America 1881: Legend of the West

Edison did not notice Tesla's change, but turned around and continued talking and laughing with little Astor.

Tesla was stunned.

He really doesn't understand what American humor is.

Edison promised him that if he could improve these thirty-odd generator sets, he would give him $50,000 as a reward.

That day, he thought he had gained the trust of the person in front of him.

But the facts proved that he had been tricked.

This made him feel extremely humiliated.

I flew across the sea and came here from Europe just to realize my ideal.

But now.

The Serbian bit his lip, lowered his head, and stopped at his feet.

Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Tesla looked up and found a young man with yellow skin who was no older than him, looking at him with a smile.

"It's okay, everything will pass. Outstanding foreigners will inevitably be jealous and rejected." Chen Jianqiu comforted him in a low voice.

Tesla looked at him, his eyes a little blank.

"Mr. Chen! Why don't you continue to visit my power plant?"

Edison's voice came from the front. He and Little Astor had already walked to the outside of the power plant unit, where several large light bulbs were hung.

"Yeah, coming right away."

Chen Jianqiu turned around and replied, then continued to talk to Tesla.

"Where do you live now? I'll go find you tomorrow afternoon."

"I now live in a lab outside of New York City."

Tesla replied.

Although he didn't know why he told the Chinese in front of him.

Maybe it's because of what he said just now.

The next morning, Chen Jianqiu held a meeting at the International Gunpowder Association.

During this time, the International Gunpowder Association has been developing and growing rapidly.

Chen Jianqiu fulfilled his promise, shared the patented technology of smokeless gunpowder with members, and provided them with support for the import of saltpeter materials.

Of course, Chen Jianqiu has already made a lot of money from raw materials.

The Old American Gunpowder Association, headed by DuPont, is rapidly losing market and members.

They also tried to transform, but they were lagging behind and were overtaken by Chen Jianqiu and the others.

However, the American Gunpowder Association still has a certain base in the old black powder market.

Such as the military.

As the saying goes, centipedes are dead but not stiff.

The battle between the two associations continues.

However, the bloody fighting on both sides still attracted other hunters.

There was also news brought at the meeting.

This information comes from Border Detective Agency.

Given the splitting of the gunpowder market in two and the coveting of profits from the gunpowder industry.

Resource giant Rockefeller Corporation began to eye this market.

He has absolute advantages in upstream resources and funds.

This predator who smells of blood is always ready to find an opportunity to intervene forcefully and reap the benefits.

Most of the members of the association looked worried, and they started talking among themselves.

They see the current strength of the Standard Oil Trust and clearly remember the fate of those small businesses when the industry consolidated.

If Rockefeller really set his sights on the gunpowder market, he would definitely use the same tactics he used in the oil industry to deal with them.

By that time, their good days may really be over.

However, Chen Jianqiu looked calm and composed at the meeting.

"I played against him in New Mexico and we were 50-50."

This sentence temporarily suppressed the discussion at the meeting.

Members of the association know more or less about Chen Jianqiu’s family history.

Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with this sentence, but there still seems to be something not quite right.

But looking at Chen Jianqiu in the main seat, he looked confident.

Presumably he already has a plan to deal with it.

The last agenda item of the meeting was to discuss the development of international markets.

This matter was a promise made by Chen Jianqiu when he founded the association.

The Kingdom of Great Britain was at its peak and was busy plundering resources from its overseas colonies;

The French Third Republic quickly recovered from its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War;

The German Empire was eager to consolidate its hegemony on the European continent and at the same time challenge the division of pie among the established empires in overseas colonies.

Other continental empires such as Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Italy also had their own agendas and were gearing up.

This is actually a good opportunity.

However, firstly, these European countries have their own complete military-industrial systems, and secondly, equipment innovation often affects the interests of some people.

Therefore, the effect of the association in exploring the European market is not good.

The members showed little interest in this matter, and after discussing it for a while, no result was reached.

The meeting ended just like that.

