Chapter 524: Great American Shock

New York, New York.

In the City Hall in New York City, New York Governor Myron H. Clark and New York Mayor Fernando Wood summoned New York retail tycoon Stewart in the mayor's office.

"Mr. Mayor, oh, Mr. Governor, you are here too?"

Seeing the governor in the office, Stewart also greeted the governor.

"Stuart, you have gone too far in this matter." Fernando said to Stewart with a gloomy face.

To be honest, he did not want to intervene in this matter. He is from New York City, and Stewart is also from New York City. The two are good friends and usually see each other.

It's just that the pressure from the Democratic Party is too great, so he has to wade into this muddy water and offend this rich friend.

After all, when political career and rich friends cannot be achieved at the same time, political career is more important.

"What are you talking about? Why can't I understand?"

Stuart's heart trembled, vaguely understanding Fernando's intention to invite him to meet, but he still chose to play dumb.

"If you don't want to talk here and want to continue to play dumb, I can invite you to the New York City Police Department to talk with Gerald."

Myron slammed the table hard and shouted loudly.

"Do you still need me to tell you about the little shit you did yourself?"

Myron is also a Democrat, and he was forced to personally come forward to solve the matter under pressure from the Democratic Party.

However, Myron and Stewart are not friends. The two are just nodding acquaintances and barely know each other, so he has fewer concerns than Fernando.

Besides, is it to offend Stewart alone or to offend Vanderbilt, Vandazer and Liang Yao at the same time. Anyone with a normal mind should know how to choose.

Myron also hopes to use this matter to sell Vanderbilt and others a favor.

The familiar name of Gerald made Stuart give up resistance completely. He took out the handkerchief from his chest and wiped the greasy sweat on his forehead. In his heart, he had already greeted Gerald's family.

Gerald was really not loyal. He sold me out so early.

Stuart had also heard about the New York police arresting thugs and recovering stolen money these days.

He was confident that he had done a clean job, but he didn't expect the New York police to find him so quickly.

Damn, the New York police had never been so efficient in handling cases in the past.

"Mr. Stewart, if you want to go home on time for dinner today, then you should honestly confess your other accomplice and compensate the Crystal Palace Mall for the loss of $250,000."

Considering the past friendship, Fernando kept winking at Stuart while talking, suggesting that this matter was too big to avoid.

"Stuart, I came here to talk to you in person because I thought you were a respectable gentleman. Otherwise, it would be Director Matsell who talked to you. Do you understand?"

"Bruce, we met when we were trading stocks on the exchange," Stuart said tremblingly.

——————

February 17, 1857, is a day worth remembering in the history of American and even world railways.

A railway that crosses the North American continent passes through mountains, rivers, deserts, and grasslands along the way, overcomes various geographical obstacles, and finally successfully converges in Provo, Utah, marking the first railway connection between the east and west coasts.

This 1,712-mile (2,754-kilometer) super railway is mainly divided into two sections.

The eastern section, also known as the Union Pacific Railway section, is named after the section was jointly built by the New York Central Railway Company and the Atlantic Railway Company.

However, most of the construction of this section was undertaken by Vanderbilt's New York Central Railway Company, and the Atlantic Railway Company only played an auxiliary role in it.

The starting point of this section of railway is located in Omaha, Nebraska, and it goes west through the plains and Rocky Mountains along the way, and finally reaches Provo in Utah.

The length of this section of railway is about 1,022 miles (about 1,644 kilometers), and the laborers who built this section of railway are mainly European laborers, mainly Irish.

The western section, also known as the California Railway Section, was independently built by the California Railway Company.

This section of railway starts from Sacramento in the west and reaches Provo in the east. Although the total length of this section of railway is only 690 miles (about 1,110 kilometers), it is not as long as the eastern section.

However, the western section of the railway crosses the entire Sierra Nevada, and there are almost mountains and ridges along the way, and there are not many flat lands. Therefore, although this section of railway is shorter, the engineering difficulty and construction cost are higher than the eastern section of the railway.

The laborers who built this section of railway were mainly Chinese and Japanese laborers. However, in the middle of the project, that is, after the end of the Dutch-American War, the California Railway Company used a large number of Southeast Asian laborers who did not need to be paid but only needed to be fed in order to save costs.

However, when the project was about to be completed, the California Railway Company had secretly sent these Southeast Asian workers back to the rubber plantation in Borneo to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"Building roads through mountains and bridges across rivers is the best way."

After getting off Liang Yao's special train, Shen Baozhen pointed to the railroad tracks and asked.

"How much iron is needed to build this railway?"

"The section I am responsible for took 390,000 tons of pig iron and 20,000 tons of steel."

Today is the grand day of the opening of the railway. Liang Yao is in a good mood and said with a smile.

"As for Mr. Fan's section, at least 800,000 to 900,000 tons of pig iron were used."

