Chapter 102: This Question I've Done Before

The civil service examination system of the Great Zhou culminated in the Temple Examination, the ultimate test.

At the Mao hour (5-7 AM) on the third day of the second month, Zhao Xing left his home and hurried to the Directorate of Agriculture.

By a quarter past the Mao hour (around 5:45 AM), all fifteen candidates had arrived, including Zong Shichang, Xiao Ze, Wen Nanxing, Ding Shan, and others.

Chen Shijie and the other assistant officials from the Directorate of Agriculture had also been waiting there for a long time.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Chen Shijie spoke, "Whether you can become an official depends on today."

"All of you have a good chance of passing. Do not be nervous later; maintain a calm mind and perform as usual."

"I, along with the other lords, wish you all success."

"Thank you, sirs," all the civil servants bowed in unison to express their gratitude.

After the pleasantries were exchanged, Chen Shijie continued:

"In the restrooms at the back, there is already a set of special clothing for the examination."

"Other than these clothes, no other personal items are allowed."

"You have another three-quarters of an hour. Please go in and change now."

The civil servants were already familiar with the rules of the Temple Examination. They immediately entered the changing rooms and began to change.

Zhao Xing also went in and put on a long gown.

He brought no external items; even his sixth-grade Soul Armor had been removed and hidden within the Grand Dream Academy, entrusted to the care of the mechanical beast, Xie Zhai.

Originally, the Grand Dream Academy did not offer this function—other items were strictly allowed out but not in. However, Soul Armor was special, permitted both in and out.

As for other items, such as the Peril-Repelling Almanac and the Thousand-Mile Transmission Token, they had been borrowed in the first place and had been returned to the Directorate of Agriculture's inner treasury after the Profound Heaven Sect incident.

The Wind Crystal Earring was left at home; he was now, so to speak, completely unburdened.

After changing clothes, Zhao Xing and the other civil servants came out to wait.

At this point, no one was whispering; they simply waited in silence.

At six quarters past the Mao hour (around 6:30 AM), a Cloud-Rain Airship arrived from the south and landed at the Gucheng Directorate of Agriculture.

Four officials disembarked from it.

Two of them were Divine Temple Ritualists, holding four divine statues of a Prince. The other two were seventh-grade examination proctors.

After the rules were read aloud as per custom, precisely at the Chen hour (7 AM), they led the fifteen civil servants from the Directorate of Agriculture into the Gucheng Divine Temple.

Led by the ritualists, the civil servants first paid respects at various halls within the temple, such as the Hall of True Monarch Donghu, the Hall of True Monarch Caoxi, and the Hall of All Saints.

This ritual was to express gratitude to the Yin Gods for transmitting their teachings.

Zhao Xing primarily paid respects to Caoxi and Zheng Lun. Most of his spells had been transmitted by these two Yin Gods.

Once the worship ritual concluded, the fifteen civil servants then proceeded to the central Heavenly Heart Plaza of the temple and stood still.

At a quarter past the Chen hour (around 7:45 AM), the two ritualists from the commandery city placed the Prince's divine statues at the four corners of the plaza.

A hum reverberated. As golden light shone, a new palace suddenly appeared at the Heavenly Heart Plaza.

This was the Heavenly Heart Palace, dedicated to the Great Zhou's Grand Ancestor. It was only activated once a year for the Temple Examination and other major festivals like the Emperor's Sacrifice.

"Bow!"

The ritualists led the candidates to burn incense and pay homage to the Grand Ancestor's statue, thanking him for establishing the divine temples to transmit myriad laws and for instituting the civil service examination system, providing a path for advancement to lower-ranking officials.

At four quarters past the Chen hour (around 8 AM), the ritualists threw yellow papers bearing the candidates' names into the massive bronze incense burner in front of the Grand Ancestor's altar.

A hum reverberated. The next moment, fifteen desks and chairs emerged from the ground.

"Candidates, please take your designated seats."

Zhao Xing found the long desk bearing his name and sat down.

