"Andrew, you've crossed the line." Ignatz's first sentence made his attitude clear.

Prior to this, the Great Lakes Mining Federation and Carnegilim Steel Company maintained a good cooperative relationship, as the largest steel company in the United States, Carnegilim Steel Company is also the largest customer of the Great Lakes Mining Association, just next month, Carnegilim Steel Company invested in a new plant in Pittsburgh will be put into operation, at that time, Carnegilim Steel Company will occupy half of the U.S. steel industry, which means that for every 100 tons of steel produced in the United States, 55 tons come from Carnegirim Steel Company, Ignac was preparing to receive more orders from Carnegirim Steel, but who knew that he was waiting for the bad news.

That's right, for the Great Lakes Mining Federation, Carnegirim's involvement in the mining industry is in itself unmitigated bad news.

"The so-called boundaries were originally drawn by yourself, and now I just want to express my normal demands, so there is no crossing of the line, Carnekilim Steel Company produces steel, in order to ensure the stability of the supply of raw materials, it is normal for us to invest in mines ourselves, and it is certain that the ore produced by just one Allegheny iron ore mine is far from satisfying the growing appetite of Carnekilim Iron and Steel Company, so there will be no less orders, and I don't think it hurts your interests." Carnegie is telling the truth, but not necessarily in the future, everyone knows that Carnegie will definitely not control the Allegheny iron ore mine and then stop there, and more mines will be controlled by Carnegie in the future, and in the long run, even the Great Lakes Mining Federation will no longer exist.

"Andrew, if you are not satisfied with the price we have set, then we can sit down and talk, I believe we will find a way to satisfy us all, we have always had a good time working together, I believe that we can continue to work together in the future, as long as you don't make your friends sad." Ignatz took a deep breath, the smile on his face still ripe, but his gaze had begun to turn cold.

"Since you have said so, Ignatz, my old friend, I would like to ask you to recall how much a ton of ore you supplied to Carnekilim Steel two years ago, and how much is it now? How many times have I begged you to stabilize the price of ore, and the result? As a result, the price of ore has risen by 50% in two years! Are you going to pass on all the damage caused by the economic crisis to us? My answer is: no! Carnegilim Steel will never accept any threats and extortion. Although Carnegie's tone was fierce, it could be seen that Carnegie was not angry, perhaps numb, and Carnegie didn't even hate Ignatz, but just a little disgusted.

In times of economic crisis, all companies want to pass on risks, and of course mine owners are the same, so not only in the past two years, but in recent years, the price of ore has been rising, but the momentum of the rise in the past two years has been particularly violent, so Carnegie will be so eager to enter the mining industry, he is such a strong control person, and he does not allow his business to have uncontrollable factors at all.

"Andrew, the price of ore is not my sole decision, you also know the situation in recent years, and the life of the mine is not easy, otherwise this time the matter would not be so big, I can understand your feelings, but you should also be considerate of our situation, the rise in ore prices is not for a certain person, prices are rising all over the world, there is no reason for the ore to remain the same." Ignatz is really at fault on this issue, in the past, Ignatz thought that he controlled the lifeblood of the steel company, so he had no scruples, but now it is different, the entry of Carnekilim Steel into the mining industry is a signal, if this problem is not handled well, then the mining federation will lose all initiative.

"You don't understand, you don't understand" Carnegie shook his head again and again, thinking about the unhappy things in the past, thinking about the original compromises, and then looking at Ignatz, who finally came to the door now, Carnegie had an indescribable pleasure in his heart: "You dig the ore out of the ground, and the cost you pay is infinitely close to zero except for the wages paid to the miners, so you don't care, you sit in a warm and comfortable office, smoking Panamanian cigars, drinking French wine, If you don't have enough money to spend, you don't understand what business is, it's time to change that, Ignatz, as an old friend, I can tell you who the shareholders of Pittsburgh Steel are, they are the Stallion Group, Standard Oil, Morgan & Co., and some big names from Washington, please forgive me for not being able to mention their names."

Perhaps these names are too star-studded, every time Carnegie says one, Ignatz's face turns a little paler, and when Carnegie finishes everything, Ignatz's face is as pale as a vampire, and with so many big names standing on the platform of Pittsburgh Steel, it seems that it is impossible for Ignacs to maintain that closed and independent mining federation.

"This is not New York, this is not Washington, you upper-class rules are not appropriate here, this is the Great Lakes, and now there are red-eyed miners everywhere, so don't scare me with those big guys, I don't care!" Despite the pressure, Ignatz had no way back.

Having said that, Ignatz has extremely limited options to make, if it is only the entry of the Carnekilim Steel Company into the Great Lakes, then it is possible to coexist with the Great Lakes Mining Federation, and now there are so many forces in it, the Great Lakes Mining Federation has faced a catastrophe, after all, whether it is the Horse Group, Standard Oil, or Morgan Company, any of them have the strength to fight against the Great Lakes Mining Federation alone.

Of course, although the situation is not good, this does not mean that Ignatz can only sit idly by, Ignatz believes that he still has the leverage, even if the fish is dead, Ignatz will have to give it a go.

"Whatever you want, don't scare me with those miners, think about how you treated those miners before, the miners can endure until now, and they are already very self-contained." Carnegie was even more afraid, there were guards sent by Will downstairs, serious soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division, Carnegie didn't believe that Ignatz dared to send someone to attack the soldiers, that was tantamount to treason.