The railway has a huge demand for steel. If the California Coal and Steel Alliance had not been established in advance, the coal and iron mines in California and the Pacific coast of Mexico would have increased California's steel production in a short period of time. He really couldn't afford to build this railway.

"A total of 870,000 tons of pig iron were used. I'm not as wasteful as you. I can't bear to use steel to lay tracks. What's the price of pig iron? What's the price of steel?" Vanderbilt did not hide it and generously told Shen Baozhen how much steel was used in the eastern section of the railway.

Shen Baozhen counted on his fingers and calculated a number that he had never heard of and felt suffocated: "That is to say, you used 1.23 million tons of pig iron and 20,000 tons of steel on this road. How many farm tools and weapons can be made with so much steel?"

If it were in the past, Shen Baozhen would definitely not believe this astronomical figure and would think that Liang Yao and Vanderbilt were bragging.

However, after visiting the Sacramento Arsenal, the Jinshan Shipyard and the Steel Plant, Shen Baozhen has broadened his horizons. Moreover, the East where Vanderbilt is located is the core of the United States, and the steel production will be even more amazing than that of California.

So much steel is used to lay railroad tracks, Shen Baozhen thinks this is really a luxury.

"That's right." Vanderbilt is also in a good mood.

"The pig iron in the eastern states has increased the price for me to buy."

It is not an exaggeration to say that the pig iron in the eastern states has increased the price for Vanderbilt to buy. In order to build this railway, Vanderbilt has consumed more than one-fifth of the pig iron in the United States in recent years.

Liang Yao's situation is similar. Most of the steel produced in California was used by him to build railways.

"You know what, if the steel production can be increased and the price can be reduced to less than $70 per ton, and the production is sufficient, I will really consider using more steel rails. Steel rails are stronger and more durable, can withstand greater weight and pressure, are more corrosion-resistant, and have a longer lifespan. Unlike rails, they are not only poorly corrosion-resistant, but also prone to deformation and breakage. Workers need to be sent frequently for inspection and maintenance." Liang Yao said.

In the 1850s, the second industrial revolution had not yet been fully launched, and the price of steel remained high.

The price of American steel ranged from $100 to $200. Whether it was $100 or $200 depended on the quality of the steel and whether it was produced in the country. After all, the transportation cost of steel is very high.

When California was first established in 1850, the industrialization of California had just started, and the steel production was extremely limited. The price of steel was once as high as $500 per ton.

The price of steel in California has now dropped to $110 per ton. The only place in the United States where steel prices are cheaper than California is the eastern steel capital: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Of course, pig iron is not cheap at this time, and the market price of pig iron is between $20 and $40 per ton.

Due to limited steel production, Liang Yao can only compromise with reality and only lay a small amount of experimental rails on critical sections.

"According to this amendment, the steel in the entire United States is not enough for you to build this railway." Vanderbilt shook his head and laughed.

Listening to the conversation between the two railway tycoons, Shen Baozhen felt a great shock to America.

He secretly sighed that America, as a second-rate power in the West, still has such a strong national strength. Isn't Britain and France, especially Britain, more powerful?

Fortunately, I came to America in person, otherwise I would be a frog in the well for the rest of my life.

"Brother Liang, I wonder how much steel is produced in England?" Shen Baozhen couldn't help asking.

"I'm not British, how would I know. But it must be much more than America. America's steel production is only a fraction of Britain's. When you meet a British reporter later, ask a British reporter, maybe they will know." Liang Yao said.

It's not that Liang Yao is unwilling to answer Shen Baozhen's question, but he really doesn't know how much steel production Britain has.

He has some idea of ​​how much steel production America has. Last year, the steel production in the eastern United States was about 450,000 tons, and the steel production in the west coast was about 150,000 tons (mainly concentrated in California).

Britain's steel production is estimated to be at least three or four times that of America. (In 1856, Britain's domestic steel production was about 1.5 million tons)

Speaking of British reporters, Liang Yao suddenly remembered something. He called Carnegie and asked, "Carnegie, are all the European journalist friends I asked you to invite here?"

"Your Excellency." Carnegie trotted back to report to Liang Yao.

"Reporters from The Times, Le Figaro, Parisian, Neue Zeitung, Frankfurter Zeitung, Berliner Tageblatt, Wiener Zeitung, and Gazzett di Torino are all here, just waiting for the opening ceremony to begin."

"Why are there so many German media? I remember I didn't invite so many German media?" Liang Yao was a little confused.

"General, I invited them. Please forgive me for taking the initiative." Colonel Kruger, who was following Liang Yao, said.

"The opening ceremony is a grand event. I welcome more media friends to be witnesses. I won't blame you for taking the initiative in this matter. I just hope you don't take the initiative in other matters." Liang Yao glanced at Kruger expressionlessly.

This glance made Kruger feel cold all over, and he nodded repeatedly and agreed: "Yes, General."