Actually, while Charles didn't have the same influence as Washington or Franklin yet, his reputation in Pennsylvania was already very significant. He was initially widely publicized as the youngest Continental Congress Representative and as Pennsylvania's pride. After the canal incident and the Pittsburgh land speculation, his abilities had also been affirmed by all the people of Pennsylvania.
Upon hearing that their pride, Charles, had arrived, many guests in the inn came to watch him as if he were a celebrity. Charles, not used to it at first, was a little nervous. In contrast, Diana, holding his hand, loved being the center of attention and smiled with every step, behaving very appropriately.
Everyone chatted and laughed as they entered the bar on the first floor of the inn, and Charles received news that made him very happy. Because the various colonies were establishing their own governments, and there were changes in councilors and administrative officials, Mayor Bonis had decided to run for Pennsylvania state councilor this year. Charles immediately expressed that he would fully support Mayor Bonis' election.
"Huh? Why don't I see Elisa?" Charles remembered the blonde miss Bonis.
"Hahahaha! Councilor Charles, I can't believe you still remember that girl Elisa. Are you really here to see us old folks? You're not using us as an excuse to actually come see my precious granddaughter, are you?" Bonis asked a very direct question that made Charles blush.
"Hehe! How could that be..." Charles awkwardly turned his head.
He happened to see Diana next to him, glaring furiously at the old mayor.
Charles was greatly amused.
This Mayor Bonis really knew how to promote his granddaughter. She could only be described as not bad-looking, certainly not a beauty. In Pittsburgh, he had Charlotte, and in Philadelphia, he had seen many more attractive mature women and beautiful girls.
Why would he think of his average-looking granddaughter? Even if the shortage of women in America made unmarried women sought after, he wasn't in such urgent need. The mayor causing him such trouble deserved to be glared at by the girl, and ideally, even stomped on a few times.
He then happened to turn and see James behind him, so he naturally clapped him on the shoulder and said to the mayor with a smile:
"Actually, I mainly came today to bring my friend, who grew up with me, to visit. This is James, the son of my family's butler. He is a graduate of Philadelphia College and is now my secretary."
Actually, he had just asked casually, but this old mayor seemed eager to win over him, a Continental Congress Representative, to help his campaign for state councilor, and even directly tried to sell him his granddaughter. Although he certainly didn't like her, he couldn't directly refuse, so he could only look at James next to him to see if he had this opportunity.
At this time in America, because women were very scarce and the male-female ratio was severely imbalanced, marriages were somewhat abnormal. In large towns, it was better; influenced by strictures and precepts, at most, widows were encouraged to remarry and young girls to marry early. In some remote colonial settlements, polyandry was common, and even same-sex relationships were more prevalent in those areas.
Later studies claimed that adolescents in American farm regions were more likely to prefer the same sex, and that during youth, more people had inappropriate thoughts and actions towards livestock, which was attributed to the early lack of women in America, forcing men to find other ways to resolve physiological frustrations.
In short, women at this time were highly sought after by men, especially well-bred young ladies from the upper class, who were even more in demand. The atmosphere of encouraging childbirth was also strong; men generally married at eighteen, and women at sixteen, but young ladies from the upper class were usually married off by fifteen.
The result of such early marriage and childbirth was an extremely high infant mortality rate, especially in the upper class, where early marriage led to a high probability of death during childbirth. Later, as research into medicine and physiology deepened, people realized this, and the situation gradually improved.
This was also because America was primarily Puritan. If it were contemporary Europe, with such a disproportionate male-female ratio, women in every household would likely not need to guard themselves.
Europe at this time, influenced by Catholic culture, advocated monogamy, but in reality, from priests and monks to commoners and nobles, *extramarital affairs* were prevalent, with everyone having more than one lover, and the number of illegitimate children was almost half that of children born in wedlock. In comparison, America was much better.
Although many also had lovers, Puritans advocated asceticism relative to Catholicism, and rarely dared to openly have affairs.
Regardless, in a society so lacking in women, if you refused a suitable marriage opportunity, it could very likely make the other party feel insulted. Although Charles didn't inwardly believe that Elisa was very suitable for him, purely in terms of status, the background of Mayor Bonis' family should be able to match his own. Charles didn't like the girl, but he also didn't want to miss an opportunity to form a connection, so he had a flash of inspiration and thought of James, who belonged to his family, to represent him in forming a marital alliance with the Bonis family.
