Empire of the Ring

After twelve days of the voyage, two car ferries reached the harbor in Krasnoyarsk with many scratch marks on their bodies. Though the scars were not deep, they showed how rough the journey was. Albeit the light damages on the ship, sailors and agents made it healthy. Sung-ki made a report of the voyage with a smile on his face.

"Boss. You've got to try the North Sea route. You can literally catch fish without using bait. Just throw your fishing pole."

"Well, they did say the place was half fish, half water."

"It's more like hunting than fishing except it's so easy and fast."

"How did you fish with ice on the surface of the water?"

"As soon as you reach the Yenisei Gulf, there is no ice on the center part of the river. I've frozen some fish I caught for sashimi. Bring all your drink. This sashimi would be better than any other raw fish you've ever had."

Youngho was not sure if sashimi would be good with vodka, but his hopes were high.

"How was the route?"

"We traveled along the coastlines. The ice was not as thick as it was in the mid-winter. It wasn't that difficult to travel. I am sure we can travel for at least five months every year."

It was great news. Five months on the North Sea route meant that they could make five round trips between the Arirang Autonomous State and Siberia. It would allow the state to have enough lumbers from Siberia. Lumbers would take some time to dry up in order to be properly used, so Youngho was planning on transporting as many as possible. That was why Youngho asked them for this trip to be specifically dedicated to lumber transportation. Youngho was not sure if it was 100 percent legal