Volume 1: Laying the Foundation Chapter 27: Sulfonamide and Nicotine (Revised)

  At this time, the "Black Star" - 54 pistol is certainly not as good as the TT33 produced by the old Russians in the 1930s. The steel material is inferior and the processing of the barrel is also not as good as that of the old Russians at that time. After all, they were a national power manufacturing guns, not something that can be compared to this small workshop with second-hand equipment. However, this gun has its own advantages over the TT33 after improvement, such as the arc degree of the grip which was a major flaw in the past has been greatly improved, and the power is still very strong.

  However, Chen Xiaoqi's pistol received an unexpectedly good response in the market, despite the US military's insistence on not giving up the M1911 as its mainstay and equipping improved M1911A1s for decades to come. The gun's enormous power and particularly simple and practical structure, as well as the extremely easy-to-match Mauser 0.30 caliber bullets (also known as box cannon bullets), were too much to resist.

  The stopping power of this gun is not very good, but the killing power is great, with extremely strong penetration. It can kill living targets within 50 meters and penetrate 3mm thick steel plate, 10cm thick wooden board, 6cm thick brick wall, and 35cm thick soil at a distance of 25 meters. Because the main components inherit the classic design of Browning, it looks very pleasing to the eye. The grip is more suitable for Easterners' small hands than the M1911, but the recoil is slightly larger.

  Before the "Chicago Typewriter" appeared, the "Black Star" had already occupied the market of American gangsters. They found that this portable, powerful, reliable and simple-structured gun was so lovely, really a must-have weapon for home travel, murder and arson.

  What Chen Xiaoqi did not expect was that the handgun he had pirated in advance quickly opened up the Asian market. This powerful and very suitable for oriental people to use assault handgun filled a gap in the market, those who were unwilling to show off with a "box gun" in front of people, thinking they had some status, finally found a powerful handgun that suited themselves. As a result, a large number of warlords and bandits were the first to digest the first batch exported, and soon after, domestic arsenals began to shamelessly imitate it. Patent authorization? Never heard of it.

  They got off to a good start, and the arsenal was able to break even on its own. Chen Xiaoqi immediately invested in the second batch of new products, one of which was the 9mm version of the "Black Star" pistol, and the other was a close combat weapon - the submachine gun. The exterior design of the submachine gun was copied by Chen Xiaoqi from the MP44, a famous World War II rifle - although Hitler looked down on it because the all-steel body made it heavier and rougher-looking, with two calibers: Mauser 0.30 and 9mm.

  Of course, this is no longer something that Chen Xiaoqi can do. He can draw the overall structure and basic shape, but as for what materials to use and the dimensions of each internal component, those details are left to the professional German engineers to solve. He can't handle that kind of work. If it were possible, he would have liked to directly produce the MP5, unfortunately, all he can do is draw a rough outline. Anyway, since he's not making money from this now, there's no rush.

  After a brief silence, the medical research group under Meihua Laboratory launched a groundbreaking blockbuster - sulfonamide. This drug was first synthesized by the chemical research group of this laboratory as a dye, and later "accidentally" isolated from a red dye named "Bai Lang Duo Xi", which showed extremely strong antibacterial effect against streptococcal infection in mice. Soon after, the laboratory collaborated with St. Mary's Hospital in Chicago for clinical trials and found that this drug had a high efficacy against pneumonia and puerperal fever. After some minor adjustments to its chemical structure, it was found to have a significant killing effect on E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, with remarkable results.

  The results of the trial and the paper caused a sensation around the world. Before this, there was no specific medicine in the world that could have a significant killing effect on these highly infectious bacteria, and countless people died from wound infections every year, especially Westerners, who even in the absence of Chinese patent medicines, could be killed by a cold or diarrhea.

  "Sulfanilamide" was the answer to all this. It took a long time, nearly half a year, to make this discovery and finally complete the experimental paper, but the production license and formal entry into the pharmaceutical market only took one month, because people needed this drug so much that even in the experimental stage, many patients who knew about this effective drug completely disregarded the danger of being used as guinea pigs and insisted on using this unapproved and still experimental drug.

  MeiHua Laboratory immediately invested in the establishment of a pharmaceutical production company, and various production equipment were quickly put in place under the auspices of DuPont. Seeing the huge market prospects for the future, DuPont unceremoniously inserted its foot into the company, stubbornly demanding 20% of the shares. This was still the result of Chen Xiaoqi's reasonable argument. Because on the paper, there were two signatories, one of whom was Dr. Schultz von Freisleben from Germany, a descendant of a fallen aristocrat who had declined for many years. It was he who specifically verified the specific effects and pharmacological properties of this drug, discovering that it was the invention of the genius Chen Xiaoqi.

  Schultz owned half of the patent rights to this drug, so after it went into production he naturally acquired a 20% stake in the company. MeiHua Laboratory held 40% of the shares, since the invention was made with the support of the laboratory. The remaining 20% belonged to Chen Xiaoqi himself.

