America 1881: They Call Me Legend

Chapter 297 The Key to Smokeless Gunpowder

Months after the longshoremen's union ignited the fire, the San Francisco Archives was also incinerated in a blaze.

Fires are not uncommon in San Francisco.

In the three years from 1849 to 1851 alone, there were at least six fires in downtown San Francisco, and buildings including the City Hall were burned down.

At the most exaggerated time, half of San Francisco was burning. It is said that the reflection of the flames can be seen from the sea a hundred miles away.

Therefore, the fire in the archives did not cause much repercussions.

Everything that could be burned at the scene was burned to ashes.

Instead, the police in San Francisco routinely investigated the cause of the fire.

However, they found something on the scene that interested them:

Two charred bodies, two revolvers, one unregistered, one registered, and a Pinkerton badge.

In addition to the badge, there was other evidence that identified one of the two bodies as a Pinkerton detective.

This cheered up the police.

These bastards can finally get out.

Naturally, William Pinkerton would not admit that this matter had anything to do with the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and he insisted that it was framed.

However, the badge can be forged, but the registered revolver cannot be forged. No matter how big the fire is, the registration serial number on it cannot be burned.

Recruiting the captain of Li Shiri gave his boss an idea. He thought that he could follow the example of the trade union, emphasizing that this is the personal behavior of Li Shiri, a Chinese, and directing things to the inferiority of the Chinese, thereby diverting the attention of public opinion .

But he was scolded by William Pinkerton:
"You know that it is illegal to hire undocumented Chinese workers after the bill is introduced, can you now prove that that person is a U.S. citizen?"

The captain lowered his head and remained silent.

William Pinkerton wished he could throw this waste in front of him into the sea to feed the sharks.

What kind of crooked melons are these Pinkerton cadres in the west?
It's no wonder that after a few months of losing troops and losing generals, it turns out that even now they don't even know who their opponent is.

San Francisco police pursued the fire, insisting on multiple occasions that the Pinkerton Detective Agency was responsible for the fire, and sued the "foreign monks" in state court.

State legislators did not let go of this opportunity, and they were also worried that Pinkerton's influence would affect the political balance in the state.

They drafted a bill restricting Pinkerton Detective Agency's law enforcement powers in California and submitted it to the state legislature.

After several months of see-saw and games, the final result of the incident ended with Detective Pinkerton quitting California completely.

In a rage, William Pinkerton laid off all the staff in the original California office and moved the Western Command to Austin, Texas.

He began to reorganize Pinkerton's team in the west again, preparing to regroup, vowing to dig out this shadow opponent and completely smash it.

The main reason why Master William was so interested was because his father, the founder of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, Alan Pinkerton, sent a telegram from New York.

The tone is consistent "elegant and easy-going".

He said that if William would shame the company he had devoted his whole life to, he would go straight to the grassroots and become an ordinary detective.

The old man was seriously ill, and his time was numbered. William understood that if something went wrong at this time, the family business would belong to his brother, and he would have nothing to lose.

On the other hand, after leaving the crime scene, Chen Jianqiu was not in a hurry.

He went to visit the painter again.

Ni Ge had already figured it out. To be precise, from the moment Chen Jianqiu walked downstairs yesterday, he had made his own decision.

Who can't get along with money?

He packed a large bag of things, however, Chen Jianqiu told him that these things are not important, and when he arrives in Roswell, he will have whatever he wants.

There is money and there are people.

The next day, after clarifying the follow-up matters to Huang Qingyun, Chen Jianqiu took several other people and embarked on the return journey.

He left New Mexico with three men and doubled to six when he came back.

Everyone gathered in the newly completed Roswell Chamber to welcome Chen Jianqiu's return.

Everyone is very happy, because the core team of this town has grown again.

There were only two people with bitter faces.

"What's the matter?" Chen Jianqiu walked to Maxim and Browning and asked with a smile.

"No progress, the problems with the machine gun are still there." Maxim sighed.

During the days when Chen Jianqiu was away, Maxim and Browning devoted themselves to improving the heavy machine gun, but with little success.

Of course Chen Jianqiu knew where the problem was.

On the charge of the bullet.

"Where's your brother?" Chen Jianqiu glanced across the crowd, but didn't find any trace of Maxim's younger brother, Hudson Maxim.

"Been bombed, lying in Madame Teresa's clinic." Maxim replied.

Chen Jianqiu was shocked.

"What's the situation? Is it serious?" He asked eagerly, rarely looking anxious.

These days, if something happens to those who play with explosives, it may not be possible to save their lives.

The picture of Hudson missing arms and legs and covered in bandages has already emerged in his mind.

"Good luck, nothing serious, just a little dizzy and nauseated by the shock wave, my mother said he needs to stay in the clinic for observation." Holly interjected.

Appears to be concussion.

Chen Jianqiu breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down a little, but he still walked quickly towards the door.

"I'll go see Hudson first, you should get to know each other better first." Chen Jianqiu said to Wyatt and others in the conference hall.

He wanted to see the explosives expert as soon as possible.

When he stepped into the door of Teresa's clinic, Mrs. Teresa was examining the fundus of Hudson's eyes.

"The brain has suffered some shocks, and there should be no major problems now." Teresa noticed Chen Jianqiu's arrival.

She turned around and said to Chen Jianqiu.

"Oh, boss, the smokeless gunpowder you mentioned is really too dangerous." Hudson sniffed.

"There are still experiments that scare you?"

In Chen Jianqiu's impression, Ma Keqin's younger brother is bold and cautious. He has been studying explosives for a long time, and he has never been afraid.

"In fact, the development of smokeless gunpowder is not a big secret in the industry. Everyone agrees that nitrocellulose is a direction. But..."

Hudson paused for a moment, with lingering fear in his heart: "This thing is too unstable and dangerous. Boss, do you know how many times I blew it up?"

Chen Jianqiu shook his head.

"Five times! Didn't Maxim tell you that I changed the laboratory? I blew all the windows of the laboratory window last time."

Chen Jianqiu looked Hudson up and down.

It's a miracle that this guy still hasn't lost any parts after researching it.

"Now I know why they don't have much interest in researching smokeless gunpowder. If it can't solve the problem of nitrocellulose instability, this thing has no practical value." Hudson lay down on the bench in the clinic .

Chen Jianqiu slapped his head.

He was indeed too busy some time ago to give the chemist and inventor a hint.

These are brilliant, smart people who often just need a little hint:
"Why don't you try ether." Chen Jianqiu sat beside Hudson, "And ethanol, dissolve the nitrocellulose."

Hudson was staring at the ceiling in a daze. Hearing what Chen Jianqiu said, he thought for a while, and jumped up from the bench.

"Boss, you are a genius!"

He ran out of Teresa's consulting room and ran towards his laboratory.

(End of this chapter)