In 1901, after Carnegie returned from Sgiberburg, he played a game with Shwab at St Andrew's Club in New York. The two walked into the study of Carnegie's villa. Carnegie scribbled on a piece of paper: "1.5." He instructed Shwab that if Morgankent offered 1.5 times the current price, he would sell it. In the end, the transaction "is reached an agreement for more than 400 million US dollars." This was definitely a huge number!

But what is really shocking was that after Pierpont Morgan bought Andrew Carnegie Steel and established the American Steel Company. In order to accelerate the company's operation, Morgan set high product prices on the one hand and raised the industry threshold by squeezing small and medium-sized steel companies; on the other hand, while these small and medium-sized companies were in a tight financial situation, they continued to acquire - American Steel Company acquired more than 700 related steel companies in one fell swoop.

After that, Morgan's US Steel Company immediately began to lower prices, and this strategy worked quite well. At this time, US Steel Company produced 3/5 of steel in the United States, which could determine the fate of nearly 170,000 steel workers. US Steel Company also became the first industrial company in the United States with assets of more than $1 billion. In just ten years, its capital expansion has exceeded three times.

Pittsburgh, the steel industry center of the United States, is also known as the world's steel capital. The steel produced here exceeds the total steel output of the United Kingdom and Germany in one year.

While the car was driving on the street full of vehicles and pedestrians, Li Zicheng, who was sitting in the back seat, subconsciously tapped his right hand on his right knee, staring at the street crisscrossing raindrops and lights outside the car window.

This place is different from New York. The air in Pittsburgh is always filled with a faint smell of "rotten eggs". It is the smell of a coking factory. I am not unfamiliar with this smell. After all, I have worked in a steel factory. Unlike New York's rich and obscene, the streets here always have an indescribable smell, just like... Well! A toughness, the toughness of a steel worker, both the coachman and the motorist are extremely rough when driving.

This is a city dominated by workers. Workers wearing blue denim work clothes can be seen everywhere on both sides of the street. Most of them have thick arms and dull eyes, and their faces are burnt black. The days of American steel workers today are far less than their juniors a hundred years later.

This is a completely unique style.

The late winter snow hit the car window, causing the driver to drive on the streets of Pittsburgh at the slowest speed. Li Zicheng took the opportunity to look at the streets of Pittsburgh. Two weeks ago, he sent a drawing to Charlie Swaber. Three days ago, he received a telegram, inviting him to come to Pittsburgh to discuss the blast furnace patent rights.

Money! If you return to China, you will need a lot of money. When you are short of funds, all you can do is to give full play to every available resource in your hands.

In the steel drum in the basement, there are tens of thousands of steel patents, steel production equipment drawings and production data. In 1912, the American Steel Company owned the most advanced iron-making blast furnace in the United States, which is only 50,000 cubic feet in the world, which is similar to the 1,500 cubic meters blast furnace that is the most "backward" among the drawings it owns. However, the two produce iron every cubic meter. The US Steel's "large blast furnace" produces only 1.65 tons of iron, while its own is 2.28 tons.

"I hope I can get a lot of money!"

As he muttered in his heart, Li Zicheng was glad that he had made the transaction. All he had to pay was to install the microfilm on the special drawing machine and use up thousands of drawings.

But what about the reward? Maybe tens of millions of dollars, or maybe even more!

Thinking in his heart, he patted some drawings of the main body and accessories of the blast furnace in his seat with his left hand. Li Zicheng squeezed out a smile on his face, a generous reward!

"What's the happy thing about the young master?"

Si, who was sitting in the passenger seat, glanced at the young master who was sitting in the back seat from the rearview mirror. After becoming the young master's servant from the Chinese Guild Hall, until now, the young master has taken care of him. Even a month ago, the young master asked him if he wanted to go home. If he wanted to go home, he would give himself a way out.

But what should the young master do if he leaves? Anyway, his parents are dead, so it's good to stay by the young master.

"No matter where the young master comes, I will definitely follow you!"

Although the young master did not mention that matter later, A Si had already had his own plans. Thinking of this in his heart, A Si sat in front without saying a word. Today, the young master was going to negotiate with the foreign devils, so he had to be smarter, so that the young master could not let people...

As president of the US Steel Company, Charlie Swaber rarely uses his office. Most of the time, his office is actually a luxury car that Morgan provides him. The heart of the US Steel Company is in Pittsburgh, but factories and iron ore are spread throughout the United States.

Today, Charlie Swaber, who was rarely staying in the office, formally invited a guest to the office. When he received a call from the train station, Charlie Swaber looked incredible, and he couldn't help but come to the drawing board again. Looking at the drawings sent with the letter, although there were only a dozen drawings, they were not even enough to express the structure of the blast furnace, let alone for production, but if some development data were added, it would be enough for expert analysis.

"A Chinese?"

Looking at the blast furnace drawings in front of him, Charlie Swaber still doubted whether the company's experts had made a mistake. Is it possible for a Chinese to design the most efficient large-volume iron-smelting blast furnace in the world?

"If the existing blast furnace is renovated with its technology, the production capacity can be increased by about 35%! The production cost will be reduced by 12.5%"

Experts' analysis allowed Charlie Swaber to understand what this 35% means, which means that after the blast furnace renovation is completed, the iron produced by the US Steel Company will reach the pig iron production in the United States this year.

"Mr. Li, welcome you!"

Before welcoming the office building of the American Steel Company, Elbert selectively ignored his race when he greeted Li Zicheng, but instead turned his attention to the drawing clips held in his followers. Perhaps the drawings of the new high-efficiency blast furnace were installed.

When he walked into the conference room on the third floor of the US Steel Company, Li Zicheng did not speak, but laid the drawings in his hand on the round table in the middle. These were just some descriptive drawings, which were far from the drawings that could be used for production.