James' appearance was quite good, and as a graduate of Philadelphia College and now Charles' secretary, his status was not bad. Mayor Bonis looked at him a few times and even smiled with great satisfaction.
"A good young man! My granddaughter will be here soon. You must perform well. If you two feel suitable, we can even get you engaged immediately. Hahaha..."
Charles hadn't yet deeply experienced the atmosphere of America's shortage of women, but James, a true local, was very clear about it. Hearing Charles' suggestion, he didn't find it inappropriate; instead, he was very grateful to Charles for giving him such an opportunity.
If Charles hadn't arranged it for him, given the current conditions in America, he might even only be able to marry a freed female slave in the future. In comparison, the granddaughter of a town mayor was, of course, a valuable choice. James had no intention of refusing at all and immediately took off his hat and bowed to Bonis:
"I cannot express my gratitude to you in words, Mr. Mayor."
"Good! I like what you said! As long as you can win over my granddaughter, I will fully support you," Mayor Bonis said with a smile, stepping forward and patting James on the shoulder.
As they were talking, the sound of a carriage driving came from outside. Charles could vaguely recall that it was the sound of the wheels that had rushed past him earlier.
"Mayor Bonis, it seems your precious granddaughter has arrived. James, let's go out and greet her," Charles said with a smile, standing up.
He couldn't stand Mayor Bonis' gaze, which looked at James as if he were his grandson-in-law.
The group returned to the inn entrance and happened to see the carriage, loaded with wooden barrels, slowly stopping. Besides a man in his thirties, the other person in the carriage was indeed Elisa, whom Charles had seen before.
Charles gently patted James on the shoulder:
"Go, that's Elisa, go and win her over!"
James seemed to have indeed taken a liking to the blonde girl in the carriage. After Charles' gentle push, he immediately went up to the carriage and proactively started chatting with the girl.
"Mr. Mayor, what are you transporting in this carriage? It has a strong smell," Charles didn't pay attention to James' flirting; instead, he frowned and asked the mayor.
"Hahahaha! This stuff is called Picric acid, a type of dye. It doesn't stink, but it is quite unpleasant. When we use it, we usually have to cover our mouths and noses with cloth."
"Picric acid? A very familiar name," Charles wondered for a moment.
He felt he had heard the name somewhere, but he just couldn't remember exactly where.
"Yes! This stuff must be used very carefully. Don't think it's harmless just because it's in wooden barrels now. If it's stored in metal barrels for a long time, it can explode if accidentally touched," the mayor added.
Upon hearing the word "explode," Charles immediately remembered what Picric acid was.
This substance also existed in the 21st century, but what was commonly seen was not Picric acid itself, but its derivatives. It was not just a dye; it was actually widely used in the manufacture of explosives, matches, pharmaceuticals, and leather, among other industries.
It seems that during World war II, Japan used Picric acid aerial bombs, and those duds often exploded if touched after a long time. Later, China often unearthed this substance, causing great harm to civilians.
Charles had smelled this before when visiting a leather rough processing factory, but at that time, it was packaged as yellow crystalline blocks. Seeing it in barrels, he didn't immediately recognize it. In fact, this substance had also been mentioned in airplane anti-terrorism contexts, as it could also be used to make powerful improvised bombs. As for pharmaceuticals and matches, he wasn't very clear.
However, just based on leather tanning and explosive manufacturing alone, Charles was already sure that this stuff was a treasure.
When natives exchanged goods with Pittsburgh, most of the items were various animal hides. Cheap animal hides in the hands of natives became expensive furs in the prosperous towns of the East. Previously, traditional tanning methods were time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Now, with Picric acid, which could be produced industrially, the process would be much more efficient and faster, and Pittsburgh's leather industry would surely flourish in the future.
Charles had always wanted to find something that would break the Virginia Company's monopoly on black powder, which was represented by Adams.
However, he himself was not a chemist and only knew that nitroglycerin was the earliest explosive to replace black powder, but he did not know the specific synthesis method, so he could only wait for Kiel Laboratory to slowly achieve results, and he could not rush it at all.