Chen Jianqiu's mind didn't seem to be on this last item.

After a brief lunch, he rode his horse and hurried to Tesla's laboratory in the suburbs.

The laboratory is located among low sheds.

From a distance, it looks like an ordinary warehouse, inconspicuous.

Chen Jianqiu was able to find him because the Serbian was already standing at the door waiting for him.

"You really did keep your promise, sir." Tesla came up to him.

Chen Jianqiu got off his horse.

Black Radish ran out for a walk as if she was having fun.

"Your horse has run away, sir." Tesla reminded him a little worriedly as he looked at the black carrot galloping away.

"Oh, it's okay. It will come back when it feels happy enough." Chen Jianqiu walked towards the door of the house.

The furnishings in the laboratory are quite simple, with various parts and coils piled everywhere.

If it weren't for the ones in the middle that looked like generators.

Chen Jianqiu thought he had arrived at an auto repair shop.

"Is this the laboratory Edison gave you?" He put his hands behind his back and looked at the so-called laboratory. "Didn't he give you an assistant?"

Tesla stood there, a little embarrassed:

"Well, Mr. Edison's R&D team is mainly located in the small town of Menlo Park, New Jersey. He has an invention factory there. There are about fourteen core members of the team, including mechanics, physicists, and engineers."

"You mean, Edison is only responsible for coming up with ideas now?" Chen Jianqiu picked up a gear on the table.

"He has never graduated from elementary school," Tesla blurted out, but found that it seemed inappropriate, so he held back, "Well, actually, he is a very hard-working person."

"It means he has no talent, so he just works hard." Chen Jianqiu raised his head.

He finally understood why Edison said that famous saying:

Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, but the 1% inspiration is the most important, even more important than the 99% perspiration.

The first half of the sentence is because he is really not very smart, and the second half is to show off his credit for coming up with ideas.

Tesla did not dare to speak anymore, for fear that Chen Jianqiu would "translate" his words again.

However, Chen Jianqiu was a little reluctant:

"Aren't you on that team?"

"Well, I was there at the beginning, but Edison doesn't like my research very much now, so he asked me to come here." Tesla led Chen Jianqiu through the coils and generators.

He pointed to a half-dismantled generator on the ground and said to Chen Jianqiu:

"This is the alternating current generator I am studying, because the transmission loss of direct current is too large and the transmission distance is not far, but the impact of high-voltage alternating current will be very small."

"As long as the voltage is stepped down through the transformer at that time, it will be fine."

Tesla looked at the generator on the ground.

"I'm now improving this high-frequency alternator to find the right frequency, which will make it more efficient."

"In my personal opinion, alternating current is the future."

"I think so too." Chen Jianqiu held his chin in his hand, thoughtfully.

"Mr. Lovely Dickson doesn't think so." Tesla sighed. "He thinks alternating current is too dangerous."

Chen Jianqiu did not speak further.

That's probably not what Edison was thinking.

"By the way, how much does Edison pay you per month?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

"$18 a week," Tesla replied.

"It's too low. All the ordinary employees in my company are higher than this." Chen Jianqiu shook his head and clucked his tongue.

He looked at Tesla:

"Let's do this. I'll invest the money to build your own company. I won't interfere with anything in the process of your invention. The patent rights also belong to you. You pay yourself a salary. How about that?"

Unlike the American businessmen at that time, Chen Jianqiu never cared about the conditions.

Since it’s an S card, spend money when it’s time to spend money.

But this style of doing things brings a problem, that is, the person involved may suspect that he is a liar.

Tesla looked at Chen Jianqiu with some suspicion.

This condition is a bit too good, right?

"It doesn't matter how much money you have, the most important thing is to realize the ideal of making alternating current available to all mankind." Chen Jianqiu added.

Give money to those who are short of money, and give hope to those who are ambitious and ideal to realize their dreams.

"Let me think about it again, Mr. Chen," Tesla said. "I will give you an answer tomorrow."