I don't really agree with this. Regular employment was definitely not available for a large number of people, but it did exist. Specifically, to run States (i.e

I don't really agree with this. Regular employment was definitely not available for a large number of people, but it did exist. Specifically, to run States (i.e. bureaucracies). Just take a look at how China has been governed for the past couple of thousand years. They had a well defined examination system to get into civil service etc. _Private_ regular employment was certainly less common, just because private enterprises (as we understand them now) have been a relatively new invention.