Donghai Island is today's Lianyungang Liandao. The east and west mountains face each other across a narrow strait. It is called Mount Yu to the west. Yongshan County is located at the foot of the mountain. The mountain on the east side of the strait is called Xie Lushan, which is now Yuntai Mountain. There is also a mountain in the northeast called Yulin Mountain.

However, the Donghai Island in the Sui Dynasty was much larger than the Lian Islands today. It not only had mountains, but also large areas of arable land, forests and a county town, making it no problem to live in tens of thousands of people.

The entire Donghai Island occupies most of the mountains and hills. The small county town is called Donghai County. At present, all the population in the county has been migrated to the other side by Meng Haigong. There are only a few small fishing villages left on the entire island, with less than 500 people.

Donghai Island was well managed by Meng Hai Gong. Thousands of hectares of land were reclaimed and a huge dock was built, which could be docked at 20,000 stones. Meng Hai Gong's war horses were transported from Silla.

Since the island opposite Qushan County is full of rocks and beaches, large ships cannot be parked. The pier is built in a natural harbor on the right side of Yulin Mountain to the north. It is invisible from the mainland and is very hidden.

Zhang Xuan took a big boat to the pier in the Northeast Bay. Yuchi Gong and Shen Guang who were waiting on the pier stepped forward to salute, "I'm not here to see the general!"

"Thank you for your hard work, two generals!"

Zhang Xuan looked at the surrounding mountains and asked with a smile: "Where are brothers stationed?"

"Report to the general, the brothers are temporarily stationed in the county. Thanks to the successful negotiations between the military advisors, the remnants of Meng Hai Gong did not burn the food when they withdrew. There were nearly 20,000 stones of grain and a large amount of soldiers in the warehouse."

Zhang Xuan nodded. Fang Xuanling did a beautiful job of regaining Donghai County this time, and all plans were successfully completed.

Zhang Xuan looked back at the dock and asked, "How many ships are there on the island at present?"

"There are about twenty ships, including eight of Thousand Stone Sea Boats, the rest are small boats, and there are also fishing boats, which belong to the property of fishermen."

“How many fishermen are there?”

"There are more than 300 people in four small fishing villages. Mr. Meng Hai wanted to move them away before. But they refused to do so, and in the end they had to."

Zhang Xuan thought about it and said that if he wanted to keep the secret, it would be meaningless even if these fishermen were moved away. As long as they were allowed to contact the other side, there would be no problem.

At this time, Yuchi Gong asked in a low voice: "Do you want to garrison troops on the island?"

Zhang Xuan nodded, "I plan to station a thousand troops on the island and mainly control the dock."

Yuchi Gong smiled and said, "It should be no big problem. Anyway, there is enough land on the island. There is also food in the warehouse. The army can stock up on the island, raise pigs and chickens, and food and vegetables can be completely self-sufficient."

Shen Guang, next to him, added with a smile: "You can also set up a shop in Qushan County. Some daily necessities are prepared by the shop, and it is also an intelligence point. What do the general think?"

Zhang Xuan couldn't help but smile and said, "I am worthy of being the leader of the scout. I don't leave my business with three words. I still want to do information when I open a store."

Everyone laughed together

Emperor Yang Guang of Sui only stayed in Guanzhong for two days, and even did not enter Chang'an City. He walked around symbolically, and the team turned around and headed towards Puguan.

Yang Guang was extremely disgusted with Guanzhong and Chang'an. Guanzhong was the foundation of Guanlong nobles, and Chang'an was the base camp of Guanlong nobles. Although the Sui Dynasty was based on Guanlong nobles, from Emperor Wen of Sui to Yang Guang, both father and son spared no effort to weaken the influence of Guanlong nobles on the Sui Dynasty. Yang Guang moved the capital to Luoyang to get rid of the control of Guanlong nobles over the court. Later, Wu Zetian moved the capital to Luoyang for the same purpose.

Crossing the Yellow River from Puguan, he entered Bingzhou, and the inspection team stayed in Hedong County to rest.

There were hundreds of large tents stationed around the tent of the emperor Yang Guang, which covered three acres of land. At this time, the tents of the civil and military ministers were on the periphery of thousands of Xiaoguo Army camps, which were layer by layer, and surrounded by layer.

Yu Shiji's big account is located on the first floor of the official account, divided into internal and external accounts. The external account is a place for office and hospitality, and the internal account is a bedroom account. An important official like Yu Shiji who lives a luxurious life will never be wronged. He brought two beautiful concubines to serve him specifically.

As night fell, Yu Shiji was half lying on the soft couch, his eyes half squinted. The two concubines were carefully pinching his legs and relaxing. At this time, a follower reported outside the tent: "Master, Young Master is here!"

Yu Shiji opened his eyes and said, "Let him come in!"

He waved his hand, and the two concubines quickly helped him up, packed up their belongings and retreated into the inner tent. After a moment, Yu Shiji's stepson Xiahou Yan quickly walked into the tent and knelt down to salute, "Children, see my father!"

Although Yu Shiji is greedy and rich, his family tutoring is very strict and he never allows his biological children to participate in his bribery and accept bribes, so he leaves this kind of thing to his stepson. Xiahou Yan is actually the broker of Yu Shiji's power and wealth transactions.

"Sit down!"

Yu Shiji knew that Xiahou Yan was coming from Luoyang in a hurry, and there must be a big deal coming.

Xiahou Yan sat down and whispered: "Father, Zhang Xuan sent his confidant to find the child, and he had something to ask for!"

"What did he ask you for?"

"He first gave 1,500 taels of gold, saying it would be next year's annual rule."

