From legendary short seller to god of American capital

Chapter 144 A Major Misunderstanding, Two Martial Arts Across Eras

Chapter 144 A Major Misunderstanding, Two Weapons Across Eras (4.5k words, please vote)

After hearing the Browning brothers' offer, Larry understood why Browning, despite his legendary status, couldn't own his own business.

STEM guys are too straightforward!

Larry still remembers the first time Henry Ford made an offer to him: even though he was so poor that he couldn't afford to go back to Detroit, or even to fill up his car with gas, what did he say?

Ford said at the time: $5 for 15% of the shares!

The key point is that Ford was also willing to go all out. At the time, he was afraid that if Larry ran away, he would have nowhere to raise funds. Henry Ford even accompanied Larry to the securities company hand in hand, not caring at all what others thought. He had a spirit of not giving up until he achieved his goal.

In contrast to Browning's straightforward, engineer-like personality, Ford was far more cunning and shrewd.

Wait, that's not right, Henry Ford was also an engineer...

Is it because of the Browning brothers' social anxiety or religious background?

These two are just too honest!

They even proactively raised $1.1 for initial investment. The key point is that they contributed their expertise and the money, and together they only asked for 35% of the equity.

Larry recalled Henry Ford, a man so poor he couldn't afford gasoline, who, in order to convince Mr. Kennedy that he would also invest, made empty promises that he would "invest $5000" in order to obtain a 50% stake.

Larry had no idea where he got that $5000. But that's what he dared to say.

Honestly, compared to the two, the Browning brothers are so honest that even Larry was a little embarrassed.

Larry, seeing the eager looks in their eyes, smiled but didn't answer. Instead, he turned and walked to his satchel, took out two boxes of bullets for the Bodeaux pistol, and handed them to John Browning.

"Mr. Browning, these are bullets for the Bodeau pistol. I have two more boxes left, and I'll give them to you now."

John Browning took the bullet, somewhat confused about Larry's meaning.

"Do you still have the Italian pistol you had before? Let me see it!" Larry continued.

John Browning pulled the Bodeo from his suitcase and placed it on the table in front of the three men; Larry also placed his Colt revolver on the table next to the Bodeo, glanced at the two men, and said with a smile.

"Technological advancements often work like this: seemingly minor changes like adding a rotatable magazine can reduce reloading time by several times..."

As he spoke, Larry picked up the Bodeo pistol, snapped it to the left, and then closed it again.

The Browning brothers were both gun enthusiasts throughout their lives, so they knew that no matter how beautiful a European pistol was, its ultimate status was determined by indicators such as accuracy, rate of fire, and reloading efficiency.

Larry placed the Colt pistol on the table and continued, "Imagine how promising this gun would be if it had a capacity of 8, 12, or even 20 rounds? That's the original design philosophy behind automatic pistols that I'm telling you about..."

These words seemed to strike a chord with John Browning, who immediately twitched his large beard and asked,

"You mentioned this... really, I've been wondering about this for a long time. What's the point of a pistol having such a high rate of fire? I understand that this thing uses a gas-operated system to automatically eject and reload, and I also understand increasing the magazine capacity, but why fire automatically? You know, hand strength is simply not enough to control a pistol to fire continuously, otherwise the second shot would be nowhere to be seen. Is there really a need for this kind of gun?"

As he spoke, John Browning turned to Matthew, who nodded and said, "My brother, my brother has told me about this! He has great admiration for your forward-thinking ideas, and even feels that a few words you occasionally utter have given him inspiration he had never thought of before... But he really doesn't know why we should produce automatic pistols. To be honest, I don't know either. My brother has been struggling with this for a long time!"

Larry was about to continue his boastful speech when he was suddenly interrupted by the two men. His mind went blank for a moment. He felt that what they said made sense, but he didn't want the pistol to fire automatically. If the goal was automatic fire and a rapid barrage of bullets, then he might as well just invent a submachine gun!

After thinking for a few seconds, Larry tried to clarify with the Browning brothers where the misunderstanding came from...

Five minutes later, the three of them suddenly realized that the problem stemmed from a lack of clarity in the basic concepts, which led to a significant divergence in their thinking.

The truth of the matter lies with Larry, because Larry is not a firearms expert, so he directly referred to "automatic pistol" as "automatic pistol" instead of "automatic feeding pistol".

However, in the technical terms of the arms industry, an automatic pistol should actually be a "machine pistol" like the "Scorpion" or "Mauser C96" from the previous era, which could continuously empty the magazine by holding down the trigger.

