Ryan Cui, as a filial son, did a very good job. In the Hanlin Academy, he had to compile records, draft imperial edicts, eat... and be a bookkeeper for the imperial lectures. In addition to working hard day and night, he also wrote dozens of poems and articles for his old father in prison, expressing his sorrow whenever he got a chance.
Teacher Li was very satisfied when he saw his pile of poems that were not very poetic and emotional. He boasted to Liu Jian, a scholar, about his filial piety in private: "When I ordered him to write a few poems as a teacher, he tried every means to delay and I had to revise his poems again and again. Now, because he misses his father so much and his emotions are overflowing, he has written so many poems..."
He wrote a lot of poems, but how can we tell that he was "emotionally profuse"? Aren't these poems just forced to rhyme? Could his previous writings have been worse than this?
Liu Jian couldn't agree with the fact that Li Dongyang, who was famous for his poetry, boasted about such a poor poem. After thinking about it, he could only attribute it to the fact that as a teacher, he lowered the standard for his apprentice's poetry.
He really couldn't praise these poems, so he picked out a point that he could praise: "He Zhong is indeed a pure and filial man. Fortunately, he sent the account books and stolen goods to the Zhenfu Division early, so that the Jinyiwei closed the case early, and saved the old gentleman from having to be brought to court for interrogation and torture for nothing."
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