I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 218: Three months of primary school education

Germany and Russia are direct competitors. The stronger Germany is, the greater the damage it will cause to Russia.

In George's words, every German product purchased by Russia will eventually become a bullet fired at Russia.

So Dalem and Maybach, and Mr. Carl Benz, sorry.

If the attitude of the Germans is helpless.

Then Mr. Inventor from America is simply outrageous.

Today's Edison is not yet the future inventor king packaged by American capital.

It is undeniable that Edison did make many contributions in the promotion of electric light.

But it would be unfair to many people if the credit for inventing the electric light was placed squarely on Edison.

In 1850, when Edison was just three years old, British chemist Joseph Swan had solved the problem of the cost of battery power.

In 1860, Swann used carbonized paper filament instead of platinum filament, and obtained a patent in 1878.

Swann improved his filament in 1879 and founded an electrical lighting company in England.

Edison immediately sued Swann for patent infringement, and Swann was forced to sell the company to Edison.

Also targeted by Edison were the Canadian inventors Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans, who came up with the idea of ​​filling the light bulb with nitrogen to replace the vacuum, thus solving the problem of light bulb life.

Edison showed up again and forced them to sell the patent to him.

Therefore, Edison's contribution to electric lights was to hire a group of workers in the Menlo Park laboratory to conduct experiments on more than 6000 materials one by one to find the most suitable filament material.

This is how Edison invented the electric light.

Last year, the German government purchased a batch of DC motors produced by the Edison Company. These motors caused widespread accidents due to technical and quality problems.

Edison sent Tesla to solve the problem and promised to pay Tesla $50,000 afterwards.

Tesla successfully solved the problem and designed a new motor for Edison.

Then when Tesla asked Edison for a reward of $50,000, Edison laughed and said: His promise was just an American joke.

So the American way of joking is to deceive.

The Lighting Expo was being held in St. Petersburg. How could Edison's company miss it?

So Edison brought Tesla's new improved motor and his light bulb to St. Petersburg, preparing to do something big in St. Petersburg.

Then Edison met his biggest competitor in his life.

Edison's largest shareholder is Morgan & Co.

That's why Edison was able to win the battle with his opponents.

This time Edison's opponent was replaced by Siberia's Yurievsky Super Duke.

"Super Duke cannot infringe on my patents. Super Duke Yurievsky must stop infringing on my patents and compensate my company."

Edison roared like thunder. Electric lights were the main way for Edison's company to make money. If these profits were lost, not only would Edison's company go bankrupt, but Edison himself would also go bankrupt.

"Sorry, Yurievsky Super Duke's patent is completely different from your patent and does not constitute infringement."

The staff of the St. Petersburg Patent Office are courteous.

Edison came to George's Yekaterin Palace and asked to see George.

"roll!"

The reply from the Yekaterin Palace guard was simple and crude.

Edison had no choice but to send a telegram back to the United States and report the situation here to Morgan Company.

Morgan's first reaction was to settle.

George is not Swann. If Morgan Company puts pressure on George, it may not only not get the desired effect, but also suffer backlash from George.

Swann had limited resources at his disposal and had to succumb to pressure from Morgan.

The entire Russian Empire is a resource that George can use to put pressure on George?

John Pierpont Morgan would have done this only if he were crazy.

Edison did not want to settle, so he came to the St. Petersburg Court and filed a lawsuit in the St. Petersburg Court, accusing Siberian Electric Company of infringing Edison's patent.

"You are mistaken. It was Edison that infringed on Siberian Electric's patent. You must immediately stop your infringement and compensate Siberian Electric for its economic losses. Otherwise, you will be punished by Russian law."

The reply from the St. Petersburg court allowed capitalists from the United States to understand for the first time the extent of the decadence of the imperial country.

"Impossible! My company was patented in 1879, and the Siberian Electric Company was not even established in 1879!"

Edison would never give in. Once he lost his electric light patent, he would turn back into the poor boy with nothing.

Morgan's money is hard to come by.

For the investees, Morgan's investment is an angel.

But if Morgan doesn't get what he wants in return, Morgan becomes a villain.

"You can go to court and present your case to a judge."

The St. Petersburg court immediately detained Edison and notified the U.S. Embassy in St. Petersburg.