Currently, nitroglycerin has not yet been invented and manufactured, and black powder is often used when constructing canals and excavating mines.
Using black powder as an explosive is not only inefficient and wasteful but also consumes an astonishing amount.
America is not rich in saltpeter for black powder, and large quantities of black powder are used in canal construction, which has even affected the reserves of military explosives.
The Virginia Company, which controls black powder, effectively controls both the Continental army and Pennsylvania's canal projects.
Now, both the Continental Congress and Charles urgently need an efficient new type of explosive, and the current Picric acid is definitely a beacon in the darkness.
Of course, Picric acid as an explosive has a very bad drawback: before the invention of the detonator, its explosion was very unstable.
Using it only for blasting in engineering was slightly better, but if it were used on a battlefield ravaged by war, the trouble would be immense.
Historically, a long time passed from the discovery of its explosiveness to its mature application in war.
Therefore, in the short term, Charles could only use Picric acid for tanning leather and blasting in canal construction.
As for military use, he still had to rely on black powder, but at least Charles was finally free from the constraints of the Virginia Company; he just had to wait for nitroglycerin from Kiel Laboratory.
With Picric acid, Charles no longer bothered with James' personal affairs.
He directly asked Bonis, the town mayor, for a sample and also hoped to purchase the production formula and process for this substance.
This Picric acid was not some "high-tech" item, and Bonis, the town mayor, expressed willingness to provide it for free before returning to Philadelphia.
Charles, of course, was delighted and immediately took the formula.
Having obtained the Picric acid formula and samples, Charles left James to continue fostering a relationship with the mayor's granddaughter, while he himself eagerly rushed back to Philadelphia.
When Charles first returned to Philadelphia, he had already visited Kiel's laboratory.
Although he hadn't inspected the research and development of new medicines, he had given him a large amount of coal tar brought from Pittsburgh, tasking him with research and analysis, hoping he could extract useful substances.
This time, Charles hurried over again, giving him a large amount of Picric acid, intending for him to research a safe and simple method of detonation.
Unexpectedly, the moment he brought up this request, he angered him.
"Mr. Kiel! How many tasks have you assigned me?
Making acids, making bases, researching medicines, researching syringes, researching tar, and now you want me to make explosives!
I haven't even had people prepare the eight hundred pounds of medicine ordered last time.
Are you going to let me focus on chemistry research?
I'm already overwhelmed, so please give these things to someone else to research."
Kiel threw up his hands, refusing to cooperate.
"Hehe!" Charles awkwardly laughed, "You really have too many tasks on your shoulders.
How about I hire a few students from Philadelphia College to be your assistants?"
"Assistants aren't enough!
I need a large number of chemists like me.
You don't understand chemistry; you simply can't comprehend it.
Chemistry is very complex, requiring knowledge in all aspects, but it's best to choose only one research direction to maximize the chances of success.
If you don't find me a few chemists, I can only choose a project I like and research it slowly; give the others to someone else."
Kiel refused without room for negotiation.
Faced with Kiel's stubbornness, Charles could only rub his forehead in frustration and leave.
The utilization of this Picric acid was very important, and after much consideration, Charles decided to approach Franklin.
At this time, Franklin was helping Jefferson with the Declaration of Independence and also preparing to depart for Europe to lobby France and other European powers to support America's war of Independence once the Declaration of Independence was released.
He was very welcoming of Charles' visit and immediately personally escorted him into his study.
"Charles, I heard you're planning to open a bank and a branch company in Philadelphia; how do you have time to come here?"
"Benjamin, I know you are actually busier than I am, and the matter of the Declaration of Independence is of even greater importance.
However, I do have a very important matter this time, because I have discovered something that relates to the prospect of our independence, and I need your help."
Charles directly produced the strongly pungent Picric acid.
"What is this?" Franklin covered his nose and retreated far away.
"This is a dye called Picric acid, but I know that this substance is also a highly explosive chemical, with an explosive power dozens of times greater than black powder.
I just don't know why its detonation is very unstable; bullets hitting it won't cause a reaction, but if it encounters an open flame or is placed with metal, it could explode at any time."
