28: Chapter 28 The world's first smokeless gunpowder, now surnamed Lin.

The next morning.

"Ding... Today's check-in complete... Congratulations on obtaining the complete production process and chemical formula for Smokeless Powder!"

"Fantastic! System, you really know how to provide exactly what I need!"

Lin Tian lay in bed, so happy he almost jumped up.

For the past few days, the system had been giving him junk.

Today, it finally dropped a god-tier reward.

After upgrading to a level three family, the system was indeed much more generous, and the things it gave were becoming increasingly hardcore.

He had already used the Chicago futures trend chart he drew earlier to have his father secretly pool a huge sum of capital, preparing to storm into the futures market in two months to short it heavily.

Currently, railway construction in the USA is slowing down, and the time bomb buried by over-investment is about to explode.

Once a financial crisis erupts, industrial raw materials like coal and steel will become unsalable, and prices are bound to be slashed in half.

Plus, with this year's bumper harvest, the newly cultivated land in the West is fully planted with wheat and corn.

Europe is also welcoming a harvest year.

International grain prices are bound to plummet.

Taking advantage of this crash to short in Chicago will definitely net millions of dollars.

Now that he has the formula for Smokeless Powder, the final missing piece for manufacturing guns has been completely filled.

Although he had created the lin-style 1882 rifle, a major problem had been weighing on his mind.

This gun uses a bolt-action mechanism, and the core patent is firmly held by the German Mauser Company.

To mass-produce and equip troops, he would either have to spend a fortune in Europe to buy the license or wait indefinitely for the patent to expire.

While international litigation could drag on for several years, Lin Tian didn't want his own arms company to be labeled as a copycat plagiarist right after opening.

With the advent of Smokeless Powder, this deadlock was perfectly resolved.

Currently, the armies of all the world's powers use smoky black powder.

After firing, thick smoke billows, making it impossible to even see where the enemy is, and it leaves a pile of residue in the barrel, with power that is completely insufficient.

Back in 1845, a chemist named Schönbein accidentally spilled acid while experimenting and used a cotton apron to wipe the table before placing it near a stove to dry.

With a muffled sound, the apron burned away completely, without even a wisp of white smoke.

That was how the name Smokeless Powder first emerged.

But until now, countries have been desperately researching it, yet none have mastered a stable formula.

According to historical trends, it wouldn't be until 1884 that the Frenchman Vieille would be able to create truly practical Smokeless Powder.

Now, Lin Tian has directly intercepted it.

With this technology that monopolizes the globe, he can stand on equal footing with the Mauser Company and exchange patents.

The German government would absolutely approve with both hands, and might even beg him to cooperate.

Lin Tian immediately picked up his pen to organize the data, wrote out the detailed chemical formulas, and swiftly sent someone to register it at the San Francisco Patent Office.

A week later, the patent certificate with the official seal was successfully obtained.

The USA thus became the first country in the world to master Smokeless Powder.

The day after receiving the certificate.

Lin Tian brought several capable white bodyguards, boarded the Pacific Railroad train crossing the West, and headed straight for Utah.

The destination was locked on Ogden.

When Browning originally sold a gun to the Governor, he specifically left this address, hoping eagerly that the Governor would become a repeat customer.

...

Sitting on the soft seat of the first-class carriage, watching the Western wilderness receding outside the window, Lin Tian felt a complex mix of emotions.

Beneath his feet, this great artery spanning the east and west coasts was soaked with the blood, sweat, and bones of Chinese laborers under every inch of track.

Tens of thousands of compatriots traveled across the ocean, using their lives to fill out this railway miracle.

In the end, it only earned them a Chinese Exclusion Act.

Lin Tian secretly swore that since heaven had let him come to 1882, this kind of humiliating life of being bullied must be completely ended.

For this long journey, Lin Tian had made full preparations, and the spectacle was quite grand.

He brought two top-tier experts as bodyguards.

One was Tom, whose marksmanship was divine.

The other was Allen, who was meticulous and specialized in handling various sudden crises.

In addition to armed security, Lin Tian specifically spent a large sum of money to poach a white lawyer who graduated from Harvard Law School from California—Paul Kleiman.

Last time, during the acquisition of the oil field and the signing of the equity transfer contract with Standard Oil, it was all thanks to Paul's oversight that Rockefeller's people didn't find any loopholes.

Lin Tian knew better than anyone that in a society like the USA where capital eats people, doing business inevitably involves lawsuits, finding legal loopholes, and dealing with various commercial disputes.

