Becoming an official Blood-Clad Guard did not mean Wang Chen could immediately don the flying-fish uniform, wear a Wild Goose Feather Saber at his waist, and hunt down Rebel Faction fiends.
He still needed to undergo three months of training and pass the assessment before he would be qualified to take on assignments.
On the fifth day after arriving in Jiangyuan City, Wang Chen went to the Iron Furnace Camp outside the city to report for duty.
The Iron Furnace Camp lay ten li from Jiangyuan City. It was a large military encampment, built against the mountains and beside the water, with fortifications, barracks, training grounds, watchtowers, beacon towers, and other structures within.
There, Wang Chen began grueling training alongside eighty-nine other probationary Blood-Clad Guards.
The Blood-Clad Guards held a special status and wielded immense authority. Even probationary Blood-Clad Guards ranked one grade above the lowest officials, so gaining entry into their ranks was extremely difficult.
Yet the enemies faced by the Blood-Clad Guards were likewise savage and formidable, and their casualty rate remained high year after year. Thus, fresh blood needed to replenish their ranks without cease.
Most of these probationary Blood-Clad Guards came from humble families or prominent clans. They were chiefly legitimate or illegitimate sons of the main line, or members of collateral branches, joining the Blood-Clad Guards to carve out a future for themselves when they lacked the right to inherit the family estate.
One had to know that even a Blood-Clad Guard squad leader was a Subordinate Seventh Rank military officer. After retiring, he would be more than qualified to serve as a county constable.
Moreover, their status was not the least bit inferior to that of a Principal Seventh Rank county magistrate!
Many of the probationary Blood-Clad Guards were only in their teens or