What was the Pittsburgh Plus Pricing System in 1880's?

The Pittsburgh Plus Pricing System was designed by steel lords (like Carnegie and Morgan) in the North to keep the South at an economic disadvantage in the steel industry. The southern coal and iron ore deposits were close to where it could be processed, which would give the South an advantage since they would have to pay less money for shipping. The steel lords put pressure on the railroads to charge the goods with a fictional fee as if they had been shipped from pittsburgh. It was also, in an indirect way, punishment of the South during the reconstruction after the Civil War