105: Chapter 105 Oxygen Top-Blow Converter: A Generation Ahead

The following afternoon.

Andrew Carnegie, carrying two bottles of vintage top-tier whiskey, steeled himself and stepped through the gates of Lin Manor.

Rockefeller, who had been waiting for some time, and Lin Tian, the master of the manor, greeted him with enthusiasm.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Andrew Carnegie. It's been a while, hasn't it!" Lin Tian extended his right hand with a beaming smile.

On his way here, Andrew Carnegie had already cursed Lin Tian's ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart, convinced that he was a despicable villain cut from the same cloth as Rockefeller.

Yet, once they were face-to-face, his round, chubby face was plastered with a genial smile, as if he had come to visit a long-lost brother, not even forgetting to offer two bottles of rare, expensive liquor as a gift.

Andrew Carnegie also put on a pleasant expression, shaking hands with both Lin Tian and Rockefeller in turn.

Afterward, he sat steadily on the leather sofa in the hall and spoke:

"I specifically brought two bottles of excellent vintage from the fifties for Mr. Rockefeller and Mr. Lin Tian to sample."

"Oh? A GlenDronach Scotch whiskey over forty years old; this is indeed a rare and fine liquor!"

Rockefeller's eyes narrowed into slits as he praised it with a smile.

"Although I am a layman when it comes to tasting, I have heard that whiskey from Scotland has a brewing history of at least several hundred years!"

Lin Tian followed the thread of the conversation and added with a chuckle.

"That is indeed the case. But Lin Tian, do you know how to tell the quality of whiskey?"

Hearing Rockefeller's question, Lin Tian shook his head in perfect cooperation.

"Uncle Rockefeller, why don't you give me some pointers?"

"No problem. There are many types of Scotch whiskey. According to the raw materials and brewing process, they are mainly divided into three categories: single malt whiskey, grain whiskey, and blended whiskey..."

Rockefeller, unhurried, treated the hall like a classroom and began to educate Lin Tian on the professional knowledge of whiskey.

Sitting on the side, Andrew Carnegie immediately became as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

As a steel tycoon who shook the region, Andrew Carnegie had no idea how many life-and-death negotiations he had been through in his life.

He naturally understood the psychological tactics of negotiation well.

Right now, it was a test of endurance—a contest of patience. Whoever could grit their teeth and hold out until the end would hold the absolute advantage in the coming confrontation.

Conversely, whoever lost their composure first and brought up the main topic would be at a disadvantage in terms of momentum.

But the most fatal problem at hand was that, in addition to the newly acquired mining company, Rockefeller and Lin Tian held a large number of lucrative industries in their hands.

Whereas Andrew Carnegie's entire livelihood was tied to a single steel company.

If the steel company were to shut down, his life would be completely over.

Therefore, Rockefeller and Lin Tian had plenty of capital to wait him out, but Andrew Carnegie couldn't afford to waste even a single day.

Currently, Carnegie Steel Company had just completed its industrial integration, and the amount of iron ore it consumed daily was an astronomical figure.

Coupled with his previous blind confidence, he hadn't built any large-scale ore reserve transit stations. At the current rate of consumption, in a few days, he would have to grit his teeth and swallow the high-priced ore.

"Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Bruce, let's talk about the iron ore issue first!"

Andrew Carnegie eventually couldn't hold out any longer and, with a helpless face, took the initiative to concede.

Seeing that the fish had taken the bait, Rockefeller stopped his whiskey lecture, seemingly still wanting more, and turned to say:

"Mr. Andrew Carnegie, what is there to talk about regarding iron ore? The acquisition price of the Mesabi Iron Range was too low, and the miners below were complaining every day, grumbling that the iron ore they dug was sold cheaper than cabbage. So, Bruce and I discussed it and raised the price a little."

"God is my witness! Mr. Andrew Carnegie, when Uncle Rockefeller and I saw the miserable lives of those miners with our own eyes, my tears almost fell!"

Bruce was acting wildly on the side, forcing two crocodile tears from the corners of his eyes.

"They can't even get enough to eat, their clothes are as ragged as strips of cloth, and they chew on black bread as hard as stone every day. Mr. Andrew Carnegie, you might not know this, but I am soft-hearted by nature and cannot bear to see the poor suffer. That's why we decided to raise the price a little, so they could spread an extra layer of butter on their dry bread."

Looking at the compassionate, saintly expression on Lin Tian's face, as if a savior had descended, even Rockefeller, sitting opposite, almost believed this nonsense.

"I believe your nonsense!" Andrew Carnegie roared frantically in his heart.

To be honest, he really hadn't treated the miners as human beings before, but that didn't mean he didn't understand the situation in the mining area.

Mining was indeed dirty and tiring work.

But no matter what, the miners wouldn't be reduced to chewing black bread for sustenance every day; it wasn't the time of the Great Depression!

Moreover, the vast majority of the Mesabi Iron Range consisted of high-quality open-pit veins; you could get product just by digging casually on the surface with a shovel.

This was much easier than most deep-well iron mines.

Andrew Carnegie clenched his molars tightly, forcibly suppressing the urge to expose Lin Tian's lies on the spot, and took a deep breath before saying:

"Mr. Lin Tian, let's speak plainly. I just want to know what conditions must be met for you to restore the ore to its original price?"

