[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-dark-and-dawn-light-years":3,"chapter-dark-and-dawn-light-years-dark-and-dawn-light-years-chapter-117":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Dark and Dawn Light-Years",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2264717,4420,"Chapter 117: Paying to Work","dark-and-dawn-light-years-chapter-117",117,"\u003Cp>Li Lin began pondering the Stealth Technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He now felt that the Stealth Technique had fallen behind his growth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was easy for skilled martial artists or experienced Spirit Hunters to sense him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if they couldn’t see him, they could tell roughly which direction he was in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, the Stealth Technique had to be put back on the training schedule.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tried many things, like going outside the county town and lying in wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He waited all night, sensing the Wicked Spirits drifting nearby, yet his proficiency didn’t increase at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He guessed it was because the Wicked Spirits were too weak, so he waited near the Tree Immortal Lady’s altar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Tree Immortal Lady looked at him with a strange expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This made Li Lin feel embarrassed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, he thought for a moment and went to wait behind the True Lord Temple in the county town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This actually worked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His proficiency increased at a decent pace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although it paled compared to before, he understood that the stronger a skill became, the slower its growth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, overall, it was improving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could feel it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So during the day, he spent half his time crouching behind the True Lord Temple’s rear wall—luckily, the thick grass made it easy to vanish into Stealth without being noticed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why not wait at night…? At night, he had to be intimate with Hong Luan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After about ten days like this, he felt his Stealth Technique had reached a higher realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His stealth ability had grown stronger, making him harder to detect, and a new ability seemed to have emerged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he had no way to test it yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With his ability improved, Li Lin was naturally delighted, yet he didn’t slack off—he trained his other martial arts even harder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He halved the time spent on fist techniques and greatly increased his spear practice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also occasionally practiced with his short sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A month passed quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, he assumed office as County Constable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was just a single appointment document, stamped by the Central Secretariat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Holding the document, Li Lin felt… oddly frivolous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although County Constable was a minor post, it was still an official position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An official!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Huang Yan handed him the appointment, he said no words of encouragement, for in his view, this post was beneath Li Lin’s talents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once Li Lin had stabilized himself in Jincheng and built a foundation, he would consider transferring him to Jincheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The day after receiving the document, Li Lin went to the Military Office and saw Fan Shan there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Li Lin, Fan Shan immediately ran over, clasped his fists, and smiled: “Congratulations, County Constable Li—rising steadily.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Lin waved his hand: “Why are you here, Brother Fan?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The County Magistrate sent me,” Fan Shan said cheerfully. “I’m now a Company Captain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Lin remembered—Shi Captain had perished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fan Shan had served as an undercover agent for over a decade; giving him the position of Company Captain was perfectly reasonable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Company Captain Fan, rising steadily.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s nothing, it’s nothing,” Fan Shan beamed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Returning from a border village to Yulin County, now promoted to Company Captain—a minor official—he felt he had reached the peak of his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Lin sat in the main seat and opened the roster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire county office had fifty-three government office runners; ten handled guard duty and miscellaneous tasks, while the remaining forty-three fell under his command.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could also mobilize about five hundred village soldiers, but each deployment required the County Magistrate’s written order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each village soldier received three hundred wen per month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wait… Li Lin flipped back to the government office runners’ roster. He searched for a while but found no mention of their monthly pay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He frowned and asked: “Company Captain Fan, what’s the monthly pay for government office runners? Why isn’t it listed?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“government office runners don’t get monthly pay.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Lin froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No monthly pay?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fan Shan chuckled: “You never understood government office runners before, did you? You didn’t need to. The imperial court doesn’t pay them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then how do they live?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s another matter entirely.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fan Shan explained the current state of the \"corvée.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the Great Qi system of “officials,” “clerks,” “soldiers,” and “servants,” servants were the lowest class.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only did they receive no monthly pay, they even had to pay out of pocket for their own uniforms—truly paying to work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So how did government office runners earn money?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The answer was simple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Collecting “protection fees.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With their official “skin,” they had secret income streams—though modest, enough to live on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing this, Li Lin’s face twisted into a bitter gourd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No wonder government office runners had such a bad reputation—no salary, forced to rob commoners; their name could only be worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Lin checked the roster of county office officials and found the County Magistrate’s monthly salary was thirty guan—about thirty taels of silver, fluctuating slightly with market rates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the County Magistrate didn’t rely on that small sum; the court also provided annual in-kind stipends.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Things like silk, rice wine, and seasonal subsidies like ice money and charcoal money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Overall, a formal seventh- or eighth-rank official like the County Magistrate had a high salary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Below him were the Assistant County Magistrate and County Constable—both ninth-rank petty officials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each received five guan—about five taels of silver—with smaller ice and charcoal subsidies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then came Company Captains, Registrars, Constables… one guan each.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spirit Hunters received no monthly pay either, but they got blood rice—currently seventy jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the black market exchange rate, Spirit Hunters earned the equivalent of seventy taels of silver per month—more than the County Magistrate’s official income.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s why most Spirit Hunters willingly worked for the government.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were truly generous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Village soldiers received thirty wen per month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Great Qi, copper cash had strong purchasing power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially since village soldiers were fed and housed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But government office runners were truly pitiful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Lin sighed deeply as he read this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walked outside the Military Office, where several government office runners were chatting and joking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Li Lin emerge, they lined up and stood at attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Huang Qi was County Constable, they resented him—only his father’s position as County Magistrate kept them obedient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li Lin… was a Spirit Hunter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He possessed martial strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if they resented him inwardly, none dared show it openly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who is Fang Constable?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am!” A middle-aged man stepped forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come in. I need to speak with you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two returned to the Military Office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fan Shan wisely left and closed the door behind them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Constable was nervous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Lin smiled: “Fang Constable, how much do your men make?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My men don’t… have…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I mean the money you collect from the people.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Constable broke into sweat: “County Constable, this has always been permitted.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know…” Li Lin nodded. “I’m just curious—how much do you actually collect? Don’t try to hide it. As a Spirit Hunter, I have many ways to uncover the real numbers—if I want to.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, Li Lin had no such methods, but that didn’t stop him from bluffing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Constable, filled with dread, finally said: “About two guan per month, all together…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So little!” Li Lin exclaimed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Constable explained: “The County Magistrate is upright—our men dare not overstep.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1214,"2026-06-19T19:39:18.782Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d59550a6a614639bc5ed384bbb9ade89c368cff40a96c8e0687efe50dc47eec0","dark-and-dawn-light-years-chapter-118","dark-and-dawn-light-years-chapter-116",221,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdark-and-dawn-light-years-cover.jpg"]