Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

After his first attack on Rangzhou City failed, Shen Lang did not launch another offensive for nine consecutive days, instead maintaining a strange tacit understanding with the city's defenders.

During those nine days, Shen Lang did only one thing: send people outside the city every day to persuade them to surrender.

Unfortunately, the soldiers who went to persuade the city to surrender shouted themselves hoarse, but they received no response whatsoever.

This puzzled the Taiji Army, whose morale was originally high, and made Shatuo extremely anxious. He requested to fight several times, but Shen Lang sent him back each time.

Xue Yan was equally surprised. He was prepared to die for his country, but suddenly the Goryeo army stopped its attack and instead sent people outside the city every day to persuade them to surrender.

Although we don't know what the Koreans are up to, the fact that the Korean army isn't launching an offensive is extremely advantageous for us.

During this time, Xue Yan quickly repaired the damaged city wall, and after seven days, he finally managed to plug the breach that had been blasted open by the cannons.

With the breach repaired, the soldiers and civilians in the city felt much more at ease, and Xue Yan's idea of ​​seeking help from Wandu was dispelled.

Until the morning of the tenth day...

"Commander, Wang Xuance is back."

Ban Dingyuan ran into the military tent with a face full of excitement.

Shen Lang: "Did you bring everyone?"

"They've brought two or three thousand men, and they're all waiting outside the camp."

"Take me to see it."

"Yes."

Outside the military camp, a group of Goryeo soldiers kept pointing and whispering at the people in front of them, their eyes full of disdain.

However, there was indeed a reason for their attitude. Just a hundred paces away, there sat more than two thousand ragged, disheveled foreigners.

These are the Solon people that Shen Lang ordered Wang Xuance to recruit.

Upon learning that someone was willing to hire him, Soren chieftain Hailan Ying asked only one question.

"Can I have a full meal?"

Wang Xuance: "Yes."

With such a simple answer, Hailan immediately summoned all the able-bodied men in her tribe and followed Wang Xuance out of the Savage Mountain Range.

When Shen Lang arrived at the camp, even though he was already familiar with the Soren people's way of life thanks to the intelligence system, he was still quite shocked by what he saw.

At a glance, all that could be seen were beggars; not a single member of the tribe could be found dressed in decent clothes.

However, while these Solon people appeared slovenly and filthy, the two hundred horses they brought with them were gleaming and shiny, creating a stark contrast with the people.

"Ugh."

Shen Lang let out a barely perceptible sigh, and couldn't help but think of the Soren tribe with the same name during the time of the horse demon.

After the Eight Banners entered the pass, their fighting strength rapidly deteriorated at a rate incomprehensible to ordinary people. Only the Solon people outside the pass maintained their fighting strength until they were defeated by the Nian Rebellion, remaining consistent with their strength before entering the pass.

Therefore, after the Eight Banners' fighting prowess was deeply impressive, the Solon people became the obvious first choice for the Ma Yao (a derogatory term for a certain type of enemy).

It's not that the Soron people didn't want to be corrupt, nor that they were all exceptionally talented; it's just that the horde chieftain wouldn't allow them to be corrupt.

In order to ensure that the Solon people always maintained their formidable fighting power, Chief Ma Yao forbade the Solon tribe from migrating south or changing their way of life, believing that only a life of poverty could keep the Solon people in such a fighting position.

Shen Lang recalled that historical records from the Qing Dynasty documented the living conditions of the Solon people, who maintained a primitive fishing and hunting lifestyle until the mid-19th century.

When winter comes, the tribe members can only survive by begging from other tribes and fishing through the ice.

The harsh conditions faced by the Solon tribe were so dire that even Han Chinese officials could not bear to see them suffer and repeatedly petitioned to allow the Solon tribe to relocate inland.

However, this reasonable request was sternly rejected by Gai Zhanglong at the time. He believed that the Solon people would not become as corrupt as the Eight Banners soldiers if they were kept in poverty. Once they were given a comfortable and peaceful life, they would completely lose their fighting power.

Listen to this, is this human language? In the underworld, we're brothers who've been through thick and thin together. In the end, I can live a life of luxury and comfort, but you have to starve and risk your life for me.

Another year later, the Soren tribe suffered a natural disaster, and almost all the prey in the mountains and forests were wiped out, putting the entire tribe at risk of starvation.

The Manchu chieftains living outside the Great Wall couldn't bear to see this any longer, so they secretly taught them relevant farming techniques and sent their knowledgeable servants to personally guide them on how to cultivate the land and manage the crops.

That year, for the first time in nearly a century, the entire Solon tribe was able to eat their fill without hunting, and for the first time they realized that they could survive without hunting.

Unfortunately, when Gai Zhanglong learned of this, he immediately punished all the Manchus who had taught the Solon people agricultural techniques outside the Great Wall.

He then ordered his army to level all the land cultivated by the Solon people, forcing them to maintain only the most primitive fishing and hunting lifestyle.

What he feared was that the Solon tribe would also be as "corrupt" as the Eight Banners, and then they would not be able to find such high-quality cannon fodder to fight for.

Those who have watched Qing Dynasty dramas should have heard the phrase "exiled to Ningguta to serve as slaves to the armored soldiers".

The armored soldiers were mainly soldiers from various Jurchen tribes who guarded the northeastern border. During the Ma Yao Dynasty, their status was lower than that of the Manchu and Mongol Eight Banners, and even higher than that of the Han Eight Banners.

The Qing court generally sent the families of officials who had committed serious crimes to the frontier to work for the armored soldiers in order to improve their living conditions.

Unfortunately, the Solon tribe was not included among the armored people, and the Solon people's status was even lower than that of the armored people at times.

Ultimately, the Ma Yao Dynasty never treated the Solon tribe as human beings, and instead exploited them in an unsustainable and short-sighted manner.

This directly resulted in the Solon tribe teetering on the brink of extinction during a period of great global population growth in the 18th and 19th centuries.

It was so severe that the women of the Solon tribe went to the military camp to find their husbands to father their children.

Throughout the entire Ma Yao Dynasty, Soren never integrated into the Qing court.

Therefore, it wasn't just the so-called Han Chinese who harbored hatred towards the horse demon; the Solon people at the time hated the horse demon a thousand times more than the Han Chinese.

The Solon people in front of Shen Lang now are not in the same miserable state as during the time of the horse demon, but they are not far off.

After all, Goguryeo, like the other tribes in Liaodong, did not treat them as human beings.

Seeing Shen Lang approach, Wang Xuance immediately pulled Hailanyin to his side: "Commander, this is Hailanyin, the chief of the Solon tribe. He is willing to follow all your arrangements."

Shen Lang glanced at Hailan Yin. Just by looking at his fierce appearance, he knew that this man was very capable in combat and much more reliable than Shatuo.

"Chief of the Sea Clan, I think you already know why I summoned you here, right?"

Hailan lowered her head and replied, "I understand. We will do whatever the master asks us to do."

Shen Lang: "So what are your conditions and requirements?"

Hailan replied respectfully, "My lord, two full meals a day are enough for us."

Shen Lang frowned upon hearing this.

Hailan was startled, thinking she had made an unreasonable request, and quickly changed her mind, saying, "One meal a day is fine too."

Shen Lang remained silent.

"Half full is fine too."

Unlike Hailan's robust physique, she was meek and submissive in front of Shen Lang, afraid of offending this once-in-a-lifetime employer.