"Restore the original price, huh!" Lin Tian drew out the tone and turned his gaze to Rockefeller, who was sitting as steady as Mount Tai. "Uncle, do you think this is easy to handle?"

"It's difficult. After all, the price increase notices have been posted all over the mining area, and the miners' wages have gone up accordingly!"

Rockefeller crossed his legs, leisurely poured himself half a glass of whiskey, and commented unhurriedly:

"Look at this glass of blended whiskey. In fact, most of the best-selling whiskey on the market is blended. It is made by mixing single malt whiskey and grain whiskey. Although single malt and grain on their own don't taste bad, once they are thoroughly fused together, they can erupt into an unprecedented, wonderful taste!"

Rockefeller picked up the glass, closed his eyes, brought it close to his nose to smell it, and his face was full of enjoyment.

After hearing this, the veins on Andrew Carnegie's forehead bulged, and his face turned red with extreme anger.

As an old fox who had been rolling in the business world for decades, how could he not hear the pointed insinuations in Rockefeller's words?

These two bastards wanted to annex the shares of Carnegie Steel Company! This was undisguised robbery!

Andrew Carnegie wanted to slam the door and leave immediately; he didn't want to see these two ugly faces for another second.

But he knew very well that if he dared to walk out of this door today, tomorrow the Mesabi Iron Range would completely cut off his supply of raw ore.

In the end, falling into this predicament was entirely due to Andrew Carnegie's own blind confidence in the upstream of the industrial chain.

In his memory, no one had ever dared to choke him at the source before.

Who would have thought that a Lin Tian, who didn't play by the rules, would suddenly appear, not only teaming up with Rockefeller to snatch the Mesabi Iron Range, but even secretly building a new steel company behind his back.

Now, Andrew Carnegie didn't even have the qualifications to flip the table.

Seeing that the heat was just about right, Lin Tian snapped his fingers casually. Butler John, who had been waiting on the side, immediately and respectfully handed over a top-secret document.

"Mr. Andrew Carnegie, don't be in such a hurry to get angry. It's not too late to make a decision after reading this."

Lin Tian pushed the document to Andrew Carnegie.

Andrew Carnegie took the document with suspicion. At first, he didn't take it seriously, but the further he read, the more cold sweat he broke into, and the worse his complexion became.

"New steelmaking technology—Basic Oxygen Steelmaking?!"

By the time he finished chewing through the entire document word by word, that originally rosy, chubby face had turned paler than a sheet of white paper.

"This brand-new steelmaking process reduces production costs by more than half compared to the most advanced open-hearth steelmaking method currently in the USA, and production can skyrocket by five to ten times!"

Lin Tian delivered the fatal blow unhurriedly.

"By the way, I'll inform you that Uncle Rockefeller and I have fully acquired a medium-sized steel mill in Pittsburgh. After three months of secret renovation, the new plant has officially ignited and started production. Conservatively estimated, the raw steel output in the first year can exceed 300,000 tons!"

This sentence was like a thunderbolt from the nine heavens, striking Andrew Carnegie dumbfounded on the spot.

The nightmare he feared most had finally come true.

He had always been guarding against super tycoons like Rockefeller and Lin Tian, who had reach to the heavens, crossing over to disrupt the industry.

Because these people had money when they needed money and technology when they needed technology.

Whenever they pleased, they could smash out a behemoth-level steel empire.

What made him even more desperate was that the technology in the opponent's hands was an entire era ahead of his steel mill.

How the hell is this supposed to be fought!

Andrew Carnegie sighed dejectedly, as if all the strength had been drained from his body:

"Mr. Lin Tian, let's speak plainly. What exactly do you want?"

With the dagger revealed, Lin Tian no longer hid his intentions and made a huge demand: "Uncle Rockefeller and I want 70% of the shares of Carnegie Steel Company!"

"Don't even think about it! Even as the founder, I only hold 55% of the shares!"

Andrew Carnegie refused decisively on the spot without a second thought.

"In the capital market, there is a very classic operational technique called 'shorting to death'." Lin Tian's eyes were calm, but his tone was biting with chill.

Andrew Carnegie's brain buzzed, and he reacted instantly.

"You want to force Carnegie Steel Company to suffer heavy losses, and then trigger a panic selling spree among the small shareholders below!"

Because Carnegie Steel Company had not yet gone public, the shares were all scattered among several small families and a few cooperative banks.

The company's total assets were, at most, 25 million US dollars.

Once an irreparable, huge loss appeared on the books, those small families and banks with extremely poor risk tolerance would definitely collapse completely and sell off their shares at any cost to stop their losses.

"Bruce and I will forcibly buy up 25% of the shares in your hands according to the company's current market valuation. As for the remaining gap, we will personally sweep up the stock on the market slowly!"

Rockefeller finally bared his fangs and coldly pronounced the death sentence for Carnegie Steel Company.

"Despicable! Shameless!"

This was the last sentence Andrew Carnegie left at Lin Manor.

To be honest, facing the joint strangulation of these two monster-level figures, Andrew Carnegie really couldn't think of anyone in the USA who could stop them.

Although he already had an ominous premonition in his heart, Andrew Carnegie ultimately could not bring himself to sign and seal the deal on the spot, and he left the manor, holding onto his last breath.