Rather than making last-minute efforts, it was better to form his own elite legal team early on.

Paul was the core of this team.

With legal weapons as a backing, his plan to acquire the arsenal could be foolproof.

Besides this, his father, Lin Shi, insisted on stuffing Jiang Meier into the team as well.

The reason given was very high-sounding: It was Lin Tian's first time traveling so far since growing up, and without someone close to take care of his daily life, as a father, he was one hundred percent worried.

Lin Tian originally wanted to refuse, but he couldn't overcome his father's persistence, so he had to bring her along.

"Young Master, are you thirsty? Would you like a glass of iced lemonade to moisten your throat?"

Jiang Meier sat on the soft berth opposite him, holding a glass cup in her hand, and asked with a face full of concern.

"Not thirsty. Sister Meier, can you rest for a while? I have hands and feet; if I'm thirsty, I can pour water for myself."

Lin Tian looked at Jiang Meier, who was running back and forth without stopping for a moment, his tone very gentle.

"No! Before leaving, the Master gave repeated instructions that I must take good care of the Young Master."

Jiang Meier looked very serious, completely treating Lin Shi's words as an imperial edict that could not be disobeyed.

Lin Tian shook his head helplessly.

However, in all honesty, having a beauty accompany him on the long journey was indeed pleasing to the eye.

Jiang Meier's outfit today was absolutely stunning.

A custom-made pink corset dress outlined her slender waist.

On her head was a wide-brimmed lady's hat imported from France, with a circle of transparent white veil adorned on the brim, making her look noble and playful.

The long, shiny black braids she used to wear had now been permed into fashionable big wavy curls by the most expensive hairdresser in the city.

Paired with her delicate features and fair skin characteristic of the Jiangnan water towns, wearing this high-end Western dress, those who didn't know would think she was a princess who had run out of some European royal family.

A few days later.

The steam train spewing rolling black smoke slowed down.

Accompanied by a piercing screech of brakes, it stopped steadily at the Weber County train station in the northernmost part of Utah.

This place was a typical Western wilderness town.

Although it was in a remote area, because it relied on a railway hub, the town was quite prosperous, with people coming and going, looking not much different from the county towns in the country in later generations.

As soon as the five of them stepped off the platform, they immediately drew the gazes of countless passersby.

Three tall, fierce, suit-clad white men were guarding a handsome young Chinese man and woman right in the middle.

This peculiar bodyguard formation was definitely a rare sight in this part of Utah.

The surrounding cowboys and farmers stopped one after another, pointing and whispering.

"Tom, go get two carriages."

Looking at the chaotic market outside the station, Lin Tian gave his orders directly.

He was unfamiliar with the place, so he couldn't book carriages in advance and had to pay to hire people on the spot.

"Alright, Boss!"

Tom lowered the brim of his Hamburg hat and turned to dive into the noisy crowd.

"Sir, would you like a pack of cigarettes? Health cigarettes that cure all diseases!" A seven or eight-year-old blonde boy approached them.

Hanging in front of his chest was a broken wooden box, inside which were neatly arranged a dozen crumpled packs of cigarettes, and he was loudly promoting them to Allen.

He hadn't misheard.

In this day and age, Westerners really treated cigarettes as a panacea that could cure all diseases.

The public had no concept of the dangers of tar and nicotine contained in tobacco.

Whether it was asthma, a cough, or a toothache, doctors all recommended relying on smoking to cure it.

There were even large tobacco companies that directly ran absurd advertisements in newspapers claiming "A health gift bestowed by God."

"Kid, give me a pack. How much?" Allen's nicotine craving happened to kick in, so he reached out to ask the price.

"Twenty cents, sir!" The little boy deftly took out a pack of cigarettes and handed it over.

"That's a rip-off?!"

Allen was taken aback.

You have to know, twenty cents was enough to go to a restaurant and have a full meal with a large piece of roast meat.

"Sir, this is pure Turkish tobacco; it's absolutely worth the price!" The boy patted his chest to guarantee.

"Fine, seeing as you're just a kid and it's not easy for you."

Allen helplessly took out a twenty-five-cent coin.

The boy gave back five cents in change, turned to look at Lin Tian and the others, confirmed that no one else was buying, and then slipped away to continue promoting to other passengers who had just left the station.

After the boy walked away, Lin Tian reached out to Allen: "Allen, give me one."