Shennong Daojun

The examination was held in the county government office, because the Sinong Supervisor did not have that many tables and chairs.

The county magistrate was also in charge of civil administration, so when there was a theoretical exam, it was basically held in the examination room of the county government office.

County magistrate Li Wenzheng did not see him. The chief examiner and the invigilator were still acquaintances of the Sinong Supervisor, but the number of invigilators from the county government office increased to fifty, and there were also clerks to deliver food and water.

There was no need to test endurance this time, so someone would deliver food to the examination room during the exam.

The exam would take 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. After that, there were a total of forty papers!

Thirty of them were test questions, and ten were blank.

Zhao Xing was not in a hurry to write. He first took a general look at the test questions and requirements, and then checked whether there were any mistakes or omissions.

The first fifteen papers were free points, which were questions that could be scored by rote memorization.

For example: "Which ancient book does "The Seventy-two Phenological Observations of the Monthly Orders" come from? Who compiled it and when?"

Zhao Xing did not even need to think about it, and directly wrote down the answer: "From "The Interpretation of the Time Instructions", compiled by Grand Minister of Agriculture Wu Cheng in the ninth year of Kaiping."

Or take a sentence from the book and fill in the previous or next sentence.

For example: If duckweed does not grow, the yin qi will be full of anger. ________

Answer: If the cuckoo does not brush its feathers, the country will not train its troops; if the hoopoe does not descend on the mulberry tree, the government and education will not be in place.

This question is a "yin and yang phenological question", which means that if the yin qi in the yin and yang qi is too heavy, then some abnormal "phenological" phenomena will appear accordingly. At this time, it is best for the country not to use the sword and war, nor to issue some new decrees, otherwise the effect will be relatively poor.

Zhao Xing answered fluently, and the points-giving questions were finished quickly.

It came to the situational questions for screening candidates.

"There is wind in the south of the city, which blows violently, causing droughts in spring and autumn. There is a river in the east of the city, which causes excessive rainfall, causing floods in summer and winter, making it difficult for crops to survive. Why?"

If it were an official with a weak theoretical foundation, he would definitely answer directly, "Use the spell of wind and rain to change it, and the crops will be abundant."

If he answered this way, he would only get 2 points out of 10, or even no points at all.

Because there is only an answer but no process, it is not suitable for a theoretical exam.

And the answer is not on point, which means that the question is not examined clearly or the theoretical reserve of magic knowledge is not enough.

"The small city has a south wind all year round, which blows away the clouds and rain in spring and autumn, causing droughts. But there is a river in the east of the city, and the clouds rise, causing floods in summer and winter, so this is not a question about the weather, but a question about the location. No matter what magic of the weather school is used, it is wrong." After seeing the trap contained in the question, Zhao Xing began to answer the question.

In fact, it is also very simple. The solution to it is what Caoxi Zhenjun once did.

"Nourish the earth veins in the south, the high ground will adjust the wind, build channels in the east, divert water around the city, choose another depression in the east of the city, store water in the lake, and then build the Guiyuan waterwheel, so that the rainfall in the four seasons is balanced. Assisted by the solar terms, there will be good weather and good harvests in three years."

Zhao Xing finished writing and was sure that he could get full marks, so he continued to answer.

It was not until the last question that he encountered difficulty.

This is a situational question involving the five elements and four seasons:

"The ground is cold and the spring trees are useless. The summer sun is steaming and locusts are thriving. Why?"

The fewer words, the harder the question.

Not to mention it is a linkage question.

Because it describes seasonal disorder and natural disasters, the question links the two together, so when answering the question, you must answer them together and cannot separate them.

The standard answer must be based on the five elements and four seasons, and it is best to find the basis from classic works, otherwise using the examinee's own words will lack basis and be unconvincing.

If it is unconvincing, even if the answer is on point, it will be deducted.

After figuring this out, Zhao Xing began to think and read through various works, trying to find a perfect answer.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhao Xing picked up his pen to answer.

"If there is excess cold in spring, the ground will be yin, and all trees will not grow. It is necessary to take the ground vein Bing fire to adjust the climate. If there is no Bing fire in the ground, then take Ding. If there is no Bing and Ding, then follow the time of the sky."

"If the summer sun is too hot, the spring will be short. The insect disaster must be changed directly. The time of the sky will return to spring, the fire of the ground will be Ding, the time will return to one period, and then it will return to summer. The summer will be one period shorter, and it will return to the right time of the four seasons."

The standard answer refers to the contents of the Geographical Advantages and the Time of the Sky in the book "Four Seasons and Five Elements".

This question talks about how to solve the problem if the spring wood cannot be used, the ground is cold, and the summer is hot, and then the locust disaster occurs under the rule of the Minister of Agriculture.

The question involves the five elements, the four seasons, and natural disasters.

When answering, you have to answer with the five elements, the heavenly stems and earthly branches, and give a relatively perfect answer.

First, use the method of the Ge Li School to adjust the power of the earth veins. The earth veins have different properties. Bing Fire is the most prosperous and can be used to adjust the Yin and cold phenomena. Ding Fire is the second, but it can also be used barely.

If the environment of that place is really harsh and it is impossible to guide Bing and Ding Fire, you can only change the time of day so that spring passes quickly and the next season comes, which is to "extend the time of day".

In summer, the yang is too heavy, which leads to steaming and heat, and various insect disasters occur. This is because the spring is too short. Following the previous sentence, it is the cause and effect.

At this time, don't think too much, just change the time of day directly, because the insect disaster has already appeared. Summer is the most suitable time for the insect disaster to be rampant. You can't solve it if you stay in summer.

So it is necessary to restore the "time of day to spring", so can it be changed to autumn or winter?

No, because the "ground vein Bing Fire" was used in the spring to solve the problem of Yin and cold, which made the spring shorter, and now it is necessary to make up for the spring of one period of time.

The earth vein is Ding Fire, which is relatively mild. It will not cause the return of cold and cold, nor will it be too far away from summer, because after solving the insect disaster, it is still necessary to return to summer, which is called "returning to the correct position of the four seasons".

When answering the questions, Zhao Xing took into account the possibility of the recurrence of insect disasters, so when returning to the right position, he wrote to make the summer one period shorter.

Because the difference between summer and autumn is not too big, it is no problem to shorten the summer by one period and add one period to autumn. It will not have much impact. It will be a big problem if there is one less period of spring and one more period of summer.

"If the examiner is not blind, I will give full marks for this question anyway." Zhao Xing checked it, turned over this one, and continued to answer.

Time passed slowly, and by the evening, many candidates had stopped writing, because most officials did not have the ability to see clearly at night.

Zhao Xing was unwilling to waste time here, so he planned to finish the paper as soon as possible and hand it in early.

So even when the light dimmed, he did not stop writing.

After answering all the previous types of questions, he began to review to see if there were better answers and where he might lose points.

After checking several times like this, he would proceed to the next category of questions.

When it was dark, Zhao Xing only had the last type of questions left:

There was only one question of this type, and it was also the most difficult school of thought question.

"Please match the five elements, heavenly stems, and earthly branches with the four seasons, and explain the matching ideas."

If you don't like these theories, you can skip them. If you like them, don't take them too seriously, because they are integrated into the fantasy framework, and some of them are modified by the author. After all, the real world cannot change the four seasons, and it cannot be completely based on reality.