The automatic pistol Larry described is actually called a "semi-automatic pistol" in military terminology because it uses a gas-operated system to eject spent casings and reload, allowing it to fire continuously.

John Browning was so impressed by some of Larry's ideas that he subconsciously thought that "automatic pistols" would also be very important. However, despite his shrewdness as a famous firearms designer, he really couldn't figure out why automatic pistols would be valued by the military...

John Browning was so fixated on this for the entire week that he couldn't get out of it, spending every day thinking about how to realize Larry's idea of ​​an "automatic pistol" that would meet the needs of war.

The misunderstanding has now been cleared up... It was entirely due to both parties misunderstanding a concept.

After realizing that the "automatic pistol" was a misunderstanding, John Browning looked up at the sky and sighed, a relieved smile on his face, and murmured, "So that's why... what's the use of an automatic pistol? It was a misunderstanding."

Larry chuckled and then said, "It was a misunderstanding, but if we expand on the automatic pistol you mentioned, with a long magazine and a rifle-like structure, it could fire rapidly while maintaining accuracy and firepower density. However, that gun should be called a 'submachine gun'."

John Browning, just recovering from the relief of the misunderstanding being cleared up, heard Larry's words. His ears twitched, his eyes lit up, he quickly stopped smiling, and fell back into deep thought...

Matthew frowned and nodded, saying, "You're right. This new type of gun, called the 'submachine gun,' can indeed greatly increase firepower density in a short time. But where is this gun used? Battlefield rifle engagements take place at long distances. Besides machine guns, there are also artillery pieces. The two armies don't have the opportunity to fight at close range. How can your submachine gun be used effectively?"

John Browning also looked at Larry, clearly wondering the same thing.

Larry hadn't originally planned to bring up the concept of submachine guns now, since this knowledge wouldn't lose its value just by existing in his mind. It might be more effective to introduce a similar concept at a more appropriate time in the future.

In his past life, Larry had seen a short film in which the protagonist traveled back in time with a modern submachine gun in order to prevent the passage of a constitutional amendment regarding gun rights by the U.S. Congress.

He used modern firearms to intimidate the first generation of American Founding Fathers, intending to block gun rights legislation.

However, the firearms he possessed inspired people at the time and objectively accelerated the evolution of firearms.

Larry had no intention of accelerating the pace of technological evolution too much, lest it lead to uncontrollable consequences like in the short film.

But today's situation is special! Mainly because his attempt to impress failed, and in order to maintain his image in front of the Browning brothers, Larry decided to prematurely introduce the concept of the submachine gun, allowing John Browning to return to his mystique and awe...

Larry, seeing both men looking at him, said seriously, "Gentlemen, is the future battlefield you envision still the line-up shooting of the Civil War? No, with the increased density of battlefield firepower and the application of trenches and barbed wire, two sides with similar warfare technology will be locked in trench warfare. And in the process of trench warfare, short-range firefights are inevitable, which is when submachine guns come into play!"

The Browning brothers stared blankly, lost in thought once more.

Larry knew that people at this point didn't yet have a vision of future wars, and explaining this to them might not be meaningful to them, so he continued...

"You can look at this issue from a different perspective. In the current scenario of handgun firefights, if there were a weapon with higher firepower, a faster rate of fire, and a larger magazine capacity than a handgun, would it be possible for it to replace the handgun?"

John Browning and Matthew exchanged a glance and nodded solemnly to Larry.

"So..." Larry concluded, "the replacement for existing handguns won't necessarily be future handguns, but rather another crossover weapon. With submachine guns around, handguns will gradually become ceremonial weapons, like sabers, rather than weapons of war."

John Browning and Matthew's pupils dilated dramatically, and their faces once again displayed the expression of someone who had long lived in a swamp and finally seen the sun after breaking through the clouds.

John Browning looked up at Larry, his eyes once again filled with solemnity and respect.

After a moment, John Browning nodded emphatically and said, "Your guidance has cleared a thorny path for me!"

Matthew echoed solemnly, "Your wisdom has illuminated a lamp that books cannot reach!"

Larry nodded slightly in response, but couldn't hide his smugness inside.

Look at that! They used polite language, even saying "to clear a path of thorns for me." Doesn't that sound like the Chinese saying "a word from a wise man is worth more than ten years of study"?

What is the purpose of us transmigrated reincarnated beings? Is it truly to change history?

No, it's all for this moment of showing off!

Larry brought up the concept of the submachine gun and once again earned the respect of the Browning brothers, which felt great.