"Its explosiveness is dozens of times that of black powder!" Franklin secretly gasped.
"Then can't it be used as an explosive?"
He was a scientist with very broad knowledge and considerable research in black powder and chemistry.
Upon hearing of such explosiveness, he thought of researching it to supplement the use of explosives.
"That's right, we are about to engage in war with the British army again.
Shortages of other various items can be endured, but if we lack black powder, we cannot fight.
America does not produce the potassium nitrate and other raw materials needed for black powder.
Currently, the most urgent need on the battlefield is a stable supply of black powder.
If a safe detonation method for this Picric acid can be developed, it can replace black powder, and because its explosiveness is dozens of times that of black powder, it can even make our muskets and cannons shoot farther and with greater power."
Charles continued to incite.
"Indeed! This is truly a remarkable substance.
So, what do you mean...?"
Franklin immediately accepted Charles' point of view and directly asked him the purpose of his words.
"I currently lack knowledgeable, courageous, and even dedicated chemists, and the only place in Philadelphia with such chemistry professionals is Philadelphia College."
Charles didn't say it directly, but Franklin immediately understood the implication of his words.
But precisely because he understood, Franklin hesitated for a moment.
Chemical research inherently carries significant risks, and the risks associated with explosives are so great that one could become friends with death.
Asking Franklin to send chemists from his own college to research such a dangerous substance, he naturally couldn't agree immediately.
However, as a truly patriotic revolutionary, Franklin ultimately agreed.
"Alright, I will call all the teachers and students from the college who are involved in chemistry and related fields and ask for their opinions.
They will be allowed to research this Picric acid on a voluntary basis.
I believe that in a time of national crisis, they will all be willing to participate in such research."
With Franklin's words, the subsequent matters naturally became much easier to handle.
The most knowledgeable chemists, and even medical pharmacists, from Philadelphia College were invited to research this Picric acid.
Influenced by Franklin's political views, the faculty and students of Philadelphia College were mostly independentists and revolutionaries, and they took the so-called national crisis very seriously.
Many young people, in particular, even passionately prepared to take risks themselves to experience the explosive power of this Picric acid.
Although some people withdrew out of fear, more than twenty people ultimately volunteered to participate in the research.
Charles believed that with so many knowledgeable and courageous people participating in the research of Picric acid, results would surely be achieved very quickly.
The only concern was that this would significantly compromise secrecy.
Keeping the formula secret might be a bit easier, but creating the advantage of a sudden new weapon appearing on the battlefield was out of the question.
However, to Charles' surprise, while so many people were still working on Picric acid without results, Kiel sent someone to notify him that he had accidentally synthesized nitroglycerin.
According to the messenger, in a deafening explosion, Kiel's servant was severely injured.
Then Kiel joyfully announced that his experiment had been successful.
Kiel's laboratory itself could produce various acids and bases, so the conditions for synthesizing nitroglycerin were fully met.
However, he had synthesized it several times and couldn't confirm whether the substance was successful.
Test tubes of nitroglycerin wouldn't have too great an explosive force, but just when he thought of having his servant throw a test tube to test its explosive capability, the experiment was successful, but the experimental personnel were injured.
The nitroglycerin in the test tube exploded after a violent impact, and the flying glass cut the servant all over.
Fortunately, the test tube was small, and the amount of nitroglycerin was also small, so the cuts were not fatal.
After such an event, the first thing Kiel did was tell Charles the formula, and then informed him that he would henceforth only research coal tar and no longer research this dangerous nitroglycerin, or any other explosives-related items.
All explosive chemicals, he told him, should be given to others to continue researching.
Nitroglycerin had just been synthesized, and no one was willing to continue researching its safe detonation method.
Such a major event would, of course, be known to Franklin, who was also concerned about explosives.
Subsequently, the research into the safe detonation of nitroglycerin was also taken over by the research group at Philadelphia College.
However, for safety, Charles gave them strict safety warnings, the most important of which was that several people should not experiment at the same time, to avoid a single explosion blowing up several talented individuals.
And based on his knowledge of Nobel's achievements with safety explosives and blasting gel, he advised them to try mixing things into nitroglycerin rather than simply shaking it randomly.