The collapse of oil prices is just the beginning. The market economy is a connected whole, and when the price of one thing fluctuates on a large scale, it will inevitably affect other things, just like if you drop a pebble in a calm pond, and then the splash ripples will expand in circles until they are all over the pond. The same is true of the oil crisis, with the collapse of oil prices, the first to be affected are the steel companies, and in just two days, the price of pig iron fell by five percentage points. Today's steel, due to the oppression of McDonald Steel, has long been no longer a high-profit industry, such a five-percentage point decline has made the vast majority of small and medium-sized steel enterprises completely unprofitable. As a result, the steel industry was suddenly in mourning.

……

"Gutwin, do you understand Scrooge now?? McDonald's reason for the rise in oil prices before, right? JP Morgan smiled, "This guy has a lot of appetite, do you understand his purpose now?" ”

"I've heard that he and Rockefeller are taking advantage of this opportunity to buy oil wells. Well, before that, at the stage of price spikes, they had already coiled down a whole bunch of refineries. I'll do the math...... Now two-thirds of the oil refineries in the United States, and one-half of the oil wells are in their hands. And the price at which they buy those businesses, it's almost like a robbery. ”

"yes, the price is a robbery. If I could, I would have wanted to grab a handful. Unfortunately, we are far behind the MacDonald family in chemistry. Even if we grab oil wells and refineries, the quality of kerosene and lubricants we produce is still not comparable to that of standard oil. Entering this market, it will only be crushed by Standard Oil. So, hehe, except for those two bastards, no one really dares to buy those oil wells and refineries now. But if you think that Scrooge's hypocrite's goal is only oil, you would underestimate Taiwan's appetite. ”

"Mr. Morgan? You mean Mr. MacDonald has bigger goals? Gutwin asked.

"What can oil do? It can only be used as kerosene and lubricating oil for electric lights. Is this market a little bigger? Such a large market is simply not enough for him to see. All he needs is an economic panic! "You see, the steel industry is starting to show signs of panic." Now the price of steel is already very low, and the average steel mill has no profit, at most it can barely maintain. But as far as I know, because of the advantages of steelmaking technology, especially open-hearth steelmaking, there is still a lot of room for MacDonald Steel to reduce prices. As long as they follow the price reduction, other steel companies will have to lose money if they want to continue to operate. How can this be sustained? Panic was almost expected. At that point, the steel panic will continue to spread to mining, and then Scrooge will be able to take control of the entire steel industry in the same way that he is now taking advantage of the oil industry. This industry, compared to oil, is much more promising. It's a series of moves full of artistic beauty. ”

At this time, there was a knock on the door. After receiving permission, Morgan's secretary came in and handed Morgan a newspaper and a telegram.

On the front page of the newspaper, there was a news item: "The world's largest steelmaking open-hearth furnace and the largest blast furnace are officially completed and put into production". And in the content of the text, Carroll, the general manager of McDonald Steel?? McDonald said that after the two facilities are put into operation, the quality of McDonald Steel's products will be further improved, while costs will continue to fall. "We will be able to reward our customers at a better price." In this report, Carroll has this to say.

"Look, look." Morgan laughed, "These guys are even more shameless than I thought, they didn't even cut the price directly, but threw out a message that the price was going to be reduced." I estimate that with this news, more than half of the steel mills in the north will go bankrupt. It's a steel roller! Let me see what this telegram is about. Ah, that's a ...... Hehe, the iron mine is also going to be finished. ”

"What's the news?" Gutwin asked.

"Scrooge sent a telegram that he was going to start mining the Mishabi iron ore mine, and I had twenty percent of the shares there, so he informed me. I guess his first step was to tell everyone how big that iron ore is, well, probably at least 800 million tons (in fact, 1.5 billion tons). Hehe, this animal. In addition, he said that he had recently returned to New York, partly to preside over the construction of his new transatlantic communications antenna, and on the other hand, to visit me and discuss how to save the American economy, which is about to be in crisis, well, how to distribute the prey. It's hard for us to compete with him in the steel sector, but if there is a problem with the steel, the coal mine and the railroad will definitely fall, and this is our chance......"

……

The MacDonald family's two good news published in the guò newspaper dealt a heavy blow to the metallurgical industry, which was on the verge of panic. The largest blast furnace and the largest open-hearth furnace first destroyed various steel mills, although MacDonald Steel has not reduced prices for the time being, but almost all users who need to buy steel have begun to stop buying steel and wait for the price to be reduced. McDonald Steel now has two major stable supply projects - the Pacific Railroad and the Transatlantic Communication Tower, which allows them to continue to operate in a short period of time, while other steel companies cannot, and as soon as the phenomenon of holding coins for purchase appears, their capital chain is immediately in danger of breaking. As a result, selling inventory at a reduced price became the only way to maintain the capital chain. Then there was a price avalanche. Then, Carroll was so busy that there were bankruptcy auctions every day, and then he needed to send people every day to buy the valuable ones.

