Empire of the Ring

"Why are you taking that many solar panels?"

Jongil, who was listening to Youngho's talk on the phone with a staff of K Electronics, was surprised to hear the number of panels that his friend was ordering.

"I think it'd be cheaper to use private power station at the Arirang Farm rather than drawing in the Atyrau city's power. Once they're installed they'd be permanent, so I won't have to worry about electricity bills."

"That actually sounds like a good idea. Since it's not going to rain there that much, you'd be able to get abundant solar energy."

Solar panels were already installed throughout the Charles farm, Zeynep Farm, and the ranch and people had more than enough electricity they need. The lights around the sites were also running with solar panels and they automatically turned off when it was dark. Wires were now hard to spot in the visitors' sights.

Zeynep Farm was the place that benefited most in Baku from the Korean-Azerbaijani joint solar energy enterprise. Since Youngho had his share to this enterprise, he could also get those panels at the factory price. The stand-alone photovoltaic system at one side of Zeynep Farm was the biggest installation in Azerbaijan. Since it could generate electricity for the wine factory and low-temperature aging room, it surely was a large scale system.

As the system was instituted at the farm, many corporations had asked for a showing, so Youngho opened the Charles farm's system to them. At the same time, he opened the winery tour at Charles farm and shut down Zeynep Farm's winery for visitors. It was because he could not handle too many visitors, and now Zeynep Wine's reputation had grown enough that he did not have to open the farm for strangers anymore. Moreover, he did not want the public to know about the private airplane runway being constructed at the farm.

Now, the only guests at the farm were international school students and their parents. Since the international school usually completed the clearance process for their new students and their family members, the students and their parents were already identified. So, there was no need to stop them from coming to the farm. Also, it would be too cruel for them since their only attraction in the foreign town was the farm's reservoir and the playground.

In fact, the parents loved the idea of a new airfield being built at the farm. It looked like they would be asking him for a ride in an emergency.

The process of transporting the Serbian immigrants to the Port of Atyrau after passing through the Volga-Don canal was a smooth sail.

Since Kim Chun had thoroughly prepared for their coming, they could go through the process of acquirement of nationality as soon as they entered the country. Conventionally, there were specific requirements if someone wanted to acquire citizenship in Kazakhstan, such as learning the Kazakh language and having been living in the country for a certain period of time but because it was a special case for the Serbian refugees, the government had allowed a special process for them.

When they applied for citizenship, they all surprised everyone by giving up their Serbian citizenship. It was because they were loyal to the old kingdom rather than the current country of Serbia. They had high esteem as the descendants of the kingdom. Because they were given the certificate that had the Serbian Kingdom's emblem and the Archduchess Fatima's hand-written autograph, they gladly gave up their old citizenship and took the certificates.

***

After landing at the runway of Arirang Farm, the eight-seater Cessna airplane was stored in a temporary hangar which was only made out of a tent only to make a shade from the sun. It was quite contrastive from the shiny exterior of the brand new airplane.

Kim Chun, who had been waiting for their arrival, greeted Youngho's group with a smile.

"Boss, your flight duration has been shortened now. It feels like I got a call from you a moment ago that you were leaving Baku but you're here already. This one must be faster than the four-seater."

"The speed is about the same. We just met a favorable air current this time."

It was Youngho's third visit after the Arirang Farm's runway construction was completed. Since it was the first time he flew the new eight-seater, he brought more passengers with him.

"Let me introduce some new faces to you. They will be in charge of the Serbian immigrants here."

Niksic and other Serbian Village elders exchanged greetings with Kim Chun.

As Youngho looked around the place, the big storage units were almost at the completion stage. Since the farm needed storage for food and other supplies, the units were installed in a rush. Around the runway was fenced to block sheep from invading it since Kim Chun had about a herd of sheep for the immigrants. They were producing milk already.

Hearing that the residential houses for the immigrants would be built by November, Youngho let out a sigh of relief. It was all possible because he had provided enough materials and workers from the city of Atyrau. Moreover, the immigrants were also working hard to help to build their houses. The interiors could be done in the future by the occupants but it was fortunate that people would be able to have shelters from the fierce wind and snow in the cold winter's plain.

There would be more immigrants from now on but Youngho postponed their migration since they were not in a hurry for they did not lose their homes from natural disasters.

Old Niksic and the elders of Serbian Village had volunteered to help the new immigrants settle down at Arirang Farm. Glad to hear it, Youngho brought them as soon as they were ready. The new people indeed need a group of experienced leaders who would guide them and get them to work together since everything was new to them. Since old Niksic had been serving Fatima closely, the immigrants had trust in him and were obedient to him.

