The graph of the function $f(x)=x^{n}+a_{n-1} x^{n-1}+\cdots+a_{1} x+a_{0}$ (where $n>1$ ), intersects the line $y=b$ at the points $B_{1}, B_{2}, \ldots, B_{n}$ (from left to right), and the line $y=c(c \neq b)$ at the points $C_{1}, C_{2}, \ldots, C_{n}$ (from left to right). Let $P$ be a point on the line $y=c$, to the right to the point $C_{n}$. Find the sum $\cot \angle B_{1} C_{1} P+\cdots+\cot \angle B_{n} C_{n} P$.
Let the points $B_{i}$ and $C_{i}$ have the coordinates $\left(b_{i}, b\right)$ and $\left(c_{i}, c\right)$, respectively, for $i=1,2, \ldots, n$. Then we have

$$
\cot \angle B_{1} C_{1} P+\cdots+\cot \angle B_{n} C_{n} P=\frac{1}{b-c} \sum_{i=1}^{n}\left(b_{i}-c_{i}\right)
$$

The numbers $b_{i}$ and $c_{i}$ are the solutions of $f(x)-b=0$ and $f(x)-c=0$, respectively. As $n \geq 2$, it follows from the relationships between the roots and coefficients of a polynomial (Viète's relations) that $\sum_{i=1}^{n} b_{i}=$ $\sum_{i=1}^{n} c_{i}=-a_{n-1}$ regardless of the values of $b$ and $c$, and hence $\cot \angle B_{1} C_{1} P+\cdots+\cot \angle B_{n} C_{n} P=0$.