America 1881: Legend of the West

A few weeks later, Chen Jianqiu and his party returned to Roswell.

After the refinery changed hands, sales outside the state were basically cut off. Rockefeller based on the starting point of "If I can't get it, you can't have it either."

A price war was launched.

He vowed not to let kerosene from the Roswell refinery leave New Mexico.

However, Chen Jianqiu has no plans to sell kerosene to New Mexico for the time being.

He is now the chairman of the board of directors of the Santa Fe Railroad Company. The cost of transporting kerosene within the state is so low that he is afraid of it.

But the kerosene coming in from out of state is different.

Therefore, the price of Standard Oil's products does not have much advantage in New Mexico.

This was coupled with Standard Oil's previous notoriety in the state and the local media's fanning of the flames.

Chen Jianqiu is very confident.

The products of both sides competed fiercely in the Santa Fe market, eventually ending with Standard Oil's kerosene sales dismal and its withdrawal from New Mexico.

In other words, the kerosene market in New Mexico now belongs to Chen Jianqiu.

The railway from Albuquerque to Roswell was under construction in full swing, and the Santa Fe Railroad Company was granted large tracts of land along the route by the state government as usual.

And these lands were transferred to a newly established company at a low price.

To this, no one on the board of directors of the Santa Fe Railroad Company dared to say no.

Firstly, they were also small shareholders of the company and were drinking soup; secondly, they also heard that their chairman seemed not to be trifled with.

The Santa Fe Railroad Company building is quite tall.

Rumor has it that the chairman has the same name as a former wanted fugitive in Wyoming and Colorado.

But it soon turned out to be a misunderstanding.

The two people just have the same name. The Chen Jianqiu is a miner, and even the immigration information cannot be found; and the Mr. Chen is a boss, who entered the country from New Mexico, and the state court just granted him the status of a U.S. citizen not long ago.

The State Senator, Mr. Judge of Lincoln County, have confirmed this on various occasions.

How could these two people be the same person?

As for the vague portrait in the reward order, it can't prove anything.

In addition, with the construction of the railway, the value of the land around Lincoln County that Chen Jianqiu previously held is also rising. The same increase in the value of these lands is Chen Jianqiu's net worth.

But unlike those people before, Chen Jianqiu is willing to share the land and rent it to farmers and ranchers without land at a relatively reasonable price.

If you lack funds, this generous gentleman will also provide you with start-up capital, and the interest rate is much lower than that of Leonard and his like before.

As for the boss's Chinese identity, most people in Lincolnshire don't care.

As for those who care, many are reluctant to admit it.

They used other ideas.

There is even reliable news that Boss Chen is only a quarter of Chinese descent, but he is actually an Englishman.

However, none of this news reached Chen Jianqiu's ears. He had just returned to Roswell.

"Take a look and see if this is a natural shooting range."

As soon as he got off his horse, Chen Jianqiu took Maxim to visit the shooting range located in the desert.

Abiot was taking some Chinese workers inside to practice shooting.

"Bang, bang, bang."

The sound of gunfire echoed continuously over the shooting range.

People who practice guns are divided into two parts.

Some of them used repeating rifles. While practicing accuracy, they focused more on improving their proficiency in pushing and loading bullets.

In this era, the speed of fire often determines the victory of a battle.

These Chinese workers are obviously not very skilled, their movements are not very coherent, and when completing the putter shooting, the accuracy cannot be guaranteed.

"You still have to practice." Chen Jianqiu shook his head, and then walked to the other side with Maxim.

These people were all newbies, using single-shot rifles, and they were practicing their shooting accuracy.

They walked up behind a young Chinese worker.

The Chinese worker closed one eye and focused the other eye on the iron target in front of him. The scorching sun was on his head, and beads of sweat were leaking from the tip of his nose, which were crystal clear under the sunlight.

What he was holding was a Browning single-shot rifle. Judging from the style, the gunsmith seemed to have made some modifications to this rifle.

But there was something wrong with his posture. I don’t know whether Abiot didn’t correct it properly or the Chinese worker didn’t realize it.

The hollow of his shoulder was not pressed tightly against the butt of the gun.

Just as Chen Jianqiu was about to step forward and correct his posture, the young Chinese worker had already pulled his trigger.