A swish of air. As soon as he sat down, writing brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone appeared. He looked up, and the figures of the other candidates and officials faded away.

The theoretical portion of the Temple Examination had officially begun.

It would last for a total of thirty-six *shichen* (72 hours). Leaving the designated seating area would be considered submitting the paper early. Once the time was up, no further answers could be given.

"It's finally here," Zhao Xing slowly exhaled, then picked up the examination paper from the desk and began to review it thoroughly.

The examination paper consisted of forty sheets in total. Thirty sheets contained questions, and ten were blank.

Just like the previous White Dew solar term assessment, Chen Shijie had set the questions according to court regulations. The first ten sheets contained basic questions, which could be answered by rote memorization. Compared to the White Dew assessment, these basic questions were reduced by one-third.

The Temple Examination involved official appointment, so there were fewer easy points.

Zhao Xing quickly scanned them and began answering the basic questions.

"In which dynasty, year, and month was 'One Hundred Solutions to Heavenly Timeliness' compiled, and by whom? What was its ranking in the Hall of All Saints of this dynasty?"

Zhao Xing quickly wrote down the answer: "Qian Dynasty, seventh month of the 149th year of Zhiyuan, compiled by Grand Director of Agriculture Chen Yi, ranked twenty-seventh in the Hall of All Saints of this dynasty."

"On the day of Great Heat, decaying grass turns into fireflies."

Answer: "If the soil is moist and not sweltering, things should not be punished. If heavy rains do not come in due season, the nation lacks grace."

Zhao Xing answered smoothly, and the basic, easy questions were quickly finished. He then moved on to the advanced scenario questions designed to filter candidates.

"In the land of Nanzheng, if one wishes to extract soil, but efforts to loosen the soil are ineffective and instead aid fire in producing soil; and attempting to draw out its essence with metal only makes the dry soil brittle and the metal ineffective, how should this be resolved?"

Seeing this question, Zhao Xing frowned slightly. He hadn't expected the very first scenario question on the eleventh sheet to be so challenging.

"This question tests the method of soil extraction. But why would drawing out its essence with metal lead to brittle dry soil and ineffective metal?"

Extracting soil requires specific techniques. So, this question should be answered according to the principles of extracting spring, summer, autumn, and winter soil as described in "Monthly Soil Extraction Methods." The inability to loosen the soil, and instead aiding fire in producing soil, indicated that 'summer soil' was being extracted. Drawing out the essence with the power of the Metal element from the earth veins should, theoretically, be a method mentioned in "Monthly Soil Extraction Methods." So why would the earth vein's power cause 'dry soil to brittle metal', making it difficult to extract?

Zhao Xing's gaze swept back and forth across the question, settling on the words 'Nanzheng'. Two seconds later, he suddenly understood.

He then picked up his brush to answer: "The land of Nanzheng is our dynasty's ancestral land, experiencing only summer and autumn. Without the balancing yin cold of spring and winter, the summer fire is excessive. To extract summer soil, one must draw water from the source. The power of the earth veins is weak but not exhausted. Use the Water element from the earth veins to moisten the soil and suppress the fire, and supplement with the Metal element from the earth veins to draw out its essence, thus achieving successful completion."

After writing the answer, Zhao Xing finally relaxed his brow.

Monthly soil extraction methods are covered in "The Benefits of the Five Elements of Earth Veins." But the question had more than just this one difficulty; it also tested the Directorate of Agriculture officials' knowledge of the geography of the land.

What kind of place was Nanzheng? It was the Grand Ancestor's hometown! If you don't even know that such a famous place only has summer and autumn, do you still want to be an official? Go back to your hometown and feed pigs!

If a civil servant didn't understand the situation in Nanzheng, they would surely be scratching their heads in confusion. But if they knew the conditions of Nanzheng, then this question would be much easier to answer. Remembering the appropriate methods for the five elements of earth veins would provide the answer.

For the subsequent scenario questions, Zhao Xing carefully analyzed and answered each one, and most were answered very smoothly. It wasn't until the last major question that his smooth flow of thought was finally hindered.

