The examination venue was at the county yamen because the Department of Agriculture did not have enough tables and chairs.
The County Magistrate also concurrently managed civil administration, so any theoretical examinations were generally held in the examination rooms of the county yamen.
County Magistrate Li Wenzheng was not seen. The chief examiner and invigilators were still familiar faces from the Department of Agriculture, but the number of invigilators from the county yamen increased to fifty, and there were also more clerks delivering food and water.
This time, there was no need to test endurance, so someone would deliver food to the examination rooms during the exam.
The examination would last two days, so there would naturally be a lot of test papers.
After Zhao Xing found his corresponding examination room and sat down, he waited for the test papers to be distributed. There were forty sheets in total!
Thirty of them were examination questions, and ten were blank.
Zhao Xing was not in a hurry to start writing. He first generally looked over the questions and requirements, and then checked for any errors or omissions.
The first fifteen sheets were 'easy points' questions, belonging to those that could be answered by rote memorization.
For example: "From which ancient book is 'The Seventy-Two Pentads of the Monthly Ordinances' taken? By whom and when was it compiled?"
Zhao Xing didn't even need to think, directly writing down the answer: "It is from 'Explanations of Seasonal Instructions', compiled by Grand Minister of Agriculture Wu Cheng in the ninth year of Kaiping."
Or, a sentence would be extracted from a work, and the preceding or following sentence needed to be filled in.
For example: Duckweed does not grow, Yin Qi is overflowing. ________
Answer: The cuckoo does not preen its feathers, the nation does not engage in military affairs; the hoopoe does not descend upon the mulberry, political decrees are not appropriate.
This question is an 'Yin and Yang Pentads Question', which means that if the Yin Qi among the Yin and Yang Qi is too heavy, then some abnormal 'pentad' phenomena will appear accordingly. At this time, the nation should best avoid engaging in military conflict and not issue new political decrees, otherwise the effect will be relatively poor.
Zhao Xing answered fluently, and the 'easy points' questions were quickly finished.
He then moved on to the scenario-based questions designed to screen candidates.
"There is wind in the south of the city, violent and rampant, causing frequent droughts in spring and autumn. There is a river in the east of the city, with excessive rainfall, leading to frequent floods in summer and winter. The Five Grains are difficult to survive. How to solve this?"
If it were a clerk with an unstable theoretical foundation, they would definitely answer directly, 'By using a Spell to regulate the wind and rain, the Five Grains will be abundant.'
If answered this way, out of 10 points, only 2 could be given, or even none at all.
Because there is only an answer, no process, which is unacceptable for a theoretical examination.
Moreover, the answer is not to the point. This indicates either a misunderstanding of the question or insufficient theoretical knowledge of Spells.
"The small city experiences strong south winds year-round, violent and rampant, blowing away the clouds and rain of spring and autumn, leading to drought. However, there is a river in the east of the city, causing cloud vapor to rise, leading to floods in summer and winter. Therefore, this is fundamentally not a question of heavenly timing, but a question of geographical advantage. Using any Spell of the heavenly timing school would be incorrect." After clearly understanding the trap embedded in the question, Zhao Xing began to answer.
In fact, it was also very simple. The solution to it was what True Monarch Cao Xi had once done.
"Nourish the Earth Veins in the south; if the land is high, the wind will be regulated. Repair the canal in the east, diverting water to flow around the city. Choose another low-lying area in the east of the city to store water in a lake, and then repair the Guiyuan Water Wheel, then the rainfall will be balanced throughout the four seasons. Supplemented with seasonal decrees, in three years, the wind and rain will be favorable."
After Zhao Xing finished writing, he was sure he could get full marks, and only then did he continue to answer.
He only encountered difficulty at the very last question.
This was a scenario-based question involving the Five Elements and the seasonal taboos:
"The earth is cold and Yin, spring wood is unusable, summer Yang is steaming, locusts thrive. How to solve this?"
The fewer the words, the harder the question.
Furthermore, it was a linked question.
Because it describes seasonal disorder and abnormal natural disasters, and the question links both together, the answer must also link them, not separate them.