John Browning pondered for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

"Okay... Now our newly established company has an even heavier workload. In addition to Mauser-like rifles and semi-automatic pistols, we also need to invent a submachine gun! Great, I'm starting to look forward to the future. This is the first time I've felt so motivated! I'm even excited to be in such a vibrant era."

Mr. Livingston, for this reason, we are willing to continue to relinquish our equity stake. As long as you lead the company, I am willing to follow you until we design all these dream guns!

Matthew echoed loudly, his eyes filled with the same piety a devout Mormon would show when facing divine revelation…

Larry laughed.

In fact, my collaboration with the Browning brothers was not for the purpose of making money at all.

When it comes to making money, Larry's investments in automobiles, Kodak, and tobacco were all much faster than investing in arms companies.

Larry's reason for partnering with the Browning brothers to establish an arms company was actually to "patch up" for the future. He had previously sold J.P. Morgan the advanced intelligence that "buying shares in an arms company would reveal where wars would break out," thus giving Larry, in a sense, "eyes that could see into the future."

But Larry can't guarantee that he'll always be on the same side as Mr. Morgan.

What if I end up in a competitive relationship with Morgan in the future?

Then Larry may have to pay the price for his previous words.

So Larry is now laying the groundwork for his own plan, which is to use the "weapon that will determine the outcome of the war" to confront Mr. Morgan's "eyes that see into the future"!

By using "advanced weapons" designed by Browning that are suitable for the future warfare environment, we can try to change the outcome of the war. In this way, we can turn the "possibility" of a changed future back into a historical process that we can control!

Mr. Morgan could guess "when the war would begin," but he couldn't, like himself, exert the greatest possible influence on the outcome of the war.

Only in this way can he be in an invincible position relative to Morgan.

Therefore, Larry is even less likely to lose out on the Browning brothers' equity for a small gain, because startups generally don't offer many tangible rewards; they still rely on equity to keep core technology experts like the Brownings engaged.

Larry looked John Browning into the eyes, then at Matthew, and said solemnly,

"My brothers—I only call you that when I see Matthew and you, John—don't worry about profit! I told you, John, I don't want another Maxim, I don't want another brilliant gun designer stranded in Europe. We're not working for money, we're working to change the world!"

As soon as Larry finished speaking, the Browning brothers' eyes immediately blazed with intense interest.

After a silence of more than ten seconds, Larry finally spoke, "I've made my decision regarding the stock distribution! Can you proceed according to my plan?"

The two brothers nodded without hesitation, meaning, "Go ahead and tell us. As long as we can build a world-renowned arms company together, we'll follow whatever equity distribution plan you suggest!"

"Very well! Now I'll speak, and you'll listen." Larry paused for a few seconds before speaking.

"This arms company will be called the Browning Brothers Company... the company name will exist in your honor. Furthermore, I'll contribute $6, taking only 49% of the shares, with the remaining 51% to be divided between you two brothers. This way, if I continue to act fairly as I do now, I'll remain the majority shareholder. But if one day I become corrupt, like those mediocre, vulgar, unambitious scoundrels, then you two brothers working together can become the largest shareholder!"

Larry, seeing that the two were about to say something excitedly, sternly waved his hand to stop them from speaking and continued,

"The patents for future firearm designs will belong half to you and half to the company. You can earn a percentage of every gun you sell. To be fair, I will offer preferred stock and options. If I sell a large quantity of firearms in the future, I can also receive additional profits. What do you say?"

The Browning brothers were prepared for their stake to be reduced to below 20%, and they were even willing to accept it. But Larry's arrangement clearly took them by surprise.

John Browning spent half his life wandering, witnessing capitalists who treated inventors and engineers like stray dogs, but he had never met a great entrepreneur with such idealism as Larry Livingston.

Not only did he invest money for his dream, but he also voluntarily reduced his shareholding to 49%. This shows that he and his brother Matthew were not just partners, but true brothers.

John Browning felt his heart pounding, his eyes welling up with tears, and his throat felt as if it were blocked by a cork, leaving him speechless for a long time.

Silence filled the air between the three, and for a moment, the tranquil environment even took on a passionate, brotherly significance.

Larry placed one hand on each of their shoulders, gripping them firmly. He looked at the two Brownings and said solemnly,

"Alright! Let's not worry about the details of profit; it's settled then!"

Matthew's voice trembled slightly. He placed a hand on Larry's chest and said, "Okay, from now on we're brothers!"

John Browning solemnly placed his right hand on Larry's chest, nodded heavily, and uttered the most weighty word in the hearts of Mormons: "Yes! Brother."

(End of this chapter)