Chapter 195 Mexico's Debt Problem
The first enemy that Morgan faced when he entered the steel industry was the Carnegie Brothers Steel Company. After all, although it faced competition from the Chicago steel industry, the Carnegie family was wealthy and powerful, and he did not think that the Chicago steel industry would pose a fatal threat to him. However, the United States Steel Company, which Morgan took the lead in establishing, had this capability.
Compared to Carnegie Steel's fear of a formidable enemy, Standard Oil soon learned that Morgan, a financial giant, was beginning to move into the real economy. Rockefeller quickly told his son in Texas about the news. At the same time, he began to consider the impact of this matter. In name, old Rockefeller had retired and would no longer interfere in Standard Oil's affairs unless something big happened.
Now old Rockefeller is considering whether the impact of this incident is big or not. For many corporate giants in the United States, the outcome of the Spanish-American War is predetermined. Since they will definitely win, it is not worth too much concern. Instead, the impact after the victory of the Spanish-American War is how these companies that support the war can benefit.
To them, just as Sheffield had said, the main battlefield was at home, and there was no need to use battleships and cannons to decide the outcome. Soon, Rockefeller Jr., who was still in Texas, telegraphed the news to New Orleans. In fact, he was one step too late, as Sheffield had already known about it.
Taking advantage of the war to intervene in the steel industry, if he hadn't known that Morgan was a financial banker, he would have thought he was a government figure. Using war to divert conflicts and make profits, isn't that what a politician should do?
Before we could receive the news that Cuba had defeated the Spanish fleet, we got this news first. I have to say that Sheffield was very jealous. Morgan's vision was so sharp. This vision was honed in the turbulent financial industry. Ordinary people could not compare with him at all.
After Morgan entered the financial industry, he relied on his skilled capital operations and keen vision to defeat major domestic and foreign opponents along the way, including Boston, the oldest bank in the United States, and Rothschild in continental Europe, and finally secured his position as the number one banker in the United States.
Now the banker's actions show that he is no longer satisfied with just calling the shots in the financial industry, and is ready to enter the real industry, turning from virtual to real, and wants to occupy a supreme position in the real industry as well.
Sheffield knew history. Morgan finally succeeded and really gained a dominant position in many industries. He became the king in both financial capital and industrial capital.
Some companies in later generations have this sign, but none of them are as successful as Morgan. Many Internet companies have not been successful in entering the real industry. Penguin does not seem to have extended its hand to the real industry, but continues to expand its territory on the virtual network. If there is a company in the Republic that meets this condition, Jack Ma's company is one of them, but Sheffield does not know whether he will succeed in the end, and it is still in progress.
In the United States, Apple does not quite fit Morgan's path, but Google seems to have taken some action in this regard. Google should be the most powerful Internet company in the United States, and its R&D investment has always been high. Huawei is the only company from the Republic among the top 50.
If R&D investment is a very useful indicator, the Republic's enterprises are still far behind, and their economic scale is not even a little bit behind that of the Republic and the United States.
The later history in his mind was just a reference. Anyway, Sheffield now knew that there was a player with unfathomable strength who was not prepared to just be the king of the financial industry, but was ready to enter the market and compete with major companies in the real industry. He had no idea what to do. He had no idea how much money it would take to defeat Morgan.
"John's telegram also asked me what I think? I'll sit down and watch!" Sheffield muttered with a curled mouth under the gaze of Jesla, the head of the bodyguards, "What do I think? I also want to know what Standard Oil thinks. United Oil is not as rich as Standard Oil. Now in the entire United States, only Standard Oil has the financial resources to stop Morgan. Why do you ask me what I think?"
However, Sheffield was just making sarcastic remarks without any hesitation. Standard Oil has spent at least half of its energy in the past decade fighting against antitrust laws. As the first trust company in the United States and the most powerful and influential company in a single industry, it is constantly being troubled by the federal government, so how can it have time to meddle in other people's affairs?
If the antitrust law had been enacted a few years later, the DuPont Corporation might not even exist now. It might have been bankrupted by Standard Oil. It was understandable, but there was nothing I could do. The United Company was an asset-heavy company. Did Rockefeller Jr. expect me to sell the land under my name to fight Morgan?
"What does it have to do with me? I'd rather focus on the outcome of the war!" Sheffield muttered. The Spanish fleet had not shown up yet, and he really didn't dare to let the armed forces in Port-au-Prince cross the sea. Didn't he see that Theodore Roosevelt was waiting there?
