Empire of the Ring

The reason that Youngho wanted to develop a farm in the vast plain of Kazakhstan was that the region was close to Ural River.

The Ural River, which was about 2,543 kilometers long, originated from the Ural Mountains and it flowed to the Caspian Sea.

The location of Arirang Farm was in the range of the lower-class of the river and water could be drawn from the river with the construction of a waterway. From that fact, a new idea to make a canal popped in Youngho's head. Every problem would be resolved if the canal was made up to the entry of the farm.

The farm was more than ten kilometers away from the Ural River but, fortunately, a branch of the river was only about five kilometers away. Although it was only a branch of the river, it was still a decent sized river. Kazakhstan was about twelve times the size of the Korean Peninsula, and there were countless rivers flowing through the continent. Arirang Farm had favorable natural conditions, so a canal did not seem like an impossible idea.

Youngho called Park Youngsun to ask to investigate the land to see if the canal construction would be possible. However, Park Youngsun suggested four problems to the canal construction.

First, it was a complicated work that could affect nature. Second, it was impossible to make a canal without the government's permission. Third, it would be a huge scale civil engineering work to build water installations and lock gates. Fourth, considering the time and funds it takes to build the canal, it was an uneconomical business plan.

The major problem was the fourth clause. Park Youngsun thought that there was no reason to make a waterway to the entry of the farm since only goods of daily necessities and grains would be delivered to the farm. However, he did not just refuse his idea.

"Actually, your idea itself is groundbreaking."

"Dr. Park, you suggested all the problems until now but you're saying my idea is great?"

Youngho felt uncomfortable since he just rejected his idea with rational reasons.

"In fact, you gave me an idea. If we can build a road that connects the farm to the nearest branch of the Ural River and there is a quay for your ships to moor, you'd be able to come and go to the farm with ease. That's why your canal construction plan was a bright idea."

There was an alternate way that was as effective as building a canal with less amount of investment. Building a road and a quay were more economical than building a canal.

Although the canal construction was not plausible, it was indeed a great idea. After hanging up the phone, Youngho turned to his friends who had been listening to his conversation with Park Youngsun.

"I should've known when he talked nonsense."

Jongil teased Youngho.

"Man, it's kind of a canal. We won't have to go through Port of Atyrau but we could have our own quay without anyone bothering us."

Youngho made an excuse.

"That's true. If you can come near Arirang Farm through the river, the transport fee is going to decrease dramatically."

Insoo added. Then, Jongil, who had teased Youngho, now took a different side and suggested an additional idea.

"Then we should just get permission to develop the regions near the branch of the river."

"That's a great idea. If other people develop regions nearby in the future, then we could ask them to pay to pass the river."

Now, Insoo and Jongil were having a blast with their plan to expand the land.

"The land is getting even bigger."

Youngho immediately called Kim Chun and asked him to make a development plan for the regions of the river branch and submit it to the Atyrau's regional government.

The document would pass easily because the government had no reason to turn it down since it was for the best of the farm's development. Rather, the government would welcome the idea that a foreign investor like Youngho was willing to build a transport infrastructure in the land that had been neglected.

***

Youngho was thinking about making another town looking at the map of Arirang Farm. It was because the development plan of the nearest branch of the river to the farm was accepted by the regional government.

Kazakhstan's permission process for farmland development was not too strict. Only the map of the surveyed area by a local survey company, the types of grains that would be grown in the farm, and bank balance statement needed to be submitted.

The regional government accepted any investors if they had enough money unless they were developing underground resources.

Then, once the development was completed to a certain degree, the government either gave ownership of the land or a long-term lease to the investor.

Many farmland investors wanted a long-term lease since the ownership came with a lot of responsibilities. However, Youngho was different, he would somehow make sure to get the ownership because he wanted to give the land to his descendants and the Serbian people. In his perspective, he would not need to put an effort to make all sorts of infrastructure if he was not going to be the owner of the land.

It did not take thirty minutes to get to the branch of the Ural River by a light armored vehicle. Since the tires were as huge as the dump truck's, the vehicle ran on rough unpaved roads without any difficulty.

"Boss. What do you think?"

"It's a branch but it is as wide as the Han River in Seoul."

"The river is about 150 kilometers long and this side is the downstream part. Do you see the red flag over there? That's where the quay's going to be. The ground consists of bedrock, so it would be a firm foundation for the construction."

"Wouldn't the river freeze in the winter?"

"Of course, it will but you won't have to worry about that. The Ural River downstream is a rapid stream, so it won't be a problem for sailing. You would only have to break four kilometers of ice on this side with an ice breaker."

"Dr. Park. If it wasn't your insight, I would've gone through so much trouble."

"Well, what does a geologist know? I just went by some common knowledge."

Youngho did not have many reasonable men like Park Youngsun although he was being modest. Since he was a well-versed man in his area of study, he did other jobs with his own standards, so he did not make big mistakes.

Park Youngsun was a valuable talent to Youngho. He had gone through so many things as an explorer and gained experiences and wisdom from that. Youngho knew that someone like him would decrease many trials and errors that Youngho would make if he did not have Park Youngsun.

***

From the sky on his Cessna airplane, Youngho checked the branch river's route to see where his ships could reach. It seemed that his freighter could go to Kazakhstan's border city Oral and with a smaller ship, he could even reach Orenburg, which was a Central South city of Russia.