"There is an island in the North Sea. On the day of the Beginning of Winter, water begins to freeze. Five days later, the sea begins to freeze. Another five days later, a giant whale breaks through the ice and transforms into a Black Sparrow; a Cyan Bird enters the water and becomes a Purple Serpent. Five more days later, geothermal fire erupts from the seabed."

"The island has tens of millions of inhabitants, and only the Directorates of Agriculture and Heavenly Craft are present. If you were the chief official of the Directorate of Agriculture, how would you resolve this natural disaster?"

Zhao Xing looked at the question and couldn't help but be stunned. He thought he had misread it. As the final major question in the advanced scenario section, it was indeed difficult.

But Zhao Xing's astonishment wasn't because the question was hard. It was because he had encountered it when he was a player. And the impression was very deep because he had gotten it wrong back then and had failed to complete his class transfer due to this single question.

"The final question about the island disaster has turned into an easy point," Zhao Xing was amused.

This was a 'phenological question', and the phenomena mentioned were rare centennial occurrences. A giant whale breaking through the ice to transform into a Black Sparrow, a Cyan Bird entering the water to become a Purple Serpent, and five days later, geothermal fire erupting from the seabed—these were all centennial phenological phenomena.

Natural disasters caused by centennial phenological events. The question asked how you, as the Directorate of Agriculture official on the island, should respond.

There were three difficult points in the question. First, recognizing that these were centennial phenomena and confirming the intensity of the natural disaster. Second, inferring one's own strength in the scenario based on the given conditions. Third, providing a proper solution to the natural disaster.

For the first point, although centennial phenomena are obscure, it wouldn't be difficult for a well-read and highly retentive civil servant to know them. The Black Sparrow and Purple Serpent are both sixth-grade exotic beasts. Also, centennial phenomena only cause a single quantity of species change, meaning there is only one Black Sparrow and one Purple Serpent mentioned.

For the second point, using the conditions provided in the question to deduce the resources available to oneself: with a population scale of 'tens of millions of islanders', the internal treasuries of the Directorate of Agriculture and the Heavenly Craft Workshop must be at least fifth-grade in specification. This tests the civil servant's understanding of the Great Zhou's official system. Other departments were not required, but the Heavenly Craft Workshop and the Directorate of Agriculture were strongly related departments and must be understood. Furthermore, since other institutions were not mentioned in the question, one could not involve other court departments in the answer. Otherwise, one could simply answer, 'Send out a hundred thousand troops, slay the Black Sparrow and Purple Serpent, and have a barbecue,' and be done with it.

There was also a trap in the second point, which was the phrase 'There is an island in the North Sea' in the first sentence.

"The North Sea is a vital border region. With over ten million islanders, the specifications of the Directorate of Agriculture and Heavenly Craft Workshop's internal treasuries should be raised by another grade. They can use sixth-grade treasures to confront the enemy, choosing from large divine weapons such as Dragon Bone Airships and Profound Origin Ballistas, as well as personal divine artifacts like the 'Wind-Thunder Coir Raincoat,' 'Hundred Flowers Bamboo Hat,' and 'Wind Fiend Pearl.'"

"However, these treasures cannot be used indiscriminately; they must be combined and used appropriately."

"This then relates to the third point: providing a proper solution."

Zhao Xing did not rush to write but instead organized his answer strategy in his mind. Only after confirming there were no issues did he begin to write.

"A giant whale breaking through the ice to transform into a Black Sparrow, and a Cyan Bird entering the water to become a Purple Serpent—these are centennial phenological changes in the North Sea. The Black Sparrow and Cyan Bird are both sixth-grade exotic beasts. Given the North Sea's importance as a strategic town and its tens of millions of islanders, a sixth-grade treasury must be established."

