Lu Jia looked up at the distant east with a solemn expression.

There is an indescribable feeling in my heart.

He once again felt the power of the empire.

This feeling is stronger than those before.

He led the imperial army to travel around various countries in the Western Region, and also conquered some small countries, allowing the Han Dynasty to begin to establish its reputation in this strange land.

But this time, the feeling the empire brought to Lu Jia was completely different.

In this matter, the empire obviously did nothing, but only relied on the empire's reputation to save the entire mission.

Lu Jia would not be greedy for merit, nor would he be disdainful of it.

That's the truth.

If the empire had not defeated the Huns in the east, they would have been forced to move westward.

It happened that Wusun and Qiuci were harassed by the Xiongnu, and it happened that because of their civil strife, Wusun and Qiuci had a chance to breathe.

After capturing the prisoners and questioning them, they found out that the Han Dynasty was already so powerful.

They needed to concentrate their forces to defeat the Xiongnu's vanguard, and the main Xiongnu force that the Han Dynasty could defeat had to move westward to avoid disaster.

The Huns came with bad intentions, and before they even showed up, they showed their ferocious fangs.

Whether it's Wusun, Qiuci, or the country of Dayuan with evil intentions.

They all belong to Xingguo, and their domestic livelihood mainly depends on animal husbandry.

Essentially, there is no difference between them and the Huns.

Countries that rely on animal husbandry for a living generally have one characteristic, that is, they always maintain a high enthusiasm for annexing other tribes.

The Huns have revealed their true nature, and facts have proven that they really cannot be defeated.

So now, the problem before them only has three options left.

Stay unmoved and wait for the Huns to attack. When the time comes to fight, if you really can't fight, you will join the Huns. According to their rules, you basically join the Huns. King Wusun may be granted a high-ranking official position, but

Wusun was also destroyed.

Move west to avoid disaster, move to a place far enough away and safe enough, and continue to seize the territory of small tribes to maintain their own livelihood.

With the size of Wusun and Qiuci, they don't have to worry about finding a place they like. They have enough military strength to grab a new pasture.

Make good friends with the Han Dynasty, invite the Han Dynasty to send troops to the Western Regions, and directly fight the Huns in the Western Regions.

But if you do this, there will be a series of unpredictable consequences.

"Do you think it's possible for the empire to send troops to the Western Regions?" Lu Jia looked to the east and asked Xue Tuo beside him.

"We will definitely send troops, it's just a matter of time!" Xue Tuo nodded with certainty.

"Yes, it's just a matter of time..." Lu Jia sighed deeply.

Of course he knows!

There is no need to consider this, their mission has proven everything.

Although finding Bai Diezi is the most important task.

But don't forget what types of officials are included in their missions.

There are officials from the Ministry of War in charge of logistics, and their task is to initially select places suitable for establishing inns.

There are also officials from the Shangshu Province, whose task is to draw maps and collect statistics on the geographical location and humanistic conditions of the cities in the Western Regions.

There are officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs who are responsible for surveying the terrain to see whether the Western Region is suitable for large-scale agricultural promotion.

Does a normal mission require so many officials with different responsibilities?

Of course not!

Lu Jia is not a fool, on the contrary, he is very smart!

From the moment His Majesty assigned him these people to enter the mission, he understood His Majesty's intention.

Why did your Majesty give him another thousand imperial troops as guards?

The Han Dynasty had so many soldiers, why did they choose people from the emperor's imperial guards to protect the mission?

That's because the Guards have the most rigorous training, the strongest combat effectiveness, the strongest willpower, and are also the most loyal troops.

To put it bluntly, the mission this time was actually trying to find out the truth about the entire Western Region under the guise of looking for Bai Diazi.

As long as he could return to Luoyang with this information, the emperor could immediately formulate a policy for entering the Western Regions.

Where to enter?

How many people come in?

Who is the enemy?

Who can be won over?

Lu Jia even vaguely felt that the emperor had even thought of how to govern this strange land in the Western Regions.

But how can it be so easy to send troops to the Western Regions?

Disaster!

It's hard!

Although Dahan is very powerful now, after all, the time it took to establish it was too short, and there are still many, many things that are too late to do.

Even the territory in the pre-Qin period has not been completely recovered by the Han Dynasty.

Although nominally recovered, half of the Hetao area is now temporarily given over to the Yuezhi people.

Not to mention the Hexi Corridor, which is completely silent. The big man doesn't have much desire there yet.

Because there was not enough population, its main focus was on the Huns in the north.

Now the westernmost borderland of the Han Dynasty is Jincheng (Lanzhou), which is almost five thousand miles away from Wusun.

Expeditionary Force...

How difficult is it?

"Envoy Lu, this is a good thing. Why are you so unhappy?" Xue Tuo was a little confused.

Dayuan has been killed by the combination of Wusun and Qiuci. Although they obtained less than a hundred Dayuan horses from Adoli, they captured thousands of Dayuan horses from the killed Dayuan cavalry.

This quantity is already enough.

Wusun and Qiuci decided to send envoys to the Han Dynasty, and each sent an envoy of a thousand people, including 600 soldiers to protect them.

Including the Han army, it was almost a fighting force of 2,000 people.

And what does the fighting force of two thousand people mean here?

This means that no one can pose any threat to them except nature.

"This place in the Western Region has a lot of potential! I just don't know if I will have the chance to come back in this life..." Lu Jia looked back behind him and said something confusing.

"Envoy Lu, you are not yet forty. Even if the court prepares for ten years, you are only over forty years old and in your prime!" Xue Tuo persuaded in a daze.

Lu Jia smiled and did not answer Xue Tuo's question.

Yes, I am still young.

But ten years later, will His Majesty let him come back?

Ten years later, the people I brought with me have all grown up.

Ten years later, who knows whether the big man will be ready in ten years?

When sending troops to the Western Regions, the Han Dynasty had to find ways to shorten the supply journey.

And we must control the Hexi Corridor and obtain a stable exit.

Without controlling the Hexi Corridor, those coming from the east and going west will be threatened by the north and south. This will be an extremely unstable corridor.

Dahan needs to operate here and build here.

ten years?

Who can be sure?

Maybe, after leaving and coming back, it will be twenty years later...

Lu Jia's guess is not unfounded, because twenty years from now, the Han population will reach its peak.

The first wave will appear in about fifteen years, but it is not yet stable at this time. It will be about eighteen or nineteen years before it can really stabilize.

…

Just when Lu Jia was worried about when he would be able to return to the Western Regions.

Far away in Luoyang, Wang Buxian was also suffering from a headache.

The population of Han Dynasty is too small.
To be continued...