African Nationhood

Chapter 12 Verification and Negotiation (Part )
  Shi Jintang nodded, then took out a thin strip of gunpowder from the gunpowder bottle and placed it on the scale of the stone workbench.

He explained as he put it down: "This new type of gunpowder is three times more powerful than traditional gunpowder, so the loading content of the bullet cannot be too high, otherwise it will easily cause the chamber to explode."

When the balance showed that the weight of the gunpowder stick reached 4.95 grams, Shi Jintang stepped aside. At this time, another middle-aged worker wearing linen work clothes stepped forward and reloaded the bullet with new gunpowder.

After loading the bullet, the worker put the bullet into the chamber of the Martini-Henry rifle before turning to His Royal Highness Prince George, who had the highest status present.

"Your Highness, I am going to test-fire."

The latter nodded, and then the middle-aged worker took aim and pulled the trigger.

"Oh!"

At the moment of shooting, everyone stared at the muzzle of the rifle. Sure enough, there was no change in the muzzle and no smoke was produced.

Smokeless gunpowder is much better than black powder. Traditional gunpowder shells produce a large amount of smoke when fired, which not only affects the soldiers' field of vision, but also makes it easier to expose the gunner's position.

After the middle-aged worker finished shooting, he started to check the rifle in his hand. There was nothing unusual. Then he put down the rifle and started to check the target in the distance.

Not long after, the linen worker returned and reported: "I report that this shooting did not hit the target, but the range was far beyond that of the Martini-Henry rifle, with the longest range reaching about 2000 yards (1800 meters)."

Everyone present was very excited after hearing the workers' reports.

The new gunpowder uses less powder and is packed into unsuitable bullets, but it shoots extremely long distances.

This is much better than expected. After debugging in the future, we will definitely be able to get new bullets with better ammunition ratio and farther shooting.

The old man in the fake hood and the young man with black hair looked at each other, and then they started whispering.

Not long after, the old man wearing a fake hood walked up to Prince George and whispered.

After hearing what the old man said, His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge was obviously a little surprised and looked at him intriguingly for a while.

"Mr. Bannerman, I'll leave this place to you. Mr. Abel and I will leave first."

After that, Prince George and the old man in the fake hood left hand in hand. Bannerman and the black-haired young man joined everyone in saluting Prince George.

After they left, the black-haired young man approached Shi Jintang and said, "Hello Mr. Shi, I am James Dewar, an academician of the Royal Society. I have a suggestion, I wonder if you are willing to listen to it."

James Dewar?

Shi Jintang collected memories, and soon some things about this person were highlighted in his mind.

This man was born in an ordinary family in 1842 and became an academician of the Royal Society in 1877.

Being able to reach such a height at the age of 35 shows that this person is a great person, either a genius or a top student.

"Academician Dua, please speak!"

"The new type of gunpowder you invented seems to me to be close to perfection, but Mr. Labelle feels there are still some shortcomings.

So I thought, could you give the formula of the new gunpowder to Mr. Labelle for further research.

By the way, Mr. Labelle is an authoritative figure in the field of military ammunition in our country. I believe that with his help, your new gunpowder will definitely be more powerful..."

Hearing this, Shi Jintang was already a little angry. This is a trick on me.

"Oh, what is Mr. Labelle's full name? I'm sorry that as a Qing native, I don't know much about important figures in your country."

"Mr. LaBelle's full name is: Friedrich LaBelle, his father is a famous musicologist..."

After saying this, Shi Jintang immediately understood, these are two big liars!

In the original history, Nobel, the king of explosives, also studied smokeless gunpowder.

In 1887, a more powerful double-base gunpowder was finally developed and applied for a French patent, which was the formula of the new gunpowder used by Shi Jintang.

Nobel wanted to sell his new gunpowder to the French military, but the French military didn't want it. In desperation, Nobel had to look abroad.

In the UK, it was Labelle and Dewar who came into contact with Nobel and obtained his gunpowder formula. Then they ditched Nobel and changed several raw materials, changing their names and surnames as the result of the two of them. The two of them later received awards from the British royal family.

Poor Nobel, he was so infatuated that he gave up to the scumbag. Although Nobel also fought, he was unable to fight against the British government and ultimately lost the case.

Naturally, he won't fall for the same routine.

Shi Jintang picked up his suitcase, changed his face and said coldly: "I'm sorry, we can't discuss this matter."

After saying that, he turned around to leave. Bannerman, who was watching, glared at James Dewar.

"Mr. Shi, please stop. Academician Dua's meaning may not be clear enough. Please wait a moment."

Shi Jintang stamped his feet and angrily yelled at the two of them: "What is not clearly expressed? He is simply a robber. He wants to defraud me of the formula. It is impossible, absolutely impossible!"

When the matter was revealed, Bannerman looked embarrassed, "No, absolutely not. This should be a misunderstanding. Please listen to Academician Dewar's explanation..."

“I don’t want to hear it, you British people have no sincerity in cooperating at all.

If I cannot return safely, within ten days mainstream newspapers around the world will publish the ugly act of the British military stealing my new gunpowder formula!

At the same time, someone will publish my new gunpowder formula in the newspaper. "

The righteous words of this warning are upright and awe-inspiring.

He had made an agreement with Dr. Smith before he came to the UK. Once he loses contact for more than ten days, he will contact Dr. Smith.

As he is far away in the United States, he will deal with it according to the backup plan discussed by the two.

After listening to Shi Jintang's warning, both Bannerman and Du Wa were a little distracted.

They didn't expect that this young man from the Qing Dynasty would be so rigorous in doing things. In the words of the Qing Dynasty people themselves, he was thoughtful.

"Mr. Shi, I solemnly apologize to you here. My meaning may not be expressed accurately enough. Your formula is naturally controlled by you.

My words are just suggestions. If you don't accept them, just pretend I didn't say them. "

James Dewar looked sincere, but Bannerman felt bitter in his heart, secretly scolding Dewar and LaBelle for being shameless.

But this matter is related to Britain's vital interests. If it fails, he will be Britain's sinner.

"Mr. Shi found me first, so I am still responsible for this matter.

Academician Du Wa should have nothing to do with you here. You can leave. "

James Dewar glanced at Shi Jintang with a complicated expression, then nodded to Bannerman and left alone.

Only Shi Jintang and Bannerman were left in the huge bullet workshop. Bannerman rubbed his chin, and then slowly said: "Now you can talk about your conditions."

Shi Jintang put the Louis Vuitton suitcase at his feet, then took out the cigarette box from his arms, "Do you want to smoke?"

Bannerman looked at the slender cigarettes in the silver flat box and was very curious, so he took one and took it in his hand to examine it carefully.

"Is this paper rolled tobacco? It's a good idea. I like it very much, but I don't like tobacco."

Shi Jintang chuckled, "If you don't smoke, you will lose one of the joys in your life. We Chinese often say, 'Everyone must have a good thing, otherwise he will have no nature.'"

Bannerman heard Shi Jintang say something in Chinese, and his face showed confusion, "What does this mean?"

Shi Jintang lit the cigarette, took a deep puff, and then blew out a smoke ring happily.

"The meaning of this sentence is that people must have personal hobbies in life. If they don't have them, then this person should not be associated with them."

Bannerman rubbed his chin again and smiled slightly, "I have hobbies, but I don't want others to know about my hobbies, so I'm sorry."

Shi Jintang waved his hand and said with a smile: "Of course I'm not interested in your privacy, so let's start negotiating."

(End of this chapter)