The message conveyed by Rockefeller Jr. was worthless in Sheffield. What did Morgan's entry into the steel industry have to do with him? Standard Oil couldn't spare the effort, and neither could he.
I almost dreamed about Sheffield of the Spanish fleet in Oak Manor. When I saw Rockefeller Jr. appear in Oak Manor, I really thought I was dreaming. What are you doing here? Aren’t you sleeping with an oil barrel in Texas?
"Have you been eyeing Cuba across the sea recently?" Not being disgusted by Sheffield's stinky face, Rockefeller Jr. said unconsciously, "As a major shareholder, you are not going to care about the output of the oil field."
"That land is mine, and you can't move away. The profits from the output are naturally clearly stated in the contract, and you dare not take my share. The price of Standard Oil, an oil industry product, is much higher than that of my refinery in Houston. With such a clear division of labor, what else is there to worry about? Of course, I care about industries that can create profits." Sheffield explained word by word why he stayed in New Orleans. He had invested so much in the war, so naturally he wanted a return.
"That's the truth!" Rockefeller Jr. nodded in approval, obviously very confident in his family business. He proudly showed Sheffield the bright prospects and flexed his muscles in passing. "Other oil refineries will not produce oil products that meet the requirements. In this way, they can't compete with our alliance at all. And we have established a complete set of patent barriers and technological monopolies on this front. Even if they are the DuPont Consortium, Carnegie Steel and Morgan, they want to bypass our technological barriers and want to fight against our alliance in this industry, they are courting death. We are partners, and if we stand together, we can be invincible!"
Just as Sheffield was about to nod his head, saying that what you said was right, but that didn't stop me from being most concerned about Cuba. I had to know that my southern partners were far more interested in Cuba than the oil industry, which they couldn't get a piece of. As a member of the Dixie people, he had been helping these former partners who had fought on the same front and gone through life and death together to find profitable industries. Cuba was a place that he absolutely could not let go, so...
"But that's not what I'm here to talk about!" Just as Sheffield was about to speak, he had already prepared a lengthy speech no less than that of Rockefeller Jr., but Rockefeller Jr. made a sharp turn and threw back all the words Sheffield had prepared.
"Then what are you doing here?" Sheffield held his breath and guessed the purpose of Rockefeller Jr. coming here. Sightseeing? Not quite. Sitting with him to watch the outcome of the war? It seemed that it had nothing to do with Standard Oil directly, and he had already reserved the share that belonged to Standard Oil.
As a partner, Sheffield thinks he has done a good job and has good business ethics, especially when working with giants, he is simply a business model. Although he is never polite when crushing small businesses, it is a common human problem to bully the weak and fear the strong, and he is no more shameless than other giants.
Seeing Sheffield's puzzled look, Rockefeller Jr. sighed deeply and said, "I have a preliminary judgment now. Sheffield United Company has almost no experience in the financial industry. No wonder you chose the Great West, where no respectable bankers would go, to run your bank."
Isn't it common knowledge that the United Company has never been involved in the banking industry? However, being exposed so bluntly by Rockefeller Jr. made Sheffield feel a little embarrassed. He said with a little embarrassment, "Everything has to have a starting stage. Give me some time and no one can say that it can't be done well."
Rockefeller Jr. patted his suit and pretended to be polite. Seeing that Sheffield was about to explode, he slowly said, "I'm afraid that Morgan will cut off your retreat before you can grow stronger with the help of time."
"It's Morgan's business again. I don't have the energy to care about the steel industry. Besides, doesn't Carnegie exist in the steel industry? Morgan will have to accumulate enough shares before negotiating with Carnegie Steel." When Sheffield heard that it was Morgan's business, he sat down on the recliner and said, "There's definitely enough time."
"Do you think I would say that you have no industry to focus on? Is it important to you?" Rockefeller Jr. also sat down and said, "The way out I'm talking about is Mexico. You should be familiar with Mexico. It's right under the headquarters of the United Company, Texas. Mexico's debt problem has troubled the Mexican government for a long time. I have a secret news. Morgan seems to be very interested in Mexico's debt problem."
Sheffield sat up suddenly and looked straight at Rockefeller Jr. This was indeed an attempt to cut off his retreat.
(End of this chapter)
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