Chapter 289 – Hundreds of Millions of Big Deal

“This is a mine with nearly a billion tons of reserves, and the most important thing is that it’s more than sixty kilometers away from the Port of Galore, there’s a local railroad, and it’s very easy to ship by sea.” Alan Wilson stretched out his fingers and tapped the table, “And then Mr. Derek, opened a sky-high price of thirty million dollars? It’s already close to half of the Messerby Mine that had 50 million tons of reserves in 1901, should I focus on thanking U.S. Steel for their generosity?”

It was a joke, even in the original Messerby Mine merger, Morgan was ignoring Rockefeller Jr.’s premium and taking a lot more money to make a friend with the Rockefellers.

But it has been forty-five years, to the same acquisition of a mine with at least ten times the reserves of the original, only to take out half of forty-five years ago? Even at the original price Derek was enough to go to the Soviet gallows and be hanged.

“Mr. Allen, you should consider the additional cost of shipping.” Derek was silent for a long time and opened his mouth to explain that the extra costs incurred because of the distance would put a huge pressure on the already meager profits of the business.

“Slim profits? Now that the World War has just ended, countries need to rebuild. It is the steel industry that is favorable. Would there be meager profits at this time?” Alan Wilson said with an expression as if you were teasing me, “Is U.S. Steel a small company? Slim profits?”

See Derek still want to say something, Alan Wilson has opened the next battlefield, emphasized, “Please Mr. Derek think out of the box, once this iron ore mine became the United States Steel Corporation owned, this is not only a mine, there is also the problem of the market, an opportunity to enter the Indian market, even if some time in the future British India became independent, the emergence of the sub-continent new countries, new countries also need to build, steel demand is still strong. U.S. Steel doesn’t just get an iron ore mine, it gets a vast market.”

Er! The words Derek had wanted to retort were blocked in his mouth again, he had to admit that this colonial official’s words made sense, but he still said with a stiff upper lip, “We, the United States, have a special relationship with China, a close ally, the market China also has, the raw materials China actually has, it’s not like what Mr. Allen said as if he had no choice.”

“Wow.” Allen Wilson leaned back in a tactical manner and stared at Derek with a smirk, “Trying to compare China to British India? It seems like you can’t compare it in any way except for the fact that there are more people, right? In addition to the number of people, Mr. Derek can now take out the data of the year 1946 degree in any field to summarize, first of all, take out the population, as long as more than three China exceeds British India, I’ll assume that what you say is true.”

An industrial destroyer like the Cannon Party, and you want to overtake British India? That seems to be telling a joke, not Alan Wilson disparage this party, in the development of industry above, the gun party even Yan Laoshi a provincial warlord.

“Eh?” Derek once again do not know what to say, as if it is indeed incomparable, turned to say, “China also has iron ore.”

“That’s another issue.” Allen Wilson came prepared, even if he wasn’t, it didn’t matter, he happened to not even have to prepare for the China issue, “The iron ore in Mysore is hematite, and as an important person in U.S. Steel, I’m sure you understand what that means.”

Hematite is iron oxide, and it’s heavy and hard. Hematite contains seventy percent iron and can be produced in large quantities, making it the most important iron ore. Hematite gets its name from the dark red color it emits.

The iron ore of Mysore is not 70 percent iron but it is more than 60 percent. As for China, it’s a country famous for having a lot of everything, but the quality is mediocre.

Even if the mines in Mysore, most of the iron ore is not hematite, but at least now hematite ore occupies one-fifth, according to the total reserves, it is also able to refine out more than 100 million tons of steel.

From the geographical transportation cost to the market size, to the iron ore quality, Allen Wilson said the head.

“It’s a pity that Mr. Allen doesn’t go into business, he would be a successful man in America.” Derek sighed and laughed bitterly.

“Maybe, I’m quite happy being a civil servant.” Alan Wilson replied with a reserved face, if he were in America, who says he couldn’t be a monopoly capitalist? Maybe even a slave owner!

The two men’s conversations seem to be tit for tat, but the atmosphere is not in the middle of an antagonistic state, in the final analysis talking about business is not running a colony, talking about business is about a win-win situation in some sense, it can be a real win-win situation or a special win-win situation.

Derek, who had counted on winning twice, had now given up the delusion of pie in the sky and resumed a calm attitude, it had become obvious to him that extreme pressure was not desirable.

“I hope that in our third meeting, we can agree on a lot of issues.” Derek concluded by stating that he would liaise with the country to come up with a truly win-win offer, and would also make a report on the local transportation conditions, as well as the conditions under which he could enter the subcontinent’s market, and wait for the board of directors to give a response.

