Mercenary perhaps received money for something that is essentially corrupt (7)

I believe the answer is:

soldier

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'mercenary perhaps received money for something that is essentially corrupt' is the definition.
'soldier' can be an answer for 'mercenary' (thesaurus). I am unsure of the remainder of the definition.

'something that is essentially corrupt' is the wordplay.
'something' becomes 'sold' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'that is' becomes 'i.e.' (short for Latin 'id est', 'that is').
'essentially' means to look at the middle letters.
The middle of 'corrupt' is 'r'.
'sold'+'ie'+'r'='SOLDIER'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for soldier that I've seen before include "piece of bread" , "One serves in the army" , "serviceman" , "Member of the military" , "Server in army" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.

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