Yu Shiji laughed. Zhang Xuan was very smart. He was just October, so he presented the annual bill for next year and added 500 taels of gold. He knew how to go with him!

"Then what?"

"Then he offered two thousand five hundred taels of gold, and he hoped that he would recommend two positions, namely the prefect of Donghai County and the governor of Donghai County."

"Then who do he want to recommend?" Yu Shiji asked again.

"Reporting to my father, he recommended Xu Yannian, the current Donghai County Magistrate, to be promoted to the prefect of Donghai, and recommended Liu Pu, the magistrate of Suyu County, to be appointed as Donghai County Magistrate."

Yu Shiji's eyes were thoughtful, and he immediately took out a copy of the military newspaper. This was the military newspaper that Zhang Xuan regained Donghai County. The officials praised the merits of Xu Yannian, the governor of Donghai County, and praised him for his great Sui Dynasty and endured humiliation to protect the people. It was he who helped the Sui army recover Donghai County without bloodshed and wiped out the remaining army of Meng Haigong.

Yu Shiji laughed and said to Xiahou Yan: "You go back and tell the people sent by Zhang Xuan that this matter is very difficult, but I will try my best to do it for him. I hope he will not give such a problem again next time."

Of course, Xiahou Yan understood that such a thing was actually a small task for his father, and he just exaggerated the difficulty a little so that the other party could understand that the money was not spent in vain.

"The boy understands, let's go back and tell them." Xiahou Yan stood up and bowed, and hurriedly left.

Yu Shiji paced back and forth in the tent with his hands on his back. He would not tell Xiahou Yan about some things, but his heart was like a mirror. He understood the real purpose of Zhang Xuan asking him to help.

Zhang Xuan wanted to control Donghai County, and Xu Yannian should be controlled by him, and Liu Pu, who should be the son of Liu Shenggong of Pengcheng County. It seems that Zhang Xuan and the Liu family also had a deal, and controlled the prefect and the county magistrate, and the entire Donghai County was actually controlled by Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan’s intention is very obvious. He doesn’t want to give up Qingzhou, and Donghai County happens to be the passage between Jiangdu and Qingzhou. Zhang Xuan has a lot of ambitions!

As an important minister of the court with great power, Yu Shiji knew very well that the Sui Dynasty's crisis was not only the rebellion in various places, but the deeper crisis was that the aristocratic families and powerful ministers gradually lost recognition of the Sui Dynasty. This crisis began when the late emperor removed the military power of the Guanlong nobles, and the deepening of the crisis was triggered by Yang Xuangan's rebellion.

While Yu Shiji desperately accepted bribes, he also had to consider the future of his descendants and family, and had to leave them a way out.

In the tent of the king, Yang Guang was sitting in front of the imperial case and reviewing the memorials with all concentration. At this time, the eunuch reported at the door of the tent: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Yu is asking for a visit!"

Yang Guang put down his pen and smiled, "Please come in!"

After a moment, Yu Shiji hurried in and bowed, "I'm going to see Your Majesty!"

"Have Yu Aiqing not rest yet?"

"Your Majesty, I am drafting the official commendation for the Battle of Xuzhou. Some appointments need to be discussed with Your Majesty again."

"My dear, please sit down and say!"

Yu Shiji sat down and said slowly: "About the appointment of the prefect of Pengcheng County, Your Majesty is considering transferring the prefect Chen of Shi County as a prefect, but Weichen carefully looked at the family background of Chen and found that one of his daughters married He Ruobi's nephew. Does Your Majesty know?"

Yang Guang was stunned. He really didn't know about this. Chen Ji was actually a relative of the Guanlong nobles. A hint of anger flashed in his eyes. He saw that Chen Ji was good at the evaluation and stayed in Lishi County for eight years before he wanted to transfer him to Pengcheng County. Unexpectedly, he actually had the background of the Long nobles.

Yu Shiji knew Yang Guang so well. As long as the Guanlong nobles were involved, Yang Guang would never appoint them. Sure enough, Yang Guang waved his hand and said, "Forget it, let's consider other candidates!"

"Your Majesty, I have a suggestion."

"Please say it to Aiqing Yu!"

"Your Majesty, the four counties of Xuzhou have been more inclined to the court before. Regardless of taxes, reports, and people's livelihood and conditions, the local governments of the four counties have done a good job. This rapid decline of Meng Haigong is also related to their secret resistance. I think this state should be continued. Moreover, the Xuzhou officialdom has formed a balance, which is beneficial to the local court. I am worried that once this balance is broken, the court will be lost in the end!"

The key reason why Yu Shiji's plan was adopted by Emperor Yang Guang repeatedly was that he had insight into the emperor's heart. He knew that the emperor cared about the court's loss of control over the local area, so he hit him from this perspective and just touched Yang Guang's weakness.

Yang Guang pondered for a moment, "What if you think of your beloved?"

"Weichen suggested that officials should be promoted locally and not transferred from outside, not only Pengcheng County, but also Donghai County. The county magistrate was promoted to prefect and the county magistrate was promoted to county magistrate. This would ensure continued balance and ensure the court's control over the four counties of Xuzhou."

Yang Guang nodded. It would be better if this was the case, it would be much better than being transferred to a Guanlong noble family without knowing it.

"I understand. My dear can draft a draft. If the problem is not big, it will be implemented according to my dear plan."

"I will go back and draft it now!"

Yang Guang remembered something again and said with a smile: "There is also the imperial edict of Zhang Xuan's wife. The queen has issued an imperial edict to sign her a third-rank lady, and we will also draw an edict!"
Chapter completed!