguo belongs to the current emperor. Not to mention this Peach Blossom Temple, even the entire Peach Blossom Mountain and Jiangling City belong to the emperor. You, an old monk, claim it as yours? What, are you the emperor? Or perhaps..."
Jing Zhe suddenly raised his voice: "Do you want to rebel?"
"..."
This accusation was too much; Master Kongjing was completely dumbfounded.
Not only was he stunned, everyone present was stunned, and according to Jing Zhe's logic, what he said made perfect sense...
"This...President Jing, please don't be angry..."
Master Kongjing broke out in a cold sweat. The reason he was respected was because Anguo respected Buddhism, and because Emperor An respected Buddhism. In the end, they still had to rely on the court and obey Emperor An. How could they rebel?
He wouldn't dare!
“What this humble monk means is… I am the abbot of Peach Blossom Temple, and I am in charge of the daily affairs of Peach Blossom Temple. As for the ownership of Peach Blossom Temple and even Peach Blossom Mountain, it naturally belongs to the imperial court.”
Jing Zhe sneered after hearing this: "So you also know that this Peach Blossom Temple isn't yours? Since this Peach Blossom Temple belongs to the imperial court, isn't it normal for me, as a second-rank official, to come and pick some peach blossoms and sell them for wine money? It's the same principle as when you collect incense money and give it to Prefect Xu! Prefect Xu is the local official of Jiangling City, and this Peach Blossom Temple is usually under his management. It's perfectly normal for you to give incense money to Prefect Xu as management fees!"
"..."
Magistrate Xu was just watching the show, but he never expected that he would end up eating his own food, and he was immediately shocked.
"President Jing, this incense money..."
"Prefect Xu, there's no need to be nervous. As I just said, this Peach Blossom Temple belongs to the imperial court. Prefect Xu has been working so hard to manage it, so it's only right that you receive some donations."
After saying that, he glanced at Prefect Xu and said, "Prefect Xu, don't you dare say they didn't give it to us. If they dare not give it to us, then I will have to investigate them thoroughly!"
"..."
————
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