Most Worthy Emperor,

I have been asked to propose a main question for the metropolitan exam for civil service to be held next month.

For this, I have selected a passage from the Master's texts (the Analects, Book 1, 5.),

The Master said, 'In guiding a state of a thousand chariots, approach your duties with reverence and be trustworthy in what you say; avoid excesses in expenditure and love your fellow men; employ the labour of the common people only in the right seasons.'.

I would pose the question to the candidates for civil service, why would one make sure to only employ the common people in the right seasons?

With that, a model answer would be to the effect of this:

With the importance of agriculture in our society, it is known that the proper methods and timing for planting, cultivation, and finally harvesting are absolutely paramount. To be mistaken by just a few days can lead to total disaster. What begins as a minor error in judgment about the most auspicious period to begin planting can, in time, turn into a crisis of starvation. Starvation leads to famine, and uncorrected famine will lead to death, and even the loss of the Mandate of Heaven.

The labour of the common people is not to be squandered. Incorrect, greedy, selfish administrators will pull hard-working farmers off their fields to fulfill their own desires—personal projects glorifying themselves, incorrect public works, or even to fight their own personal battles and wars. Meanwhile, during the important period of farming, land lies untilled and unmanaged. Once again, famine results, as does waste, death, and even the fall of the dynasty. Just like labour, money can be squandered on the incorrect uses, and is wasted before it is actually needed for proper uses.

When administrators know and appreciate the auspicious times for harvest and cultivation, and when farmers are present on those fields, able to work the land, does the greatest potential for food production exist. When everything is done most correctly, the results will be most correct as well, just as when everything is done incorrectly, the incorrect, and even harmful, result appears.

In the early days of the dynasty, men charged with corruption were dealt with harshly. Officials charged with embezzling eight kuan of public funds were regularly executed. Since then, we have become lax in our punishment of corruption (Huang, 154).

Squandering of manpower by magistrates for personal ventures, not in accordance with the central government, has become increasingly problematic. While many administrators are acting with correct intentions in issues of barbarian defense and developing infrastructure, many are not only wasting labour but also food and resources. A few even do it simply to line their own pockets in shady deals. Countering this corruption, Worthy Emperor, should be one of our prime objectives and intentions, and is best handled by only allowing those with correct behavior and morals into the civil service. With the best-taught and most moral men in the bureaucracy, the government can be run smoothly and the Mandate of Heaven maintained.

I submit this with unlimited loyalty and devotion to the country,

The Grand Secretary from Kaifeng