And the news of the largest iron mine in the United States, once announced, will also be a devastating blow to the iron mining industry. The largest iron mine, close to the Great Lakes, is easily accessible and can be mined in the open pit, making it easy to mine. Such a series of good news is almost the bell of the end when there is an oversupply of iron ore due to the slump in steel. As a result, a large number of iron ore mines began to stop, and even declared bankruptcy one after another, and then were auctioned off.

……

"The Lanxi Mountain Iron Mine now has proven reserves of 5 million tons. It is a high-quality iron ore with low phosphorus and low sulfur, five kilometers away from the railway, convenient transportation, with a reserve price of 100,000 US dollars, and a price increase of not less than 2,000 US dollars each time, and the auction is now open. The auctioneer announced the start of the auction.

This is the fourth iron ore mine to be auctioned at this auction house today, and two of the first three iron ore auctions failed because the reserve price was considered too high. The remaining one was easily purchased by McDonald Steel for just $2ooo above the reserve price. This also means that there are no other acquirers other than McDonald Steel.

Even the Blue Creek Mountain Iron Mine has been auctioned for the second time. Last time, the floor price was set a little higher, but it didn't sell. This time, the auction house is still very confident, because the ore quality of the Lanxi Mountain Iron Mine is very famous in this generation. Now that the reserve price has dropped from $200,000 to $100,000, the deal should not be a problem.

Sure enough, there was an offer immediately, "102,000 dollars." Walter, an agent for MacDonald Steel, held up a sign.

"Fourteen thousand dollars." A mysterious figure also held up a sign.

"Someone is bidding with us?" Walter glanced a little surprised, and there was a rather young fellow sitting there, who also stared at Walter defiantly as he turned his gaze to him.

"104,000 dollars, is there anyone who pays a higher price? One hundred and fourteen thousand dollars......" the auctioneer's eyes were fixed on Walter.

"One hundred and six thousand dollars." Walter still held up the sign quietly.

"One hundred and eight thousand dollars!" The young man held up the sign again, and then looked at Walter with a look of disgust on his face.

"108,000 dollars, this gentleman just offered 108,000 dollars, is there anyone who offered a higher price?" The auctioneer shouted.

Walter leaned back into the back of his chair and leisurely lifted Erlang's legs. It was as if he was not here for the auction, but just an audience member who came to see some kind of performance.

"Hundred and eight thousand dollars for the first ......time," the auctioneer drout, and Walter continued to lean on the backrest unmoved.

"Hundred and eight thousand dollars for the second ......," the auctioneer's voice dragged on longer, and even the young man looked over to Walter. Walter continued to lean back and even closed his eyes leisurely. "Play this with me? It's ridiculous. Walter thought.

"One hundred and eighty-eight thousand dollars ...... The third time. The iron ore mine now belonged to the gentleman who had bid for 18,000 dollars. Hearing the auctioneer say this in a trembling voice, Walter opened his eyes and glanced at the auctioneer, and the pale-faced young man. Then he stood up and walked out leisurely. Anyway, now, he is not in a hurry, the longer it drags on, the less valuable the iron ore will be. "At this time, I still want to play with such flowers, it's really ......," Walter thought.

……

With massive bankruptcies brought massive unemployment, and New York's slums were filled with precarious unemployed workers. Anxiety and anger have built up among people who have been working hard to feed their families, and now they are starving and cold. All it takes is a spark, and maybe it will bring a fire that burns a qiē.

"This crisis is not accidental! It's someone behind the scenes! Friends, let's recall those warnings from President Lincoln and his efforts to stop the oil craze. But, a few days later, our president was shot in broad daylight! And then Mr. Chase, who worked with the president to stop this qiē, fell ill and resigned! Do you really believe that it was a few fellows who sympathized with the Southern slave owners who shot President Lincoln? No! No! President Lincoln's murder was a conspiracy, and President Lincoln was killed because he stood in front of a pack of greedy jackals who wanted to protect us! His murderer, the enemy of our toiling masses, is not in the South or anywhere else. Where are our enemies? Our enemy is on Wall Street! Standing on a waste oil drum, the union leader Coral used all his strength to shout at the black-pressed crowd below: "The enemy is on Wall Street!" ”

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