Chapter 44 Five Elements Natural Disaster Scenario Questions

The examination was held at the county government office because the Ministry of Agriculture did not have enough tables and chairs.

The county magistrate was also in charge of civil administration, and any theoretical examinations were basically held in the examination room of the county government.

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

There is no need to test endurance this time, so someone will deliver meals to the examination room during the exam.

The exam lasts two days, so there will 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 papers in total!

Thirty of them contain test questions and ten are blank.

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

The first fifteen questions are easy points, and you can get points by memorizing them by rote.

For example: "Which ancient book does "The Seventy-two Phenological Signs of the Lunar Calendar" come from? Who compiled it and when?"

Zhao Xing didn't even need to think about it, and wrote down the answer directly: "It comes from Shixun Jie, compiled by Grand Minister of Agriculture Wu Cheng in the ninth year of Kaiping."

Or you can take a sentence from the work and fill in the previous or next sentence.

For example: If duckweed does not grow, the yin energy will be full of anger. ________
Answer: If the dove does not flap its feathers, the country will not train its troops. If the crested crane does not land on the mulberry tree, the government and education will not be sound.

This question is about the 'Yin and Yang Phenology', which means that if the Yin energy in the Yin and Yang Qi is too heavy, then some abnormal 'phenology' phenomena will appear accordingly. At this time, it is best for the country not to resort to military force or issue some new policies, otherwise the effect will be relatively poor.

Zhao Xing answered fluently and finished the easy-to-scoring questions quickly.

Now comes the situational questions for screening candidates.

"There is a 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 who didn't have a solid foundation in basic theory, he would definitely answer directly, "If we change it with the magic of favorable weather and favorable rain, the crops will be abundant."

If you answer this way, you can only give 10 points out of 2, or even no points at all.

Because there are only answers but no process, it is not suitable for theoretical exams.

Moreover, the answer was not to the point, which means that the question was not carefully read or the theoretical knowledge of magic was not enough.

"There is violent south wind blowing in this small city all year round, blowing away the clouds and rain in spring and autumn, causing drought. But there is a river to the east of the city, and clouds rise, causing floods in summer and winter. So this is not a question about the weather at all, but a question about the location. No matter what magic you use to describe the weather, it will be wrong." After seeing the trap contained in the question, Zhao Xing began to answer it.

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

"Nourish the earth veins in the south. The high ground will balance the wind. Build canals in the east to divert water around the city. Choose another low-lying area in the east of the city to store water in a lake. Build a Guiyuan waterwheel, and the rainfall will be balanced in all four seasons. Assisted by the solar terms, the wind will be favorable in three years."

After Zhao Xing finished writing, he was sure that he could get full marks before he continued answering the questions.

It wasn't until the last question that I encountered difficulty.

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

"The ground is cold and the trees grow weak in spring, but the summer sun is hot and locusts grow in abundance. Why?"

The fewer the words, the harder the question.

What's more, 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 theory of the five elements and four seasons, and it is best to find evidence from classic works. Otherwise, using the examinee's own words will lack evidence and be unconvincing.

If your answer is not convincing, you will lose points even if the answer is on point.

After realizing this, Zhao Xing began to think and read through various books, trying to find a perfect answer.

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

"If there is excess cold in spring, the ground will be gloomy and all trees will not grow. You need to use the Bing Fire of the earth vein to adjust the climate. If there is no Bing Fire in the earth, use Ding Fire. If there is no Bing or Ding, then follow the natural time."

"The summer sun is too hot, and the spring is short. The insect plague is rampant and needs to be corrected. The sky is back to spring, and the earth is Ding. The time is restored by one period, and then it is summer again. The summer is one period shorter, and the four seasons are returned to their normal time."

The standard answer refers to the contents of the Geographical Advantages and Weathering Advantages chapters of the book "The Theory of Four Seasons and Five Elements".

This question is about how to solve the problem if, under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Agriculture, spring trees cannot be harvested, the land is cold and gloomy, the summer is extremely hot, and then locust disasters occur.

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

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

First use the method of the Earth School to regulate the power of the earth veins. The earth veins have different properties. Bing Fire is the most prosperous and can be used to regulate the yin and cold phenomenon. Ding Fire is second, but it can also be used barely.

If the environment in that place is really harsh and it is impossible to guide the fire of Bing and Ding, the only option is to change the weather so that spring passes quickly and the next season comes, which is to 'extend the weather'.

In the summer, the yang is too strong, which causes heat and all kinds of insect plagues. This is because the spring is too short. Following the previous sentence, this is the cause and effect.

Don't think too much at this time, just change the weather, because the insect plague has already appeared, and summer is the most suitable time for insect plague to be rampant. There is no way to solve it if you stay in summer.

So we need to restore 'the weather is spring', can it be changed to autumn or winter?
No, because we used 'Earth Vein Bing Fire' in the previous spring to solve the problem of Yin and cold, which caused the spring to be shortened. Now we need to make up for it with a spring of one term.

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

When answering the question, Zhao Xing took into account the possibility of recurrence of insect plagues, so when he surrendered and restored his position, he wrote about making the summer one step shorter.

Because the difference in heat between summer and autumn is not that big, if the summer is one period shorter and the autumn is one period longer, it will not be a problem and will not have much impact. But if the spring is one period shorter and the summer is one period longer, it will cause big problems.

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

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

Zhao Xing didn't want to waste time here, so he planned to finish it as soon as possible and hand it in early.

So even when the light dimmed, I didn't stop writing.

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

After checking several times like this, you will move on to the next category of questions.

When it got dark, Zhao Xing only had one last type of questions left:

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

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

　Friends who don't like these theories can skip them, and friends who like them should not be too serious, because they are integrated into the fantasy framework and some of them have been modified by the author. After all, the four seasons cannot be changed in the real world, and it cannot be completely based on reality.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)