Although the Continental army has been rehabilitated, Charles still believes that it will take at least a year and a half for these soldiers to be recruited and trained into an army. Even if they are temporarily pulled onto the battlefield to make up the numbers, it will take several months to travel.
Following Washington's letter, a large number of refugees fled from New York. They told the people of Philadelphia about the horrors of the war, their misery, and the brutality of the Hessian mercenaries. Their words and deeds aroused the sympathy of many Philadelphians, who donated money and goods to help them in their distress.
Many young people even enthusiastically went to recruitment stations on the streets to sign up for the army. However, it also made many people feel fear, and many secretly planned to leave Philadelphia, intending to move to a place further west and further away from the war of Independence.
Charles immediately instructed his militiamen to escort Phil, Jekill, and others, and together they guided as many Philadelphia residents with relocation plans as possible to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh had a bumper harvest this year, so accommodating a few thousand more mouths should not be a problem. Moreover, these people were not fleeing now, but were relocating with a plan. They all had their own property and means, so they did not have to worry about food and clothing.
Just as the impact of John Hancock's announcement that the Western Expeditionary Force had conquered the Iroquois was still reverberating, most of them accepted the instigation of Charles and others and were willing to move to Pittsburgh. Even those who were unwilling to go mostly moved to villages and towns east of the Appalachian Mountains, not far from Pittsburgh.
Knowing that Philadelphia faced an even greater risk of war, Charles again asked the Pennsylvania government to accelerate the construction of Philadelphia's defenses. Originally, it was just recruiting people to dig trenches and build fortresses.
Now, Charles had proposed that the Pennsylvania Congress mandate Philadelphia's men to perform compulsory labor. Although the Congress ultimately did not agree, it did decide to issue a public announcement calling on Philadelphia residents to voluntarily participate in construction work without compensation.
Charles also notified Biddle and other families of the Pennsylvania Canal Company, asking them to accelerate the construction of the canal project and quickly connect Philadelphia and Pittsburgh by transportation. The canal, which was previously built solely for economic purposes, had now been regarded by him as a shortcut for military purposes.
Once the canal is opened, a large number of cannons, rifles, and other firearms and ammunition can be continuously transported from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. From Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, fleeing residents of Philadelphia can be transported, which will naturally be very beneficial to both cities.
Fortunately, after using Picric acid and safety explosives, the construction speed of the canal has accelerated significantly. Historically, it only took one year to build without these explosives. Now, with these explosives, it has been shortened from the planned fifteen months to one year. This is mainly because a large number of canal workers were transferred from Pittsburgh to the Western Expeditionary Force, otherwise it might have been completed within ten months.
Charles did not anticipate the harm of recalling canal workers in advance, but even if he did, he would still do so. The Western Expeditionary Force was to solve the immediate threat, while the canal was for future benefits.
Charles was not satisfied with just the ordinary residents. A city, especially an industrial city, in addition to ordinary residents, also needs more senior intellectuals.
Several months later, Charles re-entered Philadelphia College, accompanied by the smug James.
This time, he didn't come to inquire about the progress of explosives, nor was it for any studies, but purely to recruit people.
Seeing that Philadelphia was about to face war, Charles decided to take this opportunity, similar to China's war of resistance period, to evacuate the teachers and students of Philadelphia College to Pittsburgh.
Although historically Philadelphia College was largely evacuated before the British army entered Philadelphia, this time, he planned a purposeful relocation, rather than waiting for the British army to besiege the city before fleeing.
Philadelphia College was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1740 as a charitable party school. In 1755, the school was renamed Philadelphia College and Academy. In 1765, the school's first graduate, John Morgan, founded the first medical school in America, making the school a de facto university. A few years later, it would be renamed the University of Pennsylvania.
Benjamin Franklin believed that new knowledge came from the broadest understanding and most innovative use of existing resources. This idea guided his research work and was also the guiding principle for his founding of Franklin College. He wanted to train talents with innovative thinking, who were responsive to the creativity of others, and who were not detached from real life. This educational philosophy has always run through the school's many years of development.
The first president of the school was Franklin's good friend, William Smith, a supporter and follower of the Scottish Enlightenment, who introduced scientific disciplines into the college's traditional Greek and Latin curricula. It can be said that Philadelphia College pioneered modern American education. It not only first established science courses, but was also the first American university to offer courses in history, mathematics, agriculture, english, and modern languages.
Before coming to the college, Charles also hastily visited Franklin, who was about to leave for France, hoping that he would help order the college to move to Pittsburgh. However, although Franklin was wise, he did not have a correct understanding of the potential war that Philadelphia might suffer, and still felt that Philadelphia was safe, at least in the short term, it would not be attacked by the British. Even if it was attacked, the sacred university would not be a target for the British.
No matter how Charles lobbied, he could not get him to agree to move immediately. Finally, Charles had no choice but to use the reason that he was about to go to France, and he could not take care of matters here in the Continent, and if the situation changed, he would not be able to control it, to trick a promise from Franklin: that this matter could be decided by the school itself, and if the British army really attacked the city and the war affected the school, the priority relocation destination would be Pittsburgh.
With this promise, Charles, led by James, visited the college's vice president, astronomer David Rittenhouse.
"Hello! Sir Rittenhouse!"
"Hello! Esteemed sir, Continental Congress representative!" Rittenhouse's expression was not good when he saw Charles. "What are you going to send over this time?"
He was no stranger to Charles, having met him several times when nitroglycerin and Picric acid were sent over. He knew that it was this fellow Charles who had sent a large amount of explosives, blowing up several laboratories at the school, and yet Franklin supported him.