When it comes to the treatment of miners, they are definitely the most miserable group of people in the nineteenth century, the mines of this era have not yet perfected safety protection, even if there are similar regulations, unscrupulous mine owners do not take it seriously, never seriously enforced, so mine accidents are commonplace, if there is no accident in a certain month, it is simply abnormal, almost every month, hundreds of miners die.

The key problem is that if a miner dies because of an accident, they often do not receive sufficient compensation, which means that the families of the miners who died are not compensated at all, in fact, when the miners are working normally, their living standards are not very good, the miners' income is not high, and the danger of the work is far from proportional, if the miners' families only have men at work, and women are at home with children, then their lives can only be said to be barely surviving, and they are a little better than the homeless.

In this case, one can imagine how deep the grievances in the hearts of the miners must be.

In the aftermath of the economic crisis, mine owners tried to reduce costs by raising ore prices on the one hand and lowering workers' salaries again in an attempt to reduce costs in order to maintain a profitable level, which eventually led to a complete explosion of conflicts that had been accumulating for a long time, and the initial discontent of the workers quickly turned into riots, and then the situation deteriorated beyond control.

"You don't need to worry, didn't you buy the Allegheny iron ore mine? Then it won't be long before this becomes a problem for you as well. Ignatz got up and picked up his hat and prepared to say goodbye, since the Pittsburgh Steel Company's entry into the Great Lakes has become irreversible, then Ignatz has to contact others to think of other ways, if there must be pressure from some big companies, then everyone will carry it together.

There are more than 200 members of the Great Lakes Mining Federation, including more than 160 mining corporations, and the rest are all related industries related to the mining industry.

The Great Lakes Basin is actually a general term, with an area of about 760,000 square kilometers, extending nearly 1,100 kilometers from north to south and more than 1,400 kilometers from east to west.

What Ignatz has to do now is to emphasize to all the members of the federation the seriousness of Pittsburgh Steel's involvement in the mining industry, and if this is not checked, it is entirely predictable that in the near future, even if the Mining Federation is able to stand up to Pittsburgh Steel, the damned miners will ruin it all.

Moreover, if you consider the shareholders of the Pittsburgh Steel Company, which is the "Horse Group", that is the "Standard Oil", and even the "Morgan Company", if there is no animosity, then Ignatz can now conclude that the mining federation has come to an end.

Of course, limited by the state of communication at this time, it was not easy for Ignatz to bring together all the mine owners in the Great Lakes region, and it was even more difficult to integrate their ideas.

While Ignatz was going on a rampage, Andrew Carnegie followed the predetermined steps and over the next five days contacted and acquired three mines that had suffered heavy losses in the riot.

The scale of these three mines is not small, compared with the Allegheny iron ore mine, although the scale is insufficient, but they are also mature iron ore mines that have been in operation for many years, and only need to add enough workers, and then spend money to buy some equipment, and the iron ore can resume production immediately.

This is important to Andrew Carnegie, because since Andrew Carnegie bought the Allegheny iron ore mine, the Great Lakes Mining Federation has terminated all iron ore supplies to Carnegirim Steel, which means that Carnegie Grimim Steel currently has enough iron ore to consume for three months, and if the problem is not properly resolved after three months, then Carnegie Grimim Steel will be in a state of shutdown.

Production?

Unlike the Great Lakes during the riots, Pittsburgh is still the steel capital of the United States, the social order is still stable, and the workers still go to work every day and receive seemingly high salaries, which in fact cannot even pay for the workers' supper.

"Andrew, from now on, we need to increase the wages of the workers, and at the same time reduce the working hours of the workers, and strive to change the customary two-shift shift to the latest three-shift, which is more conducive to the workers' enthusiasm for work, and their work efficiency can be increased by 30 percent per unit of time" Carnegie at Pittsburgh Steel

Emphasized at the mobilization meeting.

Thanks to the almost inexhaustible human resources of the Horse Group, Pittsburgh Steel Company now has nearly 1,000 employees, most of these employees are Chinese who just arrived in the United States a month ago, they have been recuperating in Springfield for nearly a month, and their physical condition is unprecedentedly good, so the newly established Pittsburgh Steel Company, they are the first employees.

In the 21st century, looking at the United States in the 19th century, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed at every turn, in fact, the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act had its special historical background, for most entrepreneurs at this time, Chinese workers were their favorite group, and many business owners would rather pay Chinese workers more than average salaries than recruit those lazy, clandestine, and calculating Mexicans and Irish in terms of salary.

There is no doubt that the largest Chinese group in the United States is the Horse Group, but this does not mean that all Chinese are in the Horse Group, working for the Horse Group, and some people like to do odd jobs for a living, they are not willing to receive a salary a month or two weeks, they would rather pay a daily salary, even if it affects their income, they are willing.

The Pittsburgh Steel Company will definitely not deduct the wages of workers, on the contrary, because of Li Mu's intervention, the Pittsburgh Steel Company will unconditionally agree to the internship of Chinese students, which is what Li Mu values the most. ”

"Sir, if the Allegheny Iron Mine is going to be in production within a week, it means that we have to prepare more steelworkers, and those damn lifebuoys, I don't even know how to put them on." One of the officers cursed, but there was no shortage of movements in his hands