"boom!"

Shots were fired.

I don’t know if Browning has increased the charge of the bullet, but the recoil of this rifle is a bit strong.

The butt of the gun moved backward and hit the young Chinese worker hard on the shoulder, knocking his thin body back a few steps.

"Hmm~"

He groaned in pain and covered his shoulders.

Chen Jianqiu stepped forward, took the rifle from the young Chinese worker's hand, and pulled the collar of his clothes below his shoulder with his other hand.

The injury was not serious, and the shoulder could still move, but the place where the gun butt hit was already a big bruise.

"You should go to Abiot to correct your posture first. Otherwise, if you continue like this, your arm will be useless before you can practice your marksmanship." Chen Jianqiu helped the young Chinese worker pull up his clothes again.

He smiled helplessly at Maxim: "You see, the gas produced by the gunpowder in the gun chamber always works when it shouldn't."

Chen Jianqiu looked at the gun in his hand: "It would be great if it could use its strength where it should be used, such as unlocking, ejecting the shell, feeding ammunition, and re-locking."

It was as if a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed across Maxim's mind.

He suddenly grabbed Chen Jianqiu's shoulders and said, "I understand! Give me an office, a pen, a ruler, and drawings!"

Genius inventors often only need a little insight.

"Oh?"

Chen Jianqiu turned his head and shouted behind him: "Li Sifu! Is Mr. Maxim's office ready for him?"

Li Sifu trotted over.

They came to the yard of the gun factory.

In a few months, the factory building has been built, but due to problems with raw materials, it has not been officially put into use.

But next to the factory, there are a few more rooms.

Li Sifu led Maxim to one of the doors, opened the door, and found all kinds of tools inside.

Maxim walked in contentedly, while Chen Jianqiu closed the door and no longer disturbed the inventor's thoughts.

He knew that if nothing unexpected happened, fully automatic weapons would be available soon.

Chen Jianqiu walked outside the yard and stared in the direction of the shooting range, thoughtfully.

But not long after, his arm was grabbed by a hand.

Chen Jianqiu turned around and saw an angry Browning.

"Hey, what's wrong? Mr. Browning, who made you angry?" Chen Jianqiu asked with a smile.

Without saying a word, Browning led Chen Jianqiu into his office.

He closed the door, sat down on the table against the wall, and began to ask questions: "Chen, do you not believe me or what? Why did you find another old man here?"

Seeing Browning's dignity, Chen Jianqiu wanted to laugh for no reason: "Why, are you afraid that someone will share your money?"

Browning was struck into his thoughts and remained silent.

"You asked me to help you find a helper." Chen Jianqiu sat down on the chair in front of the table and shrugged.

"I didn't ask you to find such a powerful person. I just went in and chatted with him for a while. This old man has some skills." Browning and Chen Jianqiu have known each other for a long time, and they don't shy away from saying anything.

"Isn't that better?" Chen Jianqiu's face lit up with joy.

"Then does he have the final say in this firearms factory or do I?" Browning asked eagerly.

"I have the final say. I am the major shareholder." Chen Jianqiu smiled and looked at the gun designer who was blowing his beard and staring.

Browning was choked and speechless for a moment.

"Hey, don't worry about these things." Chen Jianqiu suppressed his smile and his voice became more formal, "There is no question of who has the final say here. You two are different independent studios."

"Independent studio?" Browning was confused. He had never heard of this term.

"They are groups that do not interfere with each other." Chen Jianqiu added, "Each of them develops their own products."

"You just need to develop your own products. I will take care of the investment and sales. I will give you a large share of the profits if you make any, and any losses will be mine."

"The patent belongs to you, but if you are interested, you can sell it to me."

"I still suggest that you go for different product lines. For example, if the person in the room makes heavy machine guns, you can focus on pistols and rifles."

"Moreover, you can share your resources and some results and experience. In this way, the effect will be better and it will be less likely to encounter bottlenecks."

"How about this?"

After what Chen Jianqiu said, Browning had no reason to refute. This suggestion sounded really good.

"Then, let's go have a drink?" Browning suggested, "We haven't had a drink together for a long time."

"Okay, let's see how the new tavern in Roswell is like." Chen Jianqiu stood up.

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