A few specially bought party slaves were ordered to kneel in front of the monument, and Tang Long and the old people who were responsible for taking care of the cemetery placed all kinds of sacrifices neatly.

"Why did Lord Tang come so early this year?" An old man asked softly.

They are also old Western soldiers, after the rout a few decades ago, these people were displaced by the people, although they were displaced, but they finally survived.

After Tang Long's old Western Army, who came out like this, pooled money to build this cemetery, he spent money to find these old comrades-in-arms with reduced living ability and take care of this cemetery, which can be regarded as finding a way out for them that is not too bad.

As an old comrade-in-arms, a funder, and a boss, Tang Long has a very high status in the hearts of these veterans of the former Zhou Western Army, and several old men naturally know him and know some of his habits.

"I probably won't be able to come next year." Tang Long poured a pot of spirits in front of the monument, which was regarded as a toast to his dead brothers.

"Why?" The old man asked anxiously.

Tang Long is the leader of these remnants of the former Zhou Western Army, and if he doesn't come, this cemetery, which has nothing to do with the current empire, will not last long.

Tang Long replied lightly: "I have already resigned." ”

"Why did the old man resign?" The old people were even more anxious: "But the evil Shangguan? ”

"Not really, it's just that I'm of retirement age." Tang Long replied: "Don't worry, old brothers, although I have retired, there is still room to play." ”

"Retirement? It's what the civil servants used to say, right? An old man asked.

"Almost, I've done almost the handover there." Tang Long said: "But my kid is going to Qin State, and the King of Qin also promised to let the old man be in charge of the governor's ordnance, so the old man plans to go over there." ”

Xu Daixuan originally did not plan to engage in industry in the Qin State, so as not to compete with the mother country and make the mother country unhappy.

This is also a kind of self-restraint to avoid a threat to the mother country after a few generations, the Qin state.

But now that there is a war, there are more and more Han people with guns, and some things have to be let go a little - the hundreds of thousands of guns of various types of Qin people cannot be discarded or shipped back to China for repair.

There is also the gunpowder necessary for breech guns, and you have to replenish some of it yourself, all of which are troublesome to the mainland, and the cost will go up to heaven.

Therefore, as the front line of foreign development, the king of Qin finally opened this opening, allowing the construction of arsenals in the Qin state - other factories were still not possible, and only Han Chinese could be employed.

The arsenal is not a blacksmith shop, there are not a few blacksmiths, just prepare hammers and chisels, especially the arsenal of the empire, field guns and firing guns are not things that blacksmiths can handle.

In terms of materials, it's good to say that there is almost everything in the Western Regions, but military talents who understand technology are a problem.

It happened that Tang Long, the director of the imperial military industry, had reached the age of retirement, so Qin sent an invitation letter, hoping that he would shine in his new post.

"Do you have to go, Boss?" Another old man said uneasily: "Qin Guo is far overseas, and he is still fighting, your body is ......"

"It's because I'm far away that I'm going." Tang Long said seriously: "Don't hide it from a few old brothers, I went over there because it was far away and there was still a war." ”

Tang Long is selfish.

He was the kind of traditional craftsman who had joined the empire early and had accumulated thirty years of service before becoming the director of the military industry.

However, he is not the kind of person who can engage in new technologies, Xu Shiyang determines what the military factory needs to produce, and he can arrange the details very well, but Xu Shiyang has nothing to decide, basically don't expect Tang Long to take the initiative to figure it out.

For example, at the beginning of last year, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sent back a gunsmith named Dai Zi from the northwest, and the old man used the standard Type 3 firing pistol to transform a breech gun.

What Xu Shiyang didn't know was that Dai Zi once took his design to the military factory to meet Tang Long, and Tang Long rejected the proposal to mass-produce Dai Zi's rifles.

The reason ...... is that the performance of the Dai Zi rifle is not bad, but Tang Long believes that the standard Type 3 rifle is enough, and there is no need to reintroduce a new rifle.

In addition, Xu Shiyang didn't know about this, he didn't order the rifle to be updated, and Tang Long didn't dare to make the decision to innovate.

And it didn't even report it!

In fact, Xu Shiyang still didn't know that Tang Long had seen Dai Zi a few years ago, and Dai Zi didn't want to attract resentment, so he didn't take the initiative to tell him.

But when Tang Long saw Dai Zi, he was absolutely stunned, and he was indeed a little out of step with the times.

Dai Zi is about the same age as him, both of them are craftsmen, Tang Long is now in a high position, and Dai Zi is just starting, Tang Long has a feeling of being ashamed.

This feeling made Tang Long very uncomfortable, so he decided not to really retire, but to go to a place where he could give full play to his abilities.

The State of Qin is such a place.

There is no need for a military director who is constantly inventing new inventions, as long as a foreman who can ensure that the production tasks are completed on time, and Tang Long feels that this is especially suitable for him.

"Brothers, don't worry! The old man is still young! ”

Tang Long laughed and said:

"When did our old Western Army shrink? We were the pillars of the country the week ago, and now we are still in the Chinese Dynasty! Watch the old man go and break out of the sky again! ”

In the spring of 1799, Tang Long, the imperial director of military industry, retired and went to Qin to serve as the director of military industry of this subject country.

Before leaving, he bought a few party slaves and gave them to the old men who were in Xingzhou to take care of the monument to the fallen soldiers of the Western Army, so that these party slaves could cultivate the land near the cemetery for the old men.

He believes that letting the former sworn enemies of the Western Army make cattle and horses for the old men of the Western Army is the best consolation for the dead compatriots.

……

Li Kui returned to his hometown.

It is a small village near Rizhao County, Nagaqi Province.

Now it has changed a lot, the village is full of brick houses, each family is a single courtyard, like Li Kui's family, there are even two-story small buildings.

However, Li Kui didn't want to go home.

Because his mother has died, there are only his brother, sister-in-law and a few nephews in the family.

So he felt that this was not actually his home.

"Brother will have to stay a few more days when he comes back this time!" When the elder brother saw Li Kui, he looked very excited.

He did have reason to be excited, before Li Kui's mother died, the empire would send rice, flour, meat and oil to his family every year, saying that this was a New Year's gift for military families.

The old man felt sorry for his grandson, and these things either went into the child's belly, or they were exchanged for money and left for his son to marry his daughter-in-law.

After more than ten years of accumulation, this is not a small amount, not to mention that Li Kui is the captain of the guard, before he got married, only the old lady and brother were Li Kui's relatives, so his brother got a lot of advantages in Z governance - for example, he was the village chief for two terms.

Now that Li Kui's brother is also a well-known figure in the village and even in the county, how can he not welcome this younger brother who makes his family prosperous?