"As the natural disaster approaches, immediately order all Heavenly Craft Workshops on the island to activate the large sixth-grade divine weapon, the Mohist Defense Boundary, to fully protect the people. Thereafter, send out Dragon Bone Airships to sea, accompanied by Dragon Head Airships, and deploy Flowing Cloud Skiffs to rescue those outside the island. The chief official of the Directorate of Agriculture should activate the sixth-grade 'Wind-Thunder Coir Raincoat' from the treasury for swift divine travel. The sixth-grade Hundred Flowers Bamboo Hat will enhance their spells. Consult the two books, 'Empress Earth' and 'Four Seas,' to calm the earth veins and restore the four seas to their natural state. Cast the 'Solar Term Edict' to reverse the three phenological changes of the Beginning of Winter, and through repeated cycles, cause the Black Sparrow to revert to a whale and the Purple Serpent to revert to a Cyan Bird..."

Knowing the answer, Zhao Xing wrote very smoothly, completing the entire question in one go. To avoid losing points on this question, he also provided multiple solutions, including post-disaster relief measures.

Of course, these were minor details; even without backup plans, the answer would have been sufficient. As for appeasing the populace, a brief mention would suffice, as it was not primarily the Directorate of Agriculture official's responsibility. The question itself mainly tested the civil servant's understanding of phenology, the North Sea, official systems, and treasures.

It was a comprehensive assessment of the civil servant's qualities, to see if they were truly prepared to be an official. If you could answer one or two of the problems typically encountered by sixth or seventh-grade officials, then appointing you as a ninth-grade official would generally be fine. This was the test setter's reasoning.

Time slowly passed. After the advanced scenario questions, Zhao Xing's answers became increasingly smooth. He also encountered several familiar questions. Unbeknownst to him, only one sheet of paper remained before him. It contained only one question:

"Please match the Five Elements, Heavenly Stems, and Earthly Branches with the Four Seasons, and elaborate on the underlying principles of the matching."

"My teacher predicted this question correctly," Zhao Xing smiled slightly.

The theoretical questions for the previous White Dew assessment were set by Xue Wenzhong. The final major question was identical to the one before him now.

"The old Director of Agriculture is truly a good teacher. All fifteen people from Gucheng will benefit from him today." They had taken this exam before, and afterwards, he had even made his standard answer publicly available, allowing everyone to study it. This would give the civil servants from Gucheng an advantage on the final major question.

Zhao Xing sighed inwardly, then began to answer. This time, he didn't plan to make any changes. He would simply answer according to the previous standard. The previous answer had left Chen Shijie, the examiner who specialized in geographical advantage, utterly astounded, and it would be perfectly sufficient for this Temple Examination.

"Currently, the mainstream view is that Earth reigns in midsummer. If I answer that Earth reigns in all four seasons, it would be too advanced and might even be counterproductive." Having made up his mind, Zhao Xing began to answer. He wasn't worried about other civil servants surpassing him, because the previous difficulties were substantial enough. Moreover, his standard answer had only been seen by people from Gucheng, and the Temple Examination selections were coordinated by the court. As colleagues, it didn't matter if others benefited a little.

"Among the Five Elements, none is more noble than Earth. Earth, in relation to the four seasons, dictates all and does not share glory with Fire. Wood, Fire, Metal, and Water each govern a season, while Earth resides in the center, holding the reins and controlling the four directions. The theory that Earth reigns in midsummer states..."

After writing, Zhao Xing reviewed all his answers twice. Confirming nothing was missed, he stood up and left his seat.

A hum reverberated. As soon as he stood up, he immediately saw the other civil servants and supervising officials again. At this time, Yin Gods were patrolling outside, making it impossible for anyone to cheat using external means.

"Civil Servant Zhao Xing, do you confirm you have finished answering?" an official asked.

"Yes, sir, I confirm," Zhao Xing bowed.

Whoosh. As soon as he finished speaking, the examination paper automatically flew up and entered the censer in the Heavenly Heart Palace to be incinerated. The answer sheet could be seen dancing in golden flames, but it was not burned. It merely tumbled a few times before disappearing.

"You are the first to submit your paper," the proctor's face was devoid of expression. "You may choose to rest for half a *shichen* (one hour), or proceed immediately to the second part of the Temple Examination."

"I choose to proceed with the practical assessment immediately."

As soon as Zhao Xing finished speaking, the divine statues in the Heavenly Heart Palace emitted bursts of golden light. Zhao Xing then found that the other civil servants had vanished. The sky was dark, and he himself appeared in a golden-yellow field.

Zhao Xing knew this was the internal assessment space, inherent to the Heavenly Heart Palace. It was refined from fragments of a Grotto-Heaven small world. Although it was a small world fragment, the area was still vast. Zhao Xing used his Bright Sight technique to look around, but couldn't see the end.

A hum reverberated. As he was observing, a golden document floated down from the sky, landing in front of Zhao Xing and automatically unfolding.

"Civil Servant Zhao Xing, the spatial scope of this assessment is set to the standard of a lower county. The assessment duration is twelve *shichen* (24 hours). You must observe the weather conditions, geographical advantages, and precise timings yourself. And complete the assessment according to the following requirements."

Zhao Xing took the document and looked at the assessment requirements:

"At Chen hour (7-9 AM), create clouds; at Si hour (9-11 AM), generate thunder; at Wu hour (11 AM-1 PM), make it rain; at Wei hour (1-3 PM), the rain must cease. The total rainfall must be forty-eight measures, and it must cover the entire assessment space?"

Zhao Xing frowned, realizing the situation was not simple.

"The sky is dark. If one hasn't cultivated the universal spell Bright Sight, one wouldn't be able to see at all. This greatly increases the difficulty of casting spells. This is the first challenge."

"Creating clouds at Chen hour, generating thunder at Si hour, making it rain at Wu hour, and stopping rain at Wei hour—this totals four *shichen* (eight hours), testing the civil servant's endurance. This is the second challenge."

"To cover the scope of a lower county, one's cultivation in the Four Weather Arts cannot be too low. This is the third challenge."

"Forty-eight measures of rainfall, precise to the exact measure, tests one's spell manipulation ability. This is the fourth challenge."

"The civil servant has no almanac, and the environment is dark, making it difficult to determine the current *shichen* externally. Missing the correct *shichen* would result in significant deductions! This is the fifth challenge."

There were a total of five challenges, each of which was not simple. For a civil servant to become a fully appointed official, it was truly like thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge. Moreover, the practical assessment held significant weight. No matter how excellent one's theoretical knowledge, if the practical assessment score was too low, it would be absolutely impossible to become a Directorate of Agriculture official. If one couldn't even pass and actually became a Directorate of Agriculture official, it could lead to the displacement and suffering of the people under their governance due to major disasters. How could one entrust such a person with official duties? Wouldn't that harm both others and oneself?

"If civilian Directorate of Agriculture officials face such challenges, it shows how difficult it must be for military Directorate of Agriculture officials," Zhao Xing mused. "However, this won't be difficult for me."

With his Bright Sight spell at maximum level, darkness was no obstacle for Zhao Xing. He quickly jumped to a high point and surveyed his surroundings, finding only flat fields with no significant differences. Based on the humidity and temperature in the air, and observing the growth of plants in the fields, he could deduce that it was early summer. The amount of rainfall in the environment was relatively balanced. For a civil servant, this was a neutral condition for casting spells.

The examiners, at least, hadn't complicated things further with terrain and topography. Otherwise, if there were extreme terrain and weather conditions, it would truly stress out the candidates to death.

Covering the area of a lower county, maintaining spells for four *shichen*, and precise spell manipulation—these were not difficult for Zhao Xing. The only slightly troublesome aspect was accurately calculating the *shichen*.

"There's no almanac, no sunrise. Even the darkness is deliberately set, hindering most of the civil servants' methods for judging the *shichen*."

"Creating clouds, making it rain, and generating thunder must all begin and end precisely on the hour. Even a slight error will result in point deductions."

"Without knowing the *shichen*, one cannot begin. One must first determine the current *shichen*."

Zhao Xing thought for a moment, then immediately crouched down and felt the soil beneath him.