This and the first time the two met the situation has changed too much, Derek finally put away the American kind of characteristic savior style, Allen Wilson’s attitude is also much more moderate, before leaving the farewell, “In fact, we still have a lot of consensus, how do you say, blood is thicker than water also exists.”

“American businessmen are never willing to do business with anyone, we also have a good relationship with China, and have also helped the Soviet Union.” Derek came out to see Alan Wilson off and said very gently.

“The example of China is still up for debate.” Allen Wilson, upon hearing this, said that he didn’t want this kind of example for comparison.

Let’s take the Cannon Party’s Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, for example, written articles absolutely no one can pick fault.

In order to strengthen the long surviving ties of goodwill and bonds of friendship between the two countries by means of the means provided for in articles adapted to the spiritual, cultural, economic, and commercial aspirations of the peoples of the two countries and sufficient to promote friendly intercourse between the territories of the two countries, it is resolved to enter into this treaty.

The nationals of the contracting party shall have the right to reside, to travel and to engage in commerce, industry, culture, education, religion and other professions, as well as the right to prospect for and exploit mineral resources, and to lease and hold land in the territory of the other party, and shall be accorded national treatment in economic matters.

It seems very equal, the two countries are simply as close as brothers, any national can enjoy national treatment in the other country. Simply more intimate than the later Sino-Soviet.

Alan Wilson wondered, if China and the United States is not separated by a Pacific Ocean, but with the Soviet Union as mutual neighbors, the Americans still dare to come up with such conditions?

Ships of this party may navigate freely in any port, place or territorial waters opened by the other party, and their persons and effects shall have freedom to pass through the territory of the other party by “the most expeditious means”; ships of this party, including warships, may sail into the territory of the other party “in case of any peril”. Their ships, including warships, could, in case of “any distress,” sail into “any port, place, or territorial waters of the other party which are not open to foreign commerce or navigation”.

Can the gun party sail warships to the US? On the contrary, the United States is now the world’s number one naval power and is perfectly capable of treating any Chinese waters as its own.

As far as the Governor’s Office is concerned, Assistant Allen has not been spending much time at the Governor’s Office lately as he leaves early and stays late. Of course some of the people knew that the Assistant Commissioner had been given a beautiful job as a tour guide for American actresses.

And of course that wasn’t all, Allen Wilson had even negotiated a big deal with Joan Crawford for several hundred million dollars.

“Thirty million dollars?” On the matter of U.S. Steel coming to New Delhi, besides Bette Davis, it was Joan Crawford who knew the most about it, and hearing this figure she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Allen you’re crazy, a million dollars in favor. You even refused, you have to know what a million dollars means, if it’s just a movie, it’s hard to say if I can earn it in ten years.”

With the actress pay in the forties, Joan Crawford was certainly telling the truth, and as she was already over forty and on the verge of a career crisis, she was very unable to understand Allen Wilson’s rebuff.

“You can’t take this money.” Allen Wilson had another objective understanding of Joan Crawford, and these actresses who had come to New Delhi had different perceptions of Allen Wilson, the commissioner’s assistant.

In the case of Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, although the two were not in agreement, they were surprisingly consistent in their view of Allen Wilson, that is, this assistant to the commissioner was not a big shot. Joan Crawford even thought he was a soft touch.

And Hedy Lamarr, as well as did not have much contact with Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman, when meeting Allen Wilson, to and did not want to think so simple, but instead maintained a polite attitude of contact.

The reason is that Joan Crawford, Bette Davis is a real American, Hedy Lamarr is Austrian, Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman are Swedes, Europe and the United States is still different.

Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, growing up in the United States, naturally thought of officials as nothing more than marionettes for capitalists, not to mention Allen Wilson a commissioner’s assistant, which doesn’t sound like much of an official.

And the other three actresses, growing up in the British Empire is still ringing the Earth ball long, Europe is not like the U.S. capitalists a word, look at Allen Wilson’s time, it is obvious and Joan Crawford, Bette Davis two different.

Joan Crawford, Bette Davis’s perception of how the owner of a big business is more powerful than a civil servant.

This is a cognitive error that is almost impossible to change considering the age of the two.

Joan Crawford’s bitter persuasion to accept a million dollars, Allen Wilson as if he did not hear, there is no such thing as charging a favor without doing it, he also has to communicate with London, and strive to negotiate this big deal of hundreds of millions of dollars.