Juyan.

On the city wall, Liu Hong, dressed in plain clothes, watched the Xianbei troops slowly moving westward, his heart filled with unease.

In front of them were the Xiongnu people led by Xiezhiyu, and behind them were the Xianbei people led by Helian.

Now, these two grassland tribes, which had plagued the Han Dynasty for many years, have both been driven to the west.

Although he didn't know if his plans for the West would be successful, Liu Hong believed that with the help of the Xiongnu and Xianbei tribes, he could definitely throw the West into chaos, completely crush the barbarians on the European steppes, and thus eliminate any potential threat from the West to the East.

Just then, Huangfu Song also came over with a battle report.

"Your Majesty, Xi Zhicai has sent a battle report!"

"Hmm, what does the battle report say?"

Liu Hong asked without turning his head, his gaze still fixed on the direction in which the Xianbei army had departed.

Huangfu Song: "Your Majesty, after Xi Zhicai, Sun Jian and others captured Tanhan Mountain, they found several sheepskin scrolls in the palace and analyzed that the Xianbei people might take the Wusun Kingdom in the Western Regions as their first target for westward attack...!"

"My dear minister, you can send a message to Benchu ​​in the Western Regions and ask him to keep an eye on things. Also, that Xiezhiyu has been stuck in the Western Regions for quite some time now; it's time for him to move further west!"

"It's Your Majesty!"

Huangfu Song respectfully agreed, and then continued, "Your Majesty, the Xianbei have now migrated westward, and the three armies led by Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun, and Gao Shun are making good progress and are heading towards Langjuxu Mountain."

The southern grasslands no longer have a single nomadic tribe.

"Alright, then we should head over there. First, we'll climb Mount Langjuxu, then we'll head to the vast sea to drink our horses!"

Upon hearing Huangfu Song's report on the movements of the various armies, Liu Hong smiled.

Liu Hong did not make much of a statement regarding the Xianbei's choice of Wusun as their first stop in their westward expansion.

Although the Wusun Kingdom had a close relationship with the Han Dynasty in the past, with the death of Princess Jieyou and the turmoil in the later period of the Han Dynasty, the Wusun no longer had any feelings for the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, Liu Hong didn't bother with these matters. He only thought that after the Xianbei destroyed the Wusun, the Han Dynasty could clean up the mess.

"I will immediately order the entire army to prepare!"

Upon hearing Liu Hong's words, Huangfu Song's face also showed joy and excitement.

Soon, Huangfu Song's order spread throughout the entire army.

Upon learning that the emperor was preparing to lead his army to climb Mount Langjuxu and stand on the shore of the vast sea, the entire army was immediately filled with excitement.

All the soldiers were also preparing to depart at the fastest speed.

The people, wealthy families, and merchants of Juyan City also enthusiastically donated money and goods, providing the army with a large amount of supplies.

The 40,000 passionate young people who remained in Juyan City also took the initiative to find the Juyan government, hoping to join the supply train of the Northern Army so that they could follow the emperor to the two ultimate dream destinations: Langjuxu Mountain and the vast sea.

Cao Song, Xun Shuang, and other ministers who had come to persuade the emperor to return to Luoyang also forgot their original intentions without hesitation and requested to accompany the army north.

Liu Hong readily agreed to the requests from these passionate young people and officials.

For such a historically significant event, Liu Hong naturally hoped that as many people as possible would participate.

While the soldiers and civilians of Juyan were busy with the army's northward advance, Liu Hong also sent messengers to Luoyang with news of the Han's great victory over the Xianbei outside Juyan and their expulsion of them.

Because this was an unprecedented victory that completely eliminated the hidden dangers on the grasslands, Liu Hong instructed the messengers to stop at each place they visited to spread the news of the battle to the local people.

Messengers delivering news of victory along the official road would go wherever there were crowds.

After announcing the news of the Han army's great victory to the people and passersby, the messenger who brought the news of the victory also rode his horse towards Luoyang with a proud look on his face.

As a result, starting from Juyan, all the counties and prefectures leading to Luoyang were plunged into a state of jubilation and celebration.

Countless ordinary people, students, and young people also came out of their homes and gathered together to celebrate this great victory.

The main reason for the people's celebration was that during the war and the reorganization of the army, the imperial court and the government did not collect various materials from the people as they had done in the past.

This great victory neither increased the burden on the people nor diminished the nation's prestige, and naturally pleased the people.

However, in contrast, nearly 70% of the official granaries that Liu Hong had built up in various places were consumed in preparation for this decisive battle and to meet the needs of the other three armies' clearing operations on the grasslands. The remaining supplies could only support him to lead his army on a trip to the Han Sea at most.

It would take at least three years to replenish the government granaries without increasing the burden on the people.

Therefore, the Han Dynasty was no longer able to send troops on expeditions to the Western Regions.

However, Liu Hong has no plans to send troops to the Western Regions for the time being. With Xie Zhiyu stirring up trouble in the Western Regions and He Lian about to arrive, his strategic goal has been achieved.

Anyway, he only wanted the land, not the people. Once the Xiongnu and Xianbei had almost finished ravaging the Western Regions, the Han Dynasty's granaries would be replenished. Then, he could send troops to directly occupy the land of the Western Regions.

June 25th, the eighth year of Jianning.

The messenger responsible for reporting the victory finally arrived in Luoyang with the news.

Although Luoyang had already received the battle report from Juyan, the city was still in an uproar when the messenger brought back the news of the great victory.

The emperor personally led 40,000 Han soldiers on the front lines, defeating the 100,000-strong Xianbei army in one fell swoop...

Such an impressive record naturally thrilled the people who supported the emperor.

Yang Ci, who remained in charge of the Ministry of Rites, immediately made a suggestion to the cabinet to organize a celebration of the victory in Luoyang.

The cabinet immediately approved the proposal.

Soon, the cabinet issued an order requiring all academies, schools, factories, workshops, and shops in and around Luoyang, except for important government departments, to take a day off.

Officials, students, workers, and countless ordinary people who received the notice returned home to burn incense, pray, bathe, and change clothes.

The next day, before dawn, the gates of the Southern Palace opened, and five squads of Imperial Guards soldiers marched out of the palace in neat formation.

A squad of soldiers in the middle escorted a large banner toward a flagpole in the center of the square.

On the front of this banner, in the center, is the Chinese character "Han" embroidered in gold thread, flanked by two five-clawed golden dragons, one on the left and one on the right.

On the back of the banner, in the center, is a map of the Han Dynasty embroidered with various colored threads. The blank spaces around the map are in red, and every time the Han Dynasty opened up a new territory, a piece of the map would be filled in the blank space.

Soon, the five squads of soldiers guarding the banner arrived at the foot of the flagpole.

After directing his soldiers to hang the banner, the leading officer turned east and gazed silently at the first hint of dawn appearing on the horizon.