The standard answer must start from the direction of the Five Elements and the four seasons, and it is best to find evidence from classical works. Otherwise, using the examinee's own words will lack evidence and persuasiveness.
Without persuasiveness, even if the answer is on point, points will be deducted.
After understanding this, Zhao Xing began to ponder, and traversed various works, striving to find a perfect answer.
A quarter of an hour later, Zhao Xing picked up his brush to answer.
"If there is residual cold in spring, the earth is Yin, and all trees do not grow, it is necessary to use the C Fire of the Earth Veins to regulate the climate. If there is no C Fire in the earth, then use Man Fire. If both C and Man are absent, then extend the heavenly timing."
"Excessive steaming Yang in summer is due to a short spring. To combat the rampant insect plague, directly change it; restore the heavenly timing to spring, with Man Fire in the earth. After one pentad of restored timing, restore it to summer, with summer shortened by one pentad, returning to the correct timing of the four seasons."
The standard answer referred to the contents of the geographical advantage chapter and the heavenly timing chapter of the work "On the Four Seasons and Five Elements."
This question describes how to solve the problem if, under the governance of the agricultural official, spring wood cannot be used, the earth's power is cold and Yin, summer is scorching hot, and a locust plague natural disaster then arises.
The question involved the Five Elements, the four seasons, and natural disasters.
The answer had to be given using the Five Elements, Heavenly Stems, and Earthly Branches, and provide a relatively perfect solution.
First, use the method of the geographical advantage school to regulate the power of the Earth Veins. Earth Veins have different attributes;C Fire is the strongest and can be used to regulate cold and Yin phenomena.Man Fire is secondary but can also barely be used.
If the local environment is too harsh to guide C or Man Fire, then one can only change the heavenly timing, making spring pass quickly to the next season, which is 'extending the heavenly timing.'
Excessive Yang in summer leads to steaming heat and various insect plagues. This is because of a too-short spring, which connects to the previous sentence as cause and effect.
At this point, do not overthink it; directly change the heavenly timing, because the insect plague has already appeared, and summer is the most suitable time for insect plagues to run rampant. You cannot solve it by staying in summer.
Therefore, it is necessary to restore 'heavenly timing to spring.' But can it be changed to autumn or winter?
No, because previously, 'C Fire of the Earth Veins' was used in spring to solve the cold and Yin problem, which shortened spring by a segment. Now, a pentad of spring needs to be made up.
The Earth Vein is Man Fire, which is relatively mild and will not cause the cold and Yin to reappear, nor will it deviate too much from summer, because after solving the insect plague, one still needs to return to summer. This is called 'returning to the correct position of the four seasons.'
When answering, Zhao Xing considered the possibility of the insect plague recurring, so when returning to the correct position, he wrote to shorten summer by one pentad.
Because the difference in heat between summer and autumn is not too great, shortening summer by one pentad and lengthening autumn by one pentad is not a problem and will not have too much impact. Shortening spring by one pentad and lengthening summer, however, would cause major problems.
"If the examiner isn't blind, I should get full marks for this question." Zhao Xing checked it, flipped over the page, and continued to answer.
Time slowly passed. By evening, many examinees had already stopped writing because most clerks did not have the ability to see clearly at night.
Zhao Xing also did not want to waste time here, so he planned to finish early and submit his paper ahead of time.
Thus, even as the light dimmed, he did not stop writing.
After answering all the previous types of questions, he began to recheck, looking for better answers or places where he might lose points.
After checking several times in this manner, he would move on to the next category of questions.
By nightfall, Zhao Xing had only one last category of questions left:
This type of question was only one sheet, and it was the most difficult school of thought question.
"Please match the Five Elements, Heavenly Stems, and Earthly Branches with the four seasons, and elaborate on the matching philosophy."
Friends who do not like these theories can skip them. Friends who do like them should not be too serious, because within the framework of Xuanhuan, some parts have been modified by the author. After all, the real world cannot change the four seasons, so it cannot entirely follow reality.