From the sky, Arirang Farm was a huge land but compared to the vast sky, it did not look too big. The Farm was located in the halfway between Atyrau and Oral. Atyrau region was three times bigger than South Korea and about 380,000 people resided near city areas. Thus, it was almost impossible to spot people around the farm in a vast plain. Because the government could not develop its land due to lack of people, the government welcomed someone like Youngho who was not only developing farmland but also making a town that was the size of a small city.

Arirang Farm's development also vitalized the domestic market of Atyrau. Youngho had bought out many of construction materials since he was buying them in bulks. He brought many from Russia but a huge amount of materials for infrastructures such as cement and asphalt for roads and pipes for water and sewage were needed to build a small city-sized town.

Tons of materials were needed to build five hundred houses for Serbian immigrants including the ones who would be moving in by the spring. Every necessity should be bought for each house, such as Lumbers, tiles, kitchen fixtures, bathroom materials, beds, and house appliances.

The daily necessities that the immigrants and workers of Arirang Farm consumed were also a lot. The regional government had to hastily import goods from Russia in fear of their prices skyrocketing because of the farm. Of course, most of the necessities needed for the immigrants were supplied through The Arirang, many things were also bought from the city of Atyrau. It was to impress the city government.

What had impressed the government most was that because of the farm development, the city's unemployment rate had decreased in number. Since it was an annoying problem to the government that young people only crowded in city areas with a limited amount of job openings, the change was good news.

Kim Chun, the branch president of Arirang Farm, now a had high status in the city.

Any item he bought from Atyrau was a large purchase that could easily fill a storage unit, so many city businessmen tried to earn his favor. Since he was Koryoin, his first choice was to visit warehouses or retailer shops owned by other Koryoins and if he did not have other choices, he visited shops run by Russians. Because he had belonged to a minority group in Kazakhstan, he took this chance to pay pack his sorrow by helping minority businessmen. However, it concerned Youngho that Kim Chun's behavior might face a backlash from the city government and local businessmen.

"It's not like I don't understand you but please buy products from local businessmen too."

"Boss. It is Russians that control Kazakhstan's economy. They occupy 30% of the nation's population and hold the purse strings. The minority groups don't have any chance if I don't take advantage of my position to help them when I have a chance."

"Is that so?"

"The city government secretly asked me to use stores ran by Kazakhs or minorities."

Countless Russians had immigrated in Kazakhstan from the time of the Soviet Union and they had dominated the country's economy. Although it was independent now, the country was still subjected to Russia economically. It had its own language but Russian was also picked as another official language. Russia's power over the country was that strong and that was why Kim Chun was intentionally helping Koryoins and other minorities first.

***

"What do you think?"

"We should take this opportunity to make proper money this time. It's all us who have been doing the job."

Insoo intervened as Jongil suggested to Youngho.

"Hey, our job is only to introduce and not bother. Why are we getting involved? Aren't you tired of it already?"

The friends were talking about the recent Azerbaijani government's mercenary request.

The government had now learned that Armenia's military authorities had much military equipment hidden in city facilities and it was trying to find a way to get rid of them although the war was over now.

Youngho clicked his tongue. If the government had listened to Youngho earlier and investigated more deeply during the war, it could have gotten rid of the weapons by their fighter strikes but since the war was over, the Azerbaijani force could not interfere Armenia.

With the Cessna airplane, Youngho could go anywhere when in a rush like now.

He went to Volgograd to see Sergey since he wanted to discuss the mercenary request in person.

"Lee! You use this tiny airplane so often."

"Brother. You'd see how great it is once you fly with this. It's much safer than helicopters."

"We prefer helicopters though. If that can't handle, we'll be buying small-sized jets."

Since the mafias were rich, their scale was different. Even a small size, an airplane with a jet engine would cost a tremendous amount of money.

"Don't make me feel bad or I'll raise the wine price."

"You're welcome to do that. We're already getting out of stock. We couldn't raise the price because of you."

"Is that so? Then, should we change its price?"

"Let's talk about that as we drink with the boss tonight."

Yaniv, who greeted Youngho's group, was still lively as before.

"I almost forgot how you looked like. So, I hear you're busy with the farm in Kazakhstan?"

"Since you've sent me heavy equipment, the farmland development is right on track."

"Those are just what the military department had tossed. If you need more, I'll send you anything."

Yaniv was saying as if he owned the military supplies. Such a thing was only possible in Russia.

"Why don't we all sit first?"

Although it was still during the day, the table was filled with drinks and snacks. People of many countries including Russia around the Caucasus offered drink and food first when they had visitors. Refusing those would be considered rude. Everything should be drunk and eaten.

They drank for a few rounds and talked about different things. Finally, Yaniv made a conclusion.

"I don't feel comfortable sending my men to Armenia to meddle with the country. Armenia is an ally of Russia and if President Putin finds out about this, he won't be liking this."

"Then, I'll pass this along to other company. Please pretend that you didn't hear about this."

"Don't worry about that. I value business ethics."

Youngho was thankful for Yaniv's rejection.

Now it was time for him to focus on Kazakhstan and he did not want to waste his time in Armenia but there was no need for him to reject the Azerbaijani government's request. It would all be resolved if he called Eriksson from the Information Agency.