At this time, there were 7 people present. After Li Zicheng sat down, everyone formed a circle and began to look through the drawings on the table. Everyone seemed very serious. The same blueprints were shown, which somewhat disappointed some people, especially in the legal counsel of the company, without the original drawings, they could not obtain these drawings through the "law".

“Very good design.”

Jason, a technical director of US Steel, spread his hands and said to Charlie Swaber.

"But we already have similar designs and we don't have to spend money to buy them."

Li Zicheng curled his lips. The same design? The same design. When the American steel technicians designed it, they would have to wait at least another ten years, leaning comfortably on the sofa, drinking coffee, and silently.

Charlie Swaber also didn't say anything. He knew better than anyone else about the situation of his factory. However, others spoke and discussed it. However, everyone knew that Jason's previous words were just a strategy, a strategy to lower prices.

“Did you designed it?”

Elbert, also a technician, asked curiously Li Zicheng, who hadn't said anything since entering this conference room.

"certainly."

Li Zicheng looked at him with unpretentious eyes.

In the early 20th century, it was quite common for a person to design an industrial product. General Electric and Ford were born in this way. It is not the era of "institutional" invention, but the era of personal genius.

Elbert expressed his appreciation with his eyes. Faced with his appreciation, Li Zicheng just turned his eyes out the window and looked at the production area of ​​the American Steel Company, which was surrounded by smoke and clouds. The steel produced by this steel is equivalent to the annual output of the world's three major powers, and the world's first large steel enterprise with a steel exceeding tens of millions of tons.

If one day I can establish such a steel company in China...

When Li Zicheng looked at the huge steel factory and fell into deep thought, the more than 100 detailed drawings brought by Li Zicheng and the few people who whispered in front of further development data. At the same time, Hansen, a legal counsel for the US Steel Company, walked to Li Zicheng intimately and asked.

"Mr. Li, have you registered a patent?"

Li Zicheng said indifferently.

"Of course, if you don't apply for a patent, anyone will take it away, right?"

I am studying law myself, so how could I not know how to apply for a patent? Even in order to fold the wings of the Boeing 727, I applied for patents for more than a dozen tools such as cross-cutting and plum blossoming.

Li Zicheng's answer was beyond the expectations of the gentlemen who had been accustomed to registering every thing as patent since their grandfather.

After a moment of silence and looking at the others, Charlie Swabert said.

"I don't know what the right price is in your mind. Didn't your lawyer come?"

"I am a lawyer myself!"

Li Zicheng noticed that when he said that he was a lawyer, all of them had an incredible look on their faces.

"According to the current agreement signed between the US steel industry and others, I personally hope that the patent amount per ton of pig iron will be $1.35! The patent period is thirty years!"

"This is impossible..."

Before Charlie Swaber could finish his speech, Li Zicheng interrupted him.

"In 1875, Carnegie, the predecessor of the US Steel Company, obtained a patent fee of US$1.17 per ton of steel for the Celsius converter, with a patent period of thirty years, and now it has passed..."

There was a smile on my face, and I did my homework when I came.

"37 years! I think $1.4 is not too much!"

Facing this almost offer and no longer able to make decisions, Charlie Swaber said, looking at the young man in front of him who was both an inventor and a lawyer.

"That's steel! And this is iron!"

"That's why I offered $1.4!"

"Mr. Li, maybe we need to discuss it..."

"Mr. Swaber."

After drinking all the coffee in the cup in one sip, Li Zicheng stood up and said.

"Of course you can discuss it, but I will need to return to New York tonight."

"This is simply impossible!"

"We need to verify and also consider similar designs. Before reading your complete design information, we are not clear about how much modifications are needed to be made to the old blast furnace and the technical feasibility of building a new high-pot. Similarly, we cannot accurately judge the specific performance of your design. You know, this is a person's design after all, and there is still a lot of work to be done..."

"Okay."

Li Zicheng said impatiently.

"I will return to New York tonight. I think... the place where I can make this decision should be New York, not Pittsburgh!"

When Li Zicheng turned his head and left the office, the room suddenly became noisy. In almost everyone's eyes, as long as this drawing can meet 80% of the design requirements, it is worth spending.

"How can we see from the drawings whether it can meet 80% of the design requirements?"

A rhetorical question left Elbert speechless. Although he brought more detailed development data today, it would be difficult to make a final decision based on things on paper alone. If Mr. Li had already built it... it was impossible. Such a blast furnace would cost at least several million dollars.

And then Charlie Swaber spoke.

"Just as Mr. Li said, we have no right to decide at all!"

$1.4 per ton, with a 30-year patent period, calculated based on the production of the US Steel Company, this is simply an astronomical figure, which is also beyond his decision-making range.

"Let's go to New York tonight!"

In the end, Charlie Swaber made a decision, and all he could do now was to ask his boss for advice in New York.

"Young Master..."

After leaving the American Steel Company and getting into a taxi, A Si looked at the young master with a look of wanting to speak but stopping. He had never seen anyone who was posing in front of foreigners like the young master. As for the likes of the young master, he didn't know what they were saying. In the end, the young master didn't even talk to them and chose to go back to New York. Why is that?

"Why, I haven't seen the young master show off? Have you told you earlier that you are still young and you have to read more books. After reading more books, you will know what I mean by my master!"

The young master's scolding made A Si look embarrassed. He had to read more books, otherwise how could he help the young master in the future? The young master is a person who does big things.

Turn your eyes to the streets of Pittsburgh again.

Why go back to New York?

Is it a show of the rules?

That's nonsense. If you don't raise the price to the point where Charlie Swaber can't make the decision, how can you have the chance to meet Morgan? Only when you see Morgan yourself have the chance...
Chapter completed!