  DuPont was not satisfied with such a small stake, and in their view, direct control would be the most appropriate. They were not without the idea of poaching Chen Xiaoqi's corner, prying Schultz into their camp, but the stubborn Germans refused, clinging to the idea of being loyal to the industry.

  Chen Xiaoqi remembered that the original inventor had won the Nobel Prize with this invention, but now whether they can win the award is another story. After all, one of them is German and the other is Chinese, yet they made the invention in the United States. If they were to apply for the award, what would happen? Unless they are willing to change their nationality, but that seems quite difficult!

  These things he can't take care of for the time being, because he has to throw himself into more work. In the midst of his busy schedule, his laboratory also produced acetate fibers, and he managed to come up with a filter tip. The relevant patent was immediately authorized to several major tobacco companies in the UK and US. Originally, these stingy guys were not very willing to spend money to buy it, but they underestimated Chen Xiaoqi's operational capabilities. Chen Xiaoqi took advantage of the popularity of the "sulfonamide" drug to talk about the dangers of tobacco in the newspapers. The laboratory discovered that a component called "nicotine" in tobacco is highly toxic to humans. The nicotine in one cigarette can kill a small white mouse, and the nicotine in 20 cigarettes can kill a cow. The lethal dose for humans is 50-70 milligrams, equivalent to the nicotine content of 20-25 cigarettes. If the nicotine from one cigar or three cigarettes is injected into a person's vein within 3-5 minutes, it will cause death.

  Of course, Chen Xiaoqi dare not offend the tobacco merchants all over the world. He then changed his tone and explained that after passing through activated carbon and polyacrylate fiber double filtration, the amount of nicotine that can be inhaled by the human body is greatly reduced, and most of the harmful substances in the smoke can be blocked outside, allowing smokers to satisfy their habits while ensuring their physical health as much as possible.

  His remarks had a significant impact on tobacco merchants, causing many smokers to reduce their smoking habits and some to quit. Tobacco companies wanted to sue him for talking nonsense, but the reality of the experiment was undeniable. Chen Xiaoqi had already taken the initiative in using media tactics, leaving them with no choice but to purchase the filter tip patent. Chen Xiaoqi's move was indeed ruthless, as he not only obtained the patent for the cellulose acetate fiber filter tips but also registered a patent for the structure of ordinary cotton-made filter tips, making it difficult for tobacco companies to avoid him and forcing them to buy his authorization with gritted teeth.

  The big shots of the tobacco company hated Chen Xiaoqi so much that if they didn't consider the serious consequences, they would have killed him!

  In the midst of chaos, Chen Xiaoqi welcomed the first batch of supporters from China. They set off from Qingdao after the Spring Festival and arrived in the US East Coast after a long sea voyage, then took the train to Chicago. Because they had proof documents from various universities and "official" materials from China, explaining that they were not there to work or immigrate, they did not have to wait half-dead on Angel Island.

  There were over thirty people in this group, with the majority being students who came to study abroad. Only seven of them joined Chen Xiaoqi's martial arts class. Some of these students had already contacted schools and some needed Chen Xiaoqi to use his local connections to recommend them to universities in the area, such as the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and MIT. Some top schools were more difficult to get into, while others were easier to enter. After all, these students had good qualifications and could start school after half a year of adaptation.

  After Chen Xiaoqi arranged for those people to come down, he focused on dealing with these seven hometown people who would follow him closely in the future. Among the seven people, the oldest was already thirty-two years old, named Huang Zhen Shan, from Shandong Anqiu. When he was young, he followed his family to cross the border and went to Northeast China, grew up and followed the Northeast King Zhang Zuolin to eat, under Zhang's command in General Li Jinglin's troops as a company commander. Later, for some reason, he offended his superiors, and they wanted to get rid of him, so he had no choice but to escape from Northeast China back to his hometown. After returning to his hometown, he was not honest either, soon got together with the local hooligans, but unexpectedly, this hooligan leader was a notorious bandit leader Wang Datou in the local area, which caused big trouble.

  Who is Wang Dahu? A notorious outlaw who roamed Anhui and Zhucheng for a generation, committing all sorts of evil deeds such as kidnapping, extortion, murder, and arson. He once gathered over 20 people to rob a rural market, dragging young women into the nearby temple courtyard to do harm. The local Beiyang government sent 200 soldiers to capture him, but after a fierce gun battle that lasted for half a day, they were unable to subdue him. In the end, the government had no choice but to throw several thousand yuan into the courtyard, and only then did Wang release the hostages. After that, he and his gang escaped unscathed.

  Huang Zhen Shan is an old soldier who came out of a bandit's den, but after all, he couldn't withstand the fact that the bandits had more people and guns. Under duress, he ran to Qingdao, where he later met Chen Shoutang. Coincidentally, Chen Xiaoqi needed someone here, so he sent this guy over. In his letter, Chen Shoutang said that this guy is not bad, just a bit of a bandit's habit, but actually quite skilled.