A Contest

"Let's talk inside."

With that, Liao San led Chen Cheng through the gates of the City Guard Office.

The Ruyi Ward branch office of the South District City Guard Office looked rather old from the outside, steeped in the wear of years.

Once inside the gates, however, the grounds were spacious, the buildings orderly, with rockeries and gardens scattered throughout. It was a world apart.

Liao San brought Chen Cheng to a garden and carefully explained the whole matter.

To join the City Guard Office, one had to start as a probationary runner.

Every so often, official runners retired due to old age, injury, illness, death, and other reasons.

Only when official runners retired and vacancies opened up would probationary runners be assessed, with the best among them promoted to official runners.

Whether probationary runners or official runners, both had fixed quotas—one radish, one pit.

Chen Cheng had been lucky this time. A batch of official runners had happened to retire, while probationary runners were promoted, leaving more than ten vacancies behind.

With more than ten probationary runner positions vacant, naturally new recruits had to be brought in to fill them.

When recruiting new probationary runners, priority had to be given to the family members and descendants of retired runners. Only if positions remained could outsiders be recruited.

Under Great Yu law, the City Guard Office had to assess new recruits and select the best. Any commoner of clean background, without a history of crime or wrongdoing, could register.

But Great Yu's officialdom was now corrupt, and such registration and assessment mechanisms existed in name only. Even to register for the assessment, one had to secretly find connections and pull strings.

Through Liao San, Chen Cheng had used the connections of Chief Liu Yunfeng.

Liu Yunfeng had always valued Liao San and relied on him as his right-hand man. On top of having a favorable impression of Chen Cheng before, he had put real effort into helping.

Chen Cheng had originally been a jailer, his name already entered in the government registers. Thus, the slot Liu Yunfeng registered for him was on equal footing with those for the families of retired runners—a priority probationary runner slot.

Though he still had to undergo an assessment, it was merely going through the motions. Anyone with sound limbs and a healthy body could pass easily.

Probationary runner slots had always been limited. Priority slots took up the vast majority, while the few remaining slots all went to people recommended by the various constable chiefs.

Chen Cheng had taken a priority slot, meaning someone who had used the connections of another constable chief would be squeezed out.

When they learned Chen Cheng had transferred over from being a jailer, they took issue with it. Though jailers were listed in the government registers, they were not, after all, family members of official City Guard Office runners. Taking a priority slot was neither proper nor justified.

"Jailers are snatching the livelihoods of City Guard Office runners, and City Guard Office runners are snatching the livelihoods of jailers. Wouldn't that throw everything into chaos?" Those were the exact words Liao San relayed.

Later, the matter reached the head constable of the Ruyi Ward branch office. The head constable could not be bothered to deal with it and simply stripped Chen Cheng of his priority slot, making him compete fairly with those recommended by the other constable chiefs.

Fair competition meant that, aside from those holding priority slots, everyone else would undergo the assessment together, with one person eliminated.

The elimination rule was simple: a martial arts contest. The weakest would be eliminated.

"Brother Cheng, this has reached the head constable, so Chief Liu can't help either. If you're eliminated, don't lose heart. Chief Liu said that if you don't pass this assessment, he'll do everything he can to fight for a slot for you next time," Liao San said apologetically.

Chen Cheng had not expected that seeking a mere probationary runner position would involve so many twists and turns. It truly left him somewhat frustrated.

After pondering for a moment, he asked, "How many people are taking the assessment this time?"

After all, they were only competing for probationary runner slots. Those who wanted such positions should not be particularly strong in martial arts.

He should not be inferior to the others in a martial arts contest. If only one person was eliminated, he might not have no chance.

"Excluding the priority slots, six people in total, including you, will take the assessment."

Seeing that Chen Cheng did not seem to take it seriously and even appeared somewhat confident, Liao San shook his head and sighed softly. "Although only one person will be eliminated out of six, the other five have all trained at martial arts schools and are quite formidable. Competing against them may be somewhat difficult for you. Forget it. Once you meet them, I'll explain it to you in detail."

After speaking, Liao San led Chen Cheng out of the garden and down a walkway paved with blue stone slabs, arriving before a plaza.

Quite a few people had already gathered in the plaza. Several men in runner uniforms were practicing saber techniques in the open, while most others gathered in small groups of three or five, talking in low voices.

"This is the main training ground of the Ruyi Ward branch office, where runners practice martial arts during their breaks."

After a brief introduction, Liao San turned toward five young men gathered not far away. "Those five are the ones competing with you for the probationary runner slots."

Following his gaze, Chen Cheng saw that all five were in their twenties. They wore martial arts school uniforms, carried long sabers at their waists, and were tall and powerfully built.

"They're disciples of martial arts schools. They must come from wealthy families, so why do they want to become probationary runners?" Chen Cheng frowned.

He was greatly surprised that martial arts school disciples were competing for probationary runner slots.

After all, joining a martial arts school to train in martial arts cost ten taels of silver a month in tuition alone. To achieve anything, one had to train for at least a year or two, making the expenses enormous.

Only the children of wealthy families could withstand such costs.

Since they were the children of wealthy families and had spent so much money training in martial arts, why come here to become miserable probationary runners earning a meager salary of eight hundred copper coins a month?

Liao San explained, "Though those five come from wealthy families, they are either born of concubines or not valued by their clans. Entering the City Guard Office is simply their attempt to gamble for rank and recognition.

"They have trained in martial arts schools since childhood and possess considerable strength. After serving as probationary runners for some time, they will surely be promoted to official runners. Perhaps they may even become constable chiefs in the future.

"Then, not only will they hold their heads high in their families, they will also be able to shelter their clans."

"There are only so many constable chief positions. It won't be easy for them to become one. As for official runners, they don't seem to earn much either." Chen Cheng was still somewhat puzzled.

In his view, these people had the support of their families. Rather than train diligently at martial arts schools, they had come to become probationary runners. It was hardly a wise choice.

A trace of amusement flashed through Liao San's eyes. He nodded. "You're right. To become a constable chief, one needs not only martial arts strength, but also years of seniority. How could it possibly be so easy?

"Still, every year, quite a few wealthy family children who don't know the height of heaven or the depth of earth come to try their luck.

"Most of them won't last long. But to them, even if they resign after only a few days, it costs them nothing. They treat it as amusement."

Chen Cheng's face darkened. "With these people stirring things up like this, aren't they cutting off the path upward for many commoner children?"

Liao San thought Chen Cheng meant his own path had been cut off and that he was upset over being unable to become a probationary runner. He hurriedly patted his shoulder and comforted him. "Cheng, don't lose heart. When you take the assessment next time, you probably won't encounter people like this."

"Third Brother, there won't be a next time." Chen Cheng's expression was calm as he spoke solemnly.

So what if those people were martial arts school disciples? Since it was a martial arts contest, they had to fight a match before the result could be known.