"Haha! sir Vice President, you don't have to worry if I'm sending something over today. I already know about the incidents where houses were blown up during previous experiments, and I can only express my deepest apologies for that. Therefore, I plan to build several large houses in Pittsburgh and allocate a piece of land to Philadelphia College, as my compensation to the college," Charles said with a sincere expression.
"Oh?" Rittenhouse's expression softened.
He himself was an astronomer and was not averse to experiments. Seeing Charles' discomfort was just an instinctive reaction. Now that he heard Charles say that he would also compensate the college with houses and land, he naturally couldn't keep a straight face.
"There's no need for compensation. Besides, the houses are far away in Pittsburgh, and our college wouldn't be able to manage them."
"It must be compensated, it must be compensated!" Charles insisted. "If it weren't for the explosives I brought, the college's buildings would not have been damaged. Nor would researchers have died. These are all my faults. Even if it's to commemorate those chemists who sacrificed themselves for the explosive experiments, I must compensate. Otherwise, I would not be at ease."
Speaking of those who sacrificed themselves for the experiments, Charles' face also showed a touch of emotion.
However, to strengthen the persuasive effect, he then blinked his eyes hard a few times, barely squeezing out a few tears.
"Councilor Charles, researching explosives is a matter that benefits all of America. Those chemists who sacrificed themselves also dedicated themselves to the cause of science. This has nothing to do with you, and you don't need to feel uneasy." Rittenhouse was very touched by Charles' performance.
"Then let's consider it in memory of those few chemists who dedicated themselves to science. I suggest the college send a few people to Pittsburgh to accept it." Charles gave a reason that Rittenhouse could not refuse.
Your college can refuse, but now you say it's to commemorate those few chemists who dedicated themselves to science, you can't refuse that, can you? This is about promoting the spirit of scientific research. If you don't accept it, you're shirking responsibility.
Rittenhouse, as expected, couldn't refuse and said brightly:
"Alright! Then in a few days, I'll have the president send a financial officer over to take receipt."
"No! Merely having a financial officer receive it is not enough. Since it is to commemorate those few chemists who dedicated themselves to science, we should also make good use of those few houses and that piece of land, building them into laboratories to continue researching chemistry or other sciences. This is the best way to commemorate them," Charles added.
"This... alright, then I'll just transfer all the other people who are researching explosives there. That would be the true way to commemorate those chemists who sacrificed themselves while researching explosives!" Rittenhouse deliberately blocked the conversation this time.
This also removed a safety hazard from the college.
"Ha ha ha! sir Rittenhouse, in fact, you can send more people over. The land and several large houses I've allocated to the college can accommodate the entire Philadelphia College without any problem. The situation on the East Coast is not very good right now. In fact, for the sake of its own safety and that of its students, the college should appropriately migrate people and materials to a safer place. Pittsburgh is a very good choice." Charles finally stated his tr ue purpose.
His reasons were high-sounding, and Rittenhouse naturally wouldn't think he harbored any ulterior motives in his words, but he still refused:
"A large-scale relocation of the college must be approved by the president and the board of trustees. Especially Mr. Franklin, as the founder and largest investor, without his consent, we certainly cannot take action without authorization."
"You can rest assured about that. I have already spoken to Mr. Franklin. Although he doesn't think Philadelphia will be attacked now, he also agreed that if Philadelphia is attacked, the college should prioritize relocating to Pittsburgh. However, I believe Philadelphia will definitely face war, so your mobilization and relocation preparations must start early." Charles nodded.
On the surface, he looked very confident that Rittenhouse would agree, but in fact, he wasn't sure. Even Franklin couldn't foresee the danger to Philadelphia, so how could Rittenhouse realize it? Fortunately, his goal wasn't high.
As long as the college started preparing for the relocation, and ideally started building the future campus in Pittsburgh, he would already be very satisfied.
If Rittenhouse had not agreed to send those few chemists researching explosives to Pittsburgh earlier, he might have refused Charles' request now. But now that there was already a plan to send people over, and Charles asked him to prepare in advance, he felt that bringing a few people to take a look was fine. So he nodded gently and said:
"It's good to prepare in advance, and I can make that decision. Anyway, those few chemists researching explosives are going to be sent to Pittsburgh, so I'll just have some scholars who research architecture and other specialties go together to take a look.
Even if we don't really move, converting that place into a better laboratory is also fine. Haha! Maybe it can even raise the local academic level and establish a university there in advance!"
Charles' face showed a satisfied smile.
To establish a university there in advance, he couldn't wait, but if he could first take over Philadelphia College and use the time it stayed in Pittsburgh during the war of Independence to forcefully establish a University of Pittsburgh, he would really want that.
Establishing his own university in Pittsburgh was Charles' tr ue goal.
"Can Philadelphia College send a few more scholars to help foster the academic atmosphere there in advance? Although there is no basic education to support it, our industrial level in Pittsburgh is very high, especially in steel manufacturing and the arms industry.
Even the Continental Congress uses our products. If Philadelphia College can send a few professional scholars over, we in Pittsburgh will be very grateful to you."
"Haha! Spreading knowledge is our bounden duty. However, whether or not they are willing to go to Pittsburgh, we must respect the wishes of the scholars themselves." Rittenhouse did not object to this proposal.
Philadelphia College's preliminary actions were quickly decided. Rittenhouse not only announced that the laboratory for researching explosives would be moved to Pittsburgh, but also dispatched a large number of scholars as friendly assistance to promote Pittsburgh's academic development.