Dig a hole and wait for you to jump in chapter 13

  "...but forgive me......I refuse!"

  A calm and determined reply left Morgan stunned, wasn't the condition he offered tempting enough? He stared straight at the Chinese man in front of him, the light from the Italian crystal chandelier in the restaurant casting a glow on his face. This was the first time Morgan had taken a good look at this Chinese man, a Chinese man who would never have entered his line of sight under normal circumstances.

  His long and thick eyebrows, straight nose bridge, fair skin and slightly upturned lips made him look like a child with a hint of innocence and stubbornness. After getting a clear view of his appearance, Morgan finally believed that the lady he had invited was indeed a lady, who would mention in her answers to his questions.

  He is the kind of man that many women, even noblewomen, would willingly throw themselves into his arms in the Oak Tree Tavern. Even from my old eyes, he appears to be a handsome and charming young man.

  Although he refused himself, Morgan still smiled at him with a warm smile.

  "Crocodile's smile!"

  Muttering to herself, she still kept a smile on her face.

  "What a pity!"

  Morgan glanced at him and continued.

  "You rejected my invitation!"

  There's more to it! Li Zichen muttered to himself.

  "I'm not American, and... you know, American society is very discriminatory towards China!"

  "I think we can discuss terms now!"

  Morgan regained his composure and cut straight to the point.

  "Conditions unchanged!"

  This answer was not beyond Morgan's expectation.

  "Hmm!"

  Morgan didn't get angry, he just nodded and wiped his mouth corner.

  "Li, this matter needs careful consideration. And I'm anxious for a decision, it may take half the night's work."

  "It doesn't matter!"

  Li Zichen, who continued to enjoy his steak, said that it was just another protracted war. After a day and night of protracted war, he had already made preparations in his heart, and this time he would devour it voraciously, all for the sake of preparing for the protracted war.

  "You should know that you only have the device's blueprint, but no actual production verification!"

  Morgan started by playing the first card.

  "We can add a clause in the contract that if production efficiency cannot meet the standard, you can take back the payment made to me!"

  Calmly answering, Li Zichen continued to struggle with the food, still keeping his head down. He had long been prepared for their words and believed in the Germans, believing in German precision!

  "Your drawing source, forgive me, you took out a blueprint, so I have no choice but to consider this issue!"

  "As long as the original drawings are in my hands, I can guarantee my own interests!"

  Raising his head to look at Morgan, Li Zichen smiled and joked that he was facing Morgan. Moreover, he couldn't provide any original drawings anyway, the blueprint machine could only provide this kind of photographic reaction blueprint, fortunately so, otherwise tens of thousands of drawings would be enough for him to draw for ten years, let alone he didn't know how to do engineering drawing.

  "With the original drawings in my hands, I don't need to worry about anything else, what do you think?"

  Damn little swindler!

  Morgan muttered under his breath and said in a pretended gentle tone.

  "What you're considering is indeed very comprehensive!"

  It's not just comprehensive, this kid has done everything flawlessly!

  Or give him a $2 million annual salary for a year? This would once again stir up the idea of hiring Li Zecheng in Morgan's mind, but he immediately dispelled this idea. Li Zecheng had made it very clear that he was not willing to stay in the United States, perhaps this place did not leave him with a good impression, and his goal was worth hundreds of millions of dollars!

  "Last year, US Steel produced 200 million tons of steel, removing about 30% of scrap steel, which means that the blast furnace iron output of US Steel was around 140 million tons, and this year it will exceed 160 million tons..."

  As Li Zichen was enjoying his dinner while speaking out the numbers in his mind, Morgan didn't say a word, and there wasn't even a hint of emotion on his face.

  "...so, according to my calculations, in ten years' time, the output of the United States Steel Corporation will exceed 35 million tons! And what about thirty years?"

  When making estimates of the output of the United States Steel Corporation, J.P. Morgan was seemingly oblivious to Lazard's Li Zicheng, who had been observing this "pirate" all along; the only regrettable thing was that there were no emotional fluctuations on Morgan's face at all.

  In the next decade, the cumulative output of US Steel will exceed 300 million tons. Morgan doesn't think this is unexpected at all. In fact, not only him, but also Rockefeller has high expectations for US Steel. When US Steel was first established and he bought his own mines, didn't he choose to pay with US Steel stocks?

  "Furthermore, based on this calculation, if the United States Steel Corporation adopts my new blast furnace construction method and renovates its existing blast furnaces, aside from increasing production, it can save more than 10% in costs. And over thirty years, the cumulative cost savings for the United States Steel Corporation will be... hmm..."

