To establish a unified theory that could explain the mysteries of heaven and earth and the Reincarnation of all things through the Five Elements, Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, and Four Seasons has always been the ultimate goal of the Agriculturalist school.
This proposition was too grand and too profound. It was impossible to truly answer, not even a Grand Minister of Agriculture of the first rank could do it.
But precisely because of this, everyone could get a score on the last question.
Clerks only needed to answer according to the current theories, writing down what they had memorized, and they could get two or three points out of twenty.
If they could slightly link the Five Elements, Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, and Four Seasons, they could get half the points.
To get a higher score, they needed to offer something new.
But it couldn't be too unconventional; it still had to be based on existing theories, otherwise it would be 'making things up.' Even those experienced Agricultural Officials might not be able to do it.
So, if it was so difficult to come up with something new, why was this question asked?
Because the theory of the Five Elements and Four Seasons was extremely important. All Agricultural Officials would refer to the theory of the Five Elements and Four Seasons when formulating seasonal decrees to cast Spells.
If the Four Seasons were not apparent, then they had to be defined. How were they defined? They had to be defined in conjunction with the Five Elements.
If the Four Seasons were chaotic, then they had to be changed. How were they changed? They still had to utilize the power of the Five Elements.
Therefore, this question was basically timeless.
“Clerks can answer freely, writing down their own views and conjectures, but the answers must also be based on the examiner's preferences.”
“If the examiner is from the 'Heavenly Time' faction, then the topic must be approached with the theory from the book 'Great Five Elements of Heavenly Time.' If the examiner is from the 'Earthly Advantage' faction, then 'Earthly King in Late Summer Theory' would be most appropriate.”
“If it's the 'Self' faction? That would be 'The Self Sutra of Yin and Yang and Five Elements.' However, the Self faction is weak, and its ideas are not popular and don't align with mainstream theories. Using it to approach the topic would be a forced answer,” Zhao Xing thought to himself.
The Self faction believed that living beings inherently possessed a system of heavenly time operation within their bodies, which was, in essence, a 'biological clock,' matching the five viscera with the Five Elements and other body organs with the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.
This theory was called the 'Small Five Elements and Four Seasons Theory,' also known as the 'Inner Five Elements and Four Seasons Theory.' From its name, one could tell it was not accepted by the mainstream and was relatively niche and obscure.
But in the Resurgence version, the Self faction rose, and this theory became widely popular, even crushing other schools of thought.
Because 'pure elemental soil can be opened up within the body,' 'original seeds can be cultivated in the Dantian,' and one could even observe the inner heaven and earth, forming a world of their own.
But if you were to write that down now, even people from the Self faction would think you were crazy, because currently, at most, one could only 'open up pure elemental soil.' Forming a world within one's body? Are you mad!
So Zhao Xing directly ruled it out.
“The earliest Five Elements chapter matched Jia with Wood, Bing with Fire, Wu with Earth, Geng with Metal, and Ren with Water. But the correlation was too weak, and it didn't consider the coordination of the four seasons at all.”
“Later, the four seasons were divided into three months: 'Meng,' 'Zhong,' and 'Ji.'”
“The three months of spring, Mengchun, Zhongchun, and Jichun, are located in the east, belong to Wood in the Five Elements, and correspond to Jia and Yi.”
“The two months of summer, Mengxia and Zhongxia, are located in the south, belong to Fire in the Five Elements, and correspond to Bing and Ding.”
“The third month of summer, 'Jixia,' is located in the center, belongs to Earth in the Five Elements, and corresponds to Wu and Ji.”
“The three months of autumn, Mengqiu, Zhongqiu, and Jiqiu, are located in the west, belong to Metal in the Five Elements, and correspond to Geng and Xin.”
“The three months of winter, Mengdong, Zhongdong, and Jidong, are located in the north, belong to Water in the Five Elements, and correspond to Ren and Gui.”
This was the mainstream 'Earthly King in Late Summer Theory.'
Zhao Xing didn't intend to give an outstanding answer, because he would lose almost no points in the preceding sections, which was already enough for him to stand out in this assessment. So he simply copied the mainstream theory verbatim.
This way, he could at least get thirty percent of the score.
“If this question appeared in the official imperial examination, I could add a small improvement. The current Five Elements-month allocation is unbalanced; Fire and Earth are too weak, together only matching two months.”
“Should I offer a little bit of my opinion now?”
Zhao Xing pondered for half an hour, his pen poised but unmoving.
Ultimately, he decided to write two more sentences.
“Among the Five Elements, Earth is the most noble; Earth commands all things in the Four Seasons, not sharing credit with Fire.”
“Wood, Fire, Metal, and Water each govern one season, while Earth resides in the center, holding the rope and controlling the four directions.”
After writing these two sentences, Zhao Xing answered no further. This only slightly improved the imbalance of the Five Elements-month allocation and was not a major change.
In reality, it excluded 'Earth' from 'governing the Four Seasons,' giving it the nominal title of 'controlling the four directions.'
But it was enough; for a minor official to write this much already showed that he was very thoughtful.
In fact, this was the prototype of the 'Earthly King in Four Seasons Theory' of later generations, but Zhao Xing did not intend to release the improved 'Earthly King in Four Seasons Theory' of later generations now. Virtue not matching position, many words would surely bring disaster.
After answering the last question, Zhao Xing found that it was already daylight; it was already the next day.
“The exam started in the afternoon, and now it's the morning of the next day. I actually answered for so long? It seems I spent too much time on the last question.”
A true top student had to consider score control. In the last assessment, Zhao Xing not only controlled his own scores but also others'.
This time, he had to consider the practical implications, so he thought about it for a longer time.
“I'm starving, I haven't even eaten. The meals sent over are all cold.”
After getting rich from fishing, Zhao Xing no longer looked favorably upon these cold 'employee meals.'
Anyway, he planned to hand in his paper early and go to a restaurant after leaving the examination hall.
Zhao Xing organized his answer sheets, not missing a single one, and carried them towards the invigilator's hall.
It was early morning and not yet fully bright, but the patrols and invigilation were not lax. If it were an official imperial examination, even Yin Gods would come to invigilate, to prevent ghosts from helping people cheat!
“Hmm? Why is he handing in his paper so early?” Xue Wen Zhong sat in the hall, watching Zhao Xing walk in with the guards, and couldn't help but frown.
He thought Zhao Xing was too arrogant. The exam time wasn't even halfway over, and he had already finished?
Xue Wen Zhong knew the difficulty of the questions he had set. In order to select talent and recommend them to the county, the subsequent exams would be progressively harder.
Zhao Xing's Comprehension Ability for Spells was good, but theory was another matter. A muscular man might not necessarily write brilliant essays.
“Two 'Superior A's, did that make him arrogant?”
Zhao Xing submitted his answer sheets, then bowed: “Sirs, I am here to submit my paper.”
Gao Li Nong, Tang Wan Chun, and Pang Yuan were quite surprised at the sight. Their thoughts were similar to Xue Wen Zhong's: you finished in such a short time?
But then they quickly composed themselves, showing no joy or sorrow, and all had a thought in their minds:
Good, good, good, we're not afraid of your arrogance, boy, only that you're not arrogant enough. As the first to submit, we will certainly review your paper carefully, and absolutely not go easy!
Chen Shi Jie, however, had a different view from theirs. His confidence in Zhao Xing far exceeded that of the others, stemming from a natural trust in a 'confidant.'
“Good, the first to hand in. I truly didn't misjudge you. Please wait here for a moment; we will review the results immediately.”