1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 735 The Mother of Industry

Liang Yao's eyes swept across the new territory on the map.

Steel is the mother of industry.

Without steel, there would be no industrialization in the central border areas.

It is impossible for the Northern Federation to easily give up the vast living space in the central border area. Once there is an opportunity, it will surely make a comeback.

Liang Yao knew this very well.

If we do not industrialize the central border areas, we will simply settle them with immigrants.

The agricultural population in the central frontier region would be unable to contain the westward advance of the Northern Union Army and defend the territory in the future counterattack.

The two most basic resources required by the steel industry are coal and iron.

The thing that the central frontier region lacks the least is coal, and almost every state has a large number of shallow coal mines.

Howard County, Nebraska, has been mining bituminous coal in large quantities since 1858, and the Pocahontas Coal Mine in Iowa is one of the most important producers of high-quality anthracite in the United States.

But not all coal mines are suitable for steelmaking, only coking coal is suitable for steelmaking.

And coking coal is exactly what is in short supply in the central border areas.

It’s not that there is no coking coal, but the proven recoverable reserves are extremely small. Only in Minnesota and Wyoming are there small amounts of coking coal distributed, and the commercial development value is relatively low.

The core coking coal producing areas in the United States are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and surrounding areas, which are high-volatile bituminous coal. This type of coal has strong adhesiveness and moderate sulfur content, making it an ideal coking coal.

Relying on the local high-quality coking coal, proximity to iron ore producing areas and convenient transportation, Pittsburgh has been able to rise as a global steel capital.

At the end of World War II (1944), its peak annual output was close to 9000 million tons, accounting for 37% of the United States' steel production and 23% of the world's steel production.

Of course, such achievements were somewhat overshadowed by the rise of the steel capital of another world industrial power.

Liang Yao can't even swallow up all of Wisconsin now, so it is undoubtedly a fantasy to want to control Pittsburgh's coking coal through military occupation.

As for iron ore resources, the central border areas are not short of them.

There are magnetite and hematite in the Black Hills of South Dakota, but the ore bodies are buried deep and the ore grade is low, only 30% to 40%.

There are siderite and limonite in Nebraska, but the problem is the same as that of the iron ore in the Black Hills: the ore quality is poor and the commercial mining value is low.

There are three iron mines in the new territory that are commercially viable with current technology. One is located in Mesabi Ridge in Minnesota, which has the largest open-pit iron mine in North America. The grade of hematite and magnetite in this mining area is as high as 50%~60%. Some rich ore areas can be increased to 70% after screening.

Iron ore with a grade of 70% is basically a block of iron wrapped in some stone. If you grind it, you can see the shiny iron.

In addition to its high grade and open-pit mining capabilities, the Mesabi Ridge mine also has unique advantages in terms of reserves.

The total reserves exceed 160 billion tons, and it will still contribute 2023% of the ore mining volume in the United States until 75. It is the main iron ore supplier for steel mills in the Great Lakes region.

There are also several large iron ore mining areas in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin, but the commercial mining value is far less than that of the Mesabi Ridge mining area.

With the Mesabi Ridge, a high-quality open-pit iron ore area, there was no need to mine the mines in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin.

Nebraska has an excess of coal but a shortage of coking coal and iron ore; Kansas mainly produces lead and zinc ores, resulting in a mismatch in its mineral structure; and the cost of transporting incoming materials from Iowa is too high.

None of the three states have the resources to build a complete steel industry chain.

If it were the 21st century, we could still build a steel city by integrating resources through the use of an efficient logistics system.

But now it is the 1860s, and the steel industry is more dependent on local resources for self-sufficiency.

Taking all factors into consideration, only Mesabi Ridge in Minnesota has some of the locational advantages for building a large steel plant.

"Based on our current technological level, only high-quality shallow iron ore with an iron content of at least 50% has commercial mining value." Fair flipped through the survey reports of the Ministry of Industry's exploration team in the central frontier region in recent years. "The Mesabi Ridge in Minnesota has extremely high commercial mining value, but we are also trying to solve the problem of the source of coking coal. Currently, the highest quality coking coal producing area in North America is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."