  After a moment's thought, Li Zichen recalled a figure in his mind - the current price of pig iron was $20.2 per ton.

  "Over $1.5 billion!"

  To be exact, it's $20.65 billion!

  Morgan was turning over in his mind the figure mentioned in Charles Schwab's report, that if he bought his blast furnace technology, U.S. Steel would increase its profits by more than $206.5 million within thirty years, and considering future earnings, this single blast furnace technology alone would bring U.S. Steel a profit of more than twice its current market value within thirty years, equivalent to rebuilding two U.S. Steels.

  But... I am Morgan!

  "Since 1910, the United States has been experiencing an unprecedented economic downturn, and how long it will take to get out of this economic downturn is difficult for you and me to predict! In the case of an economic downturn, I don't think the development of the US Steel Corporation will be as you predicted, although I personally look forward to it!"

  "In 1910, the US steel output was 26.51 million tons, in 1911 it was 28.20 million tons, and in 1912... I think it's close to 30 million tons without any problem, with production capacity increasing greatly due to the expansion of the US Steel Corporation. There is no doubt that Mr. Morgan's economic downturn has little impact on American industry. I believe that ten years later, America's steel output will be at least twice what it is now!"

  Impossible!

  Li Zichen himself had come to this conclusion in his heart, the American industry has ended that "high-speed development" period, from 1900 to 1910, the US steel output increased by 2.5 times, which also means the end of the high-speed development period, and it will take at least 20 years to double the current production.

  "This kid..."

  Morgan was deep in thought, his eyes still fixed on Li Zecheng in front of him. From the moment they met until now, he had never made a mistake. When he chose to ignore him, he chose to provoke him, and then he continued to provoke him, as if he had the upper hand throughout the negotiation. He knew that he knew what he wanted to get from this technology, and the expansion of US Steel could not be separated from technology.

  "Your technology has no verification whatsoever, it's hard for me to convince the board of directors to accept your terms!"

  "You're Morgan!"

  Is there anyone Morgan can't convince? Yes... just one person, himself!

  "So you should know that Rockefeller is also a major shareholder of US Steel!"

  "That's your problem!"

  When Li Zichen said this, Morgan looked at him and personally poured a glass of wine for his already empty cup.

  This old fox is going to give in!

  Come on... come on, hook up quickly!

  As he poured the wine, Morgan suddenly looked straight at Li Zichen and said a sentence.

  "Your bond mortgage seems to have run into some minor issues!"

  You old fox! Upon hearing this, Li Zichen lifted his head and looked at him, grinning from ear to ear and bursting into loud laughter.

  "Every cloud has a silver lining!"

  Although he was cursing this old fox in his heart, Li Zichen still maintained a smile.

  "It's usually like this."

  Sly guy, unfortunately can't work for himself! Morgan sighed helplessly, this guy just popped up out of nowhere, and he didn't have any information on him. It was almost impossible to interfere with him. There were gains and losses, he was reminding himself that what he lost in the loan, he would get back here, and he would also have to pay interest for it.

  After a long silence, Morgan finally made a decision.

  "$0.8 per ton patent fee, based on a basic output of 12 million tons, calculated for ten years' production, one-time buyout!"

  Gotcha! You old thing finally took the bait!

  "$1.39 per ton royalty, all other terms unchanged!"

  With difficulty suppressing the wild joy in his heart, Li Zichen said in as calm a tone as possible.

  "One dollar!"

  "$1.38!"

  "One dollar and ten cents!"

  "$1.375!"

  The two men haggled over the price, almost in increments of less than a penny, but both Li Zicheng and Morgan knew that, in reality, both sides were now eager to reach an agreement.

  "$1.35, half of which was paid in cash..."

  Does the other half pay in stock? Hearing Li Zicheng's first name, Morgan trembled in his heart. If he gave him these stocks, if he were to transfer them to Rockefeller, with Rockefeller's "cruelty", it is very likely that within half a year, US Steel would become Rockefeller's company.

  No way! Absolutely cannot give him stocks, even if it's just one dollar!

  "I won't pay with stocks! There's no room for negotiation!"

  After being interrupted, Li Zichen fell silent, glanced at the time, and it was already 9:15 in the evening. He had waited for almost 20 hours, and finally waited for Morgan's first mistake! Now let's see if he will take the bait!

  "Use steel! Future seven-year iron and steel supply contract, price fluctuations within seven years cannot exceed 5%!"