When you begin a month, do not touch anything. Allow the game to idle for about ten minutes and a merchant will ask you a question about the game such as "What city can you see the great wall of China in?" (Bei Ping) or "Out of these 3 officers, which one was a tiger general for Shu?" (Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, and Hwang Zhong.) They give you a little experience and say "maybe something good will happen".