Although Pittsburgh in 1861 had not yet grown into a world-class steel capital, it was already America's steel capital. The number of steel mills in Pittsburgh alone was almost equal to the steel production of the entire West.

"It would be great if we could control the entire Great Lakes region. We can rely on the high-quality iron ore resources in the Mesabi Ridge to build a global steel capital." Wang Shu felt that there was something missing.

"As long as we can solve the problems of coking coal and funds, we can build a steel city based on the existing occupied areas," said Fair.

"If we need to respond to an emergency, Minnesota is rich in forest resources. We can temporarily use charcoal to smelt pig iron to solve the problem of iron shortage for laying railway tracks." Wang Shu interjected.

"I'll find a way to solve the coking coal problem," Liang Yao said. "What Wang Shu said makes sense. The most urgent thing is to solve the problem of whether there is coal or not. As long as we can build the railway trunk line in the central border area first, it's worth spending a little more money."

The laying of railways is related to the strategic security of the occupied areas, so it is worth spending more money on it.

"I wonder who you plan to send to be responsible for the construction of the steel plant in Minnesota? Do you have a candidate you like?" asked Fair.

"Let my assistant Andrew Carnegie take charge." Liang Yao specifically asked Andrew Carnegie to be in charge of the construction of the steel plant in Minnesota.

New York, on the Hudson River, in the Astor family's luxurious estate.

Backhouse's old hands holding the telegram began to tremble constantly, and then his whole body began to tremble.

"This bastard! I told him a long time ago not to provoke Liang Yao. That guy is not someone you can easily mess with." Buckhouse's chest heaved violently as he said with a look of disappointment.

"This brat doesn't even have this much tolerance. How can I trust him to manage the family business in the future?"

The wealthy family was heartless. Upon learning that their brother had been kidnapped, although the eldest son John and the second son Henry showed expressions of extreme sorrow and hatred that Pratt would suffer for their brother, they were already very happy in their hearts.

Although Astor Jr. was not the most suitable heir to the family, Backhouse was particularly fond of his youngest son and even used family resources and connections to push Astor Jr. to the position of New York State Senator.

John and Henry had long been dissatisfied with their father's favoritism.

"My brother is indeed too young and too reckless. How can the heir of the Astor family go to such a dangerous place as the front line? He is a senator, not a general." Henry fanned the flames.

"The capture of the senator brings shame not only to our family, but also to the United States."

"Enough! There are more than one congressman captured this time!" Backhouse glared at Henry fiercely, and Henry immediately shut up.

What Backhouse said was true. The Union Army lost the battle on two fronts, and many Northern Union congressmen were captured in the South and the West.

If we talk about shame, it's not just the Astor family that is shamed.

"Five hundred thousand dollars, or five hundred thousand Republic dollars." Henry kept silent, but the eldest son John spoke.

"Should we discuss the amount of the ransom with the Westerner?"

"You don't need to say anything about the ransom." Backhouse sat down on the sofa angrily. He suspected that the two children were deliberately trying to send him away.

"Isn't my seed worth $50?"

Although Backhouse inherited the genes of his father John Jacob Astor, he was known for his stinginess.

But Backhouse knew exactly which money had to be spent.

If he is not willing to pay the ransom for his own son, how can he hold his head up in front of the old and new money in New York?

"Sir, can we ask Vanderbilt to mediate? Liang Yao is Vanderbilt's son-in-law after all." said the Astor family's butler.

In such a large hall, the person who was most concerned about little Astor's safety was actually the butler who had no blood relationship with him.

"It's useless. It's not that I'm unwilling to humble myself and beg him." Buckhouse shook his head helplessly, "The old sailor Vanderbilt has already cut off his relationship with Liang Yao in the newspaper."

(End of this chapter)