From different parts of the field, the drilling rigs were making noises to explore the underground water. Youngho was ready to dance in joy if he could find water somewhere hidden under the ground. The vast desolate land would be turned into rich soil if there was enough water. Youngho envisioned to have a modernized farm with agricultural machinery on the land that once was only used for raising sheep and goats.

Although the farming would not begin even if the water was found right now because the reclamation process was not done yet, once the houses were completed, the process would begin starting from the nearby regions of the residential town.

Tractors and light aircraft for sowing would be bought and delivered in the spring next year since now was the time to focus on the construction for basic infrastructures such as roads, sewage, and the walls around the town to prevent wild foxes and wolves.

***

Because of the huge scale of the farm, it was impossible to divide the land. The farming areas were arranged by investigating the topography of the land using aerial photographs. To settle the farming areas, Youngho and other workers had to tour around the farming areas many times with the airplane and repeatedly went over to the areas with a truck to set up flagpoles.

After the process of setting up the boundaries and dividing the land was finished, Youngho found out that there was a small mountain that was about eighty meters high in the farm's boundary. Since it leaned on one side of the farm, there was no need to get rid of the mountain and Youngho considered it as a hill on the farm where he could go to see the whole view of the site.

Youngho and Park Youngsun had gone to the mountain for a few times and discussed how they could utilize the mountain.

"Dr. Park, all of the rocks are useless crumbly sandstone. Should we just get rid of them?"

"The exterior looks crumbly but it gets hard once you dig deep. It'd be impossible to rid of such many of them. Moreover, the existence of the little caves that people had lived in, it looks like many people had resided in the area. It should have some historic value to the land that should be preserved. If you're okay with it, I'd like to investigate those caves."

"Do as you like, Dr. Park. I'll put a residential container here so you can use it when you visit here. You wouldn't have to commute from your lodging."

"I'd appreciate it if you could really do that for me."

***

Although there were plenty of materials, building a house could not be done in one day. Considering the concretes' curing period, it would take two to three months at least.

Indeed, water was a sticking point to the construction process. Since they had not found mass underground water in store, the workers had to deliver water from a nearby little stream with a water truck. The immigrants' old trucks also were helpful with moving water.

Drinking water was also a problem, so Youngho had to arrange water delivery from the city of Atyrau for so many people on the farm now.

Because it would be difficult to make out in the winter if the farm did not secure enough water before the season hit, Youngho was becoming anxious inside. If this kept on, he would have to arrange a large civil engineering project to establish waterway from the Ural River to the farm soon.

His wish may have worked since about a kilometer from the airfield, the underground water enough for the immigrants to use immediately was found.

After checking the volume of water kept in store, Park Youngsun's face darkened.

"The volume amount is not what you'd be satisfied with. It could only cover the amount of water that the town people need for living."

Park Youngsun also felt frustrated. There had not been a satisfying result after the exploration begun, although he was certain that there was a high possibility of the existence of a large scale underground water reserve.

"Well, that's still relieving to hear. We could lay temporary pipes for now and let the people use it."

"I hoped to begin farming the land near the water by next year."

"Dr. Park, if it's unlikely to find enough underground water in store, we could carry out waterway construction at any time. That's what I had in mind from the beginning. I'm just glad to find out that the land is suitable for farming."

Although enough water was not found yet, Youngho was thankful that at least the land was proved to be plausible for farming after going through a few experiments. It would have been a huge loss if they found salt component from the soil.

Youngho chose about thirty young and healthy lads from the immigrant group and assigned them as a neighborhood watch. Because the stone walls had not been built yet and the people slept in tents in the open, a group of watchers was needed especially at nights. There had been an incident that several sheep were taken by wolves a few days ago. Those wide animals could also harm the people, so Youngho ordered them to have tight security.

The young guys who received latest rifles made teams and patrolled around the town with a truck around the clock. It looked like the farm would have to battle with those wolves for the next few years. Because unexpected problems kept happening in Arirang Farm, Youngho's face darkened whenever he visited here. He regretted receiving the immigrants without enough preparation.

However, unlike Youngho's worry, the townspeople were satisfied with their new life. Although they had uncomfortable sleep in tents, they considered the farm their own peaceful place since they were not discriminated as they had been in Serbia.

They were also relieved by Youngho's announcement that there will be a doctor once the town is completed. Not to mention, there was an airplane that could carry a wounded person to the city of Atyrau immediately in an emergency.

Moreover, the fact that the Archduke's successor, Fatima. was taking care of them encouraged their spirits. They were ready to go through a short period of inconvenience. It was only Youngho who was worried for them because to them, this was their new kingdom.