The U.S. Ambassador to Russia was accompanying Secretary of State Thomas Francis Bayard, who came to congratulate the opening of the Exposition on behalf of the United States, as a guest at Gatchina Palace. When Thomas, the ambassador's secretary, came to see Edison, he brought Morgan's advice.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

In the capital of the Russian Empire, prosecuting members of the royal family of the Russian Empire is something that ordinary people cannot do. They are either geniuses or madmen.

Edison was neither a genius nor a madman, but he always did some strange things and was not a rule-abiding person.

When Edison was in elementary school, he was expelled from the school on the grounds of "imbecile" because he raised questions many times in class and affected classroom discipline.

Therefore, Edison, the great inventor, only had three months of primary school education.

This would explain why he loves to tell American jokes, because he doesn't have much education. "You're an embassy official? Great, you have to help me put pressure on that damn super duke at an official level."

Edison's words made Thomas sweat profusely. How did this man live to be so old?

In the detention center of the Russian court, you insulted members of the Russian Empire's royal family. Are you crazy because of American brainwashing?

There is a joke about a Russian and an American bragging, and the American said I dare to scold the President of the United States.

The Russian said: Yes, I dare to scold the President of the United States too.

It is nothing new for Americans to criticize the President of the United States in private, because the President often ignores people.

Insulting members of the royal family in Russia will lead to legal liability.

"It doesn't matter, people here don't understand English."

Edison thought he was clever.

"Are you stupid? Will the Russian court arrange for people who don't speak English to guard you?"

Thomas was very doubtful, how did this man become an inventor?

After the establishment of Edison's company, the most common thing it did was to fight various patent infringement lawsuits with various people.

Edison won most of his lawsuits.

If he can't win, then Edison will find a way to acquire the other party's company, so that he can also win the patent dispute.

This is how the lawsuit against Swann was won.

Otherwise, why would Edison pay for Swann's company?

Embassy officials are not inventive, but they are definitely smart people.

So the police officer who had been watching the excitement said with a smile.

"Yes, I understand English. I didn't talk to you before, but I didn't want to talk to you."

"You damn liar!"

Edison was even more angry. This damn policeman was as hateful as that damn Duke.

"Very well, you not only insulted the Duke of the Russian Empire, but also insulted the police officer of the Russian District Court. Now I officially arrest you on the above two charges."

The officer took out the handcuffs and took Edison away in front of Thomas.

Thomas was helpless, so George came to Gatchina Palace again.

"Patent dispute? I don't know?"

George indeed had no idea that someone was going to the St. Petersburg courthouse to sue him.

The St. Petersburg court didn't take it seriously and didn't send anyone to tell George at all.

Such lunatics are usually beaten out with sticks.

Considering that Edison was an American, imprisoning Edison was a sign of respect for him.

"A company invested by Mr. Morgan has some financial disputes with the Siberian Electric Company under your name."

Bayard was helpless. Edison was right. As the U.S. Secretary of State, he indeed had to safeguard the international interests of U.S. companies.

But maintenance also depends on who the other party is.

At least Bayard would not offend George for Edison.

Edison is not yet the world-famous inventor.

If he died now, the United States would never have a power outage for a day because of him.

Oh oh oh, most Americans have never even seen an electric light.

"please wait--"

George's reaction amazed Bayard.

It's really not that George is slacking off, but that there are too many companies under George's name. George has to ask Deyang to check what the business scope of this company is.

In front of the Tsar and Bayad, Dejan took out a notepad and began to rummage through it.

So the Tsar became curious about Dejan's notebook.

"go out!"

George was not satisfied with DeYoung's work, but Peter was more comfortable with it.

But there's nothing we can do about it. Dejan is George's cousin, so he can just teach him slowly.

"You mean the electric light, right?"

George finally remembered who Edison was.

"Yes."

"What do you mean Mr. Morgan?"

George didn't ask about Edison's attitude at all. It was useless to ask. It was not his turn to speak.

"Mr. Morgan means that the patents of both companies are valid, so the Siberian Electric Company's electric lamps can be sold in the American market, and the Edison Company's electric lamps can of course be sold in the Russian market."

Morgan's advice is sound.

It is normal for this kind of cross-border litigation to last more than ten years. By the time the lawsuit is resolved, the patent protection period will almost be over.

So isn’t it good for everyone to be happy and make money?

(End of this chapter)