Inside the examination cell, Chen Xu unfolded the three exams.

First question: "Axe enters the forest in due time" strategy.

Second question: "Maintain reverence and act with simplicity" strategy.

These two are considered minor questions.

However, according to the long-standing tradition of the Great Li, even answers to minor questions in the village exam must be at least eight hundred to a thousand words.

As for the writing of the third major essay, it requires at least two thousand words or more.

Within three days, writing over four thousand words of strategic essays is no easy task.

If one does not manage their time well, some may not even finish all three exam questions by the end of the exam.

In the exam hall, some furrowed their brow in deep thought, others racked their brains, while some were writing furiously...

Chen Xu picked up his pen, neither hurried nor slow, and first completed the answers to the two minor questions.

His writing movement was calm and smooth, seemingly not fast, but in reality, he completed the answers to the two minor questions in just half a day.

During the writing process, Chen Xu didn't even draft. The entire text was written without adding or altering a word, completed in one go.

It wasn't out of arrogance, but rather because his thinking ability far exceeded his writing speed, such that drafting was unnecessary at this level.

And if there were corrections in his paper, he would transcribe it again, not recklessly submit a messy sheet.

For the first question, Chen Xu wrote:

"Student heard, the sages said 'axe enters in due time', not merely to cherish resources, but to indeed imply a profound intention of nurturing the people in its utilization..."

For the second question, Chen Xu wrote:

"Zhong Gong said: Maintain reverence and act with simplicity, so as to govern the people, is this not proper?

This is the key to managing officials and securing the populace..."

Neither question was obscure, the first coming from "Mencius, Liang Hui King" chapter, the second from "The Analects, Constitution Inquiry".

Compared to the difficult questions in the academy exams, these two questions could be deemed grand and splendid, extremely benevolent.

Yet both questions had profound meanings.

Let's first talk about the first question.

Chen Xu had seen recent reports from the Imperial Court from Feng Yuanbai, learning that two months ago, the Ministry of Works reported: "The procurement of official timber exceeded the limit, the forests of Longchuan have been reduced by seven to eight out of ten."

The area of Longchuan had once been a place rich in forest resources.

Official timber from the Imperial Court mostly came from Longchuan, but due to over-exploitation, Longchuan, once known as "all hills are green and flourishing", had become a place of deforestation and scarcity.

Three thousand miles of mountain range, now sparse and desolate.

Mencius said: "If the farming season is not violated, the grain will overflow; if the axe enters the forest in due time, the timber will be limitless."

The wise sages already had famous sayings, all things must be done in due season.

Chen Xu wrote: "Now the logging of forests, is it not out of season? For the world's need for materials, the construction of palaces, the making of boats and carts, the crafting of market stores, the daily expenses and annual usage all rely on this.

If the benefits of forests are all destroyed, then the use of timber will be insufficient, and the people's toil heavy..."

First breaking down the topic, then solving it.

Effortlessly, less than a thousand words.

These we shall not elaborate on.

In short, after finishing the first two minor questions, Chen Xu first put away the completed answer sheets, safely storing them in his exam basket.

Then he put down his pen and ink, sitting in his exam cell, and closed his eyes to rest.

Yes, after finishing the first two minor questions, he indeed did not write the third major question!

In fact, Chen Xu wasn't refusing to write, he was sitting there, meticulously contemplating the third question.

Countless flashes of insight darted through his mind like electricity, without a sound, yet his mind seemed to be in a thunderous storm.

Building models, calculating data, organizing language, refining rhetoric.

The third major question seemed unrelated to the first two minor questions, yet to Chen Xu at this moment, the causal line of the third question was clearly intimately connected with the previous two.

The topic stated: It is said "natural disasters prevailing, the sage king fears"., there has been no rain for three seasons, the earth is red and cracked...

Following drought, locust plagues are inevitable.

