Seems like in alot of cases you would be better off have 2 times as many mortals as having a bunch of reds fighting. Similar effect and much cheaper.
Edit: I am now imagining the effects of guns being invented. That is the effects of a mass producable weapon that anyone can use with little training that makes a moral about as dangerous as a red.
Theres a big difference. It takes a mortal a lifetime of training to get to mortal mastery. Even an untalented Red with no meridians can expect to master a weapon to that level within a year.
That said, I kind of doubt anyone will bother sponsoring a Talent 2 to awaken at all. Cultivation at Red is cheap, but not THAT cheap. Your typical career Red should be Talent 4+, OR be the sole inheritor of their family's cultivation and thus spending however much wealth their cultivator parent had saved up since their birth(so around a decade of savings for 1-2 Red cultivators, assuming the optimal age to awaken is common knowledge), on top of borrowing funds if necessary to get them over the hump.
They should have enough drugs to cultivate furiously for maybe two to three months before running out, at which point you have a fairly good idea of if they'd amount to anything and a couple of meridians open to be able to start learning your family/job arts.
Do keep in mind that superhuman mobility and durability don't have as many civilian applications. Theres only a market for so many messengers, and doing the tank duty for a Red hunting party can be rather dangerous, they simply don't have the meridian room to develop enough margin above baseline to actually be safe from spirit beasts, existing in a state of reduced risk instead.
So lets work out Life of Working Red Cultivators:
-Red Guard
--Duties: Identifying spirits infiltrating past the wards. Inspection of general weird shit as the most approachable cultivator to urban mortals. Subduing minor spirits slipping through the wards. Urban combat. General bullyboys. Dying slowly enough holding the breach, if wards are outright breached, that someone can ring up the nearest Green.
--Key meridians: Primary Spine(body enhancement), Secondary Head(Perception) and Arm(Offense). You might expect them to have Arm meridians, but for the most part their job just doesn't actually take a lot of offensive power unless it comes with precision.
--Income nature: Service to community
--Military role: Sentries, line troops.
-Red Farmer:
--Duties: Maintenance of crop prosperity, defense against foraging spirit beasts, feats of great strength.
--Key meridians: Primary Lungs/Arm(crop/field enhancement techniques should fall under this, as energy projection techniques), Secondary Spine(Body enhancement)
--Income nature: Production of bulk crops for food, or maintenance of exotic crops for cultivation product. Possibly value added crop processing for longer established families. Being able to make your own shitty drugs pays a lot more than selling raw cores.
--Military role: Put them through a crash course in archery and give them an art and they'd make a fine slinger...granted, farmers historically made for pretty badass slingers and archers. Lots of time to train in this job.
Having trouble figuring out Red Artisan(like the Ma sisters being from a potter family).