A hundred years ago, locust swarms densely clustered over Longchuan like clouds, wings glistening with bluish phosphorus, devouring crops as if reaping; in West Lu, there were locust demons over a yard long, eyes red like torches, driving the locusts to devour humans, True Masters said it was "anger of the drought demon".

As you students recite the sage's books and also study the laws of heaven and mankind, you should explain current affairs:

The drought and locusts are interrelated, with demons causing havoc. How should one quell the demonic presence, save the fields, secure the populace?

[Propose a strategy for demon suppression, to quell the locust demon, living up to the sage expectations.]

As it turns out, the third major question was on the strategy for suppressing the locust demon!

Feng Yuanbai had once mentioned the "Demon Suppression Strategy" to Chen Xu, and it indeed appeared in this village exam.

What Feng Yuanbai previously said about the "Northern Border Great Drought" now proved closely related to this exam question.

To a certain extent, Feng Yuanbai could be compared to a Luo family elder, accurately predicting this village exam question.

Of course, Feng Yuanbai's prediction was broad, not precisely spot on.

How to answer this question ultimately relied on Chen Xu himself.

Chen Xu sat in his exam cell, pondering deeply for a whole day and night.

During this time, he closed his eyes, without moving, not a drop of water nor a grain of rice passed his lips throughout the entire day and night!

Initially, nobody came to bother him after the first night passed.

But by midday the next day, as he still remained unmoving with eyes closed, the patrolling soldiers felt compelled to come check on him.

"Candidate A36, are you alright? Do you need a doctor?"

It was now Chen Xu's turn to face the question of whether to call for a doctor.

Chen Xu remained motionless with closed eyes, but finally responded: "Thank you, no need."

The few soldiers who came to check and were rejected by him couldn't help but exchange glances, all slightly shaking their heads.

After the soldiers left, they naturally couldn't avoid quietly discussing in the background, sighing in regret:

"That one, he is Chen Xu who wrote the Cyan Smoke Poem, who would've thought he too would run into problems now..."

"Writing good poetry doesn't necessarily mean writing good essays, it's not surprising if problems arise."

"Hey, look, that's Luo Wenhuan who was coughing blood earlier in the exam hall. Now he seems to be in great condition, after two days he's made several revisions to his draft and is still writing.

His thoughts pouring forth like a spring, not stopping at all."

"Alas, that being said, it seems that for this third exam, Luo Wenhuan is more likely to achieve a good result?"

"Who knows?"

"Yes, who knows? The competition for the Top Scholar, until the last moment, truly no one can predict the outcome..."

The soldiers whispered and sighed in discussion.

And indeed, it was not only the patrolling soldiers of the Imperial Examination Hall sighing regretfully.

The examiners on the Observatory, from their vantage point, observing the entire exam hall, couldn't help but feel similarly emotional.

However, as the examiners had to grade the papers, certain remarks were left unsaid in too explicit terms, and even discussions among colleagues were restrained to a degree.

Thus, a day and a night passed, and by noon of the next day Chen Xu still had not opened his eyes or eaten.

When night fell again, Chen Xu still did not open his eyes.

Come the dawn of the third and final day, Chen Xu still had not opened his eyes.

Finally, until midday—

Which was precisely the ninth day of the village exam, at one quarter past noon, Chen Xu finally opened his eyes and picked up his pen.

At this moment, most examinees had already finished writing all three exam questions.

And the end of this village exam was only two hours away!

Luo Wenhuan confidently closed his exam papers, feeling excited.

Looking again at Chen Xu, who had been silent for so long across from him, he had finally picked up his pen and started answering the question.

However, after days of hard writing, Luo Wenhuan now had great confidence in himself.

Looking at Chen Xu again, his mindset was entirely different from before.

"Chen Xu, it seems you have exhausted yourself here..." Luo Wenhuan thought.

Of course, though he thought this way, Luo Wenhuan still couldn't help but keep an extra eye on Chen Xu.

He began counting in his mind, calculating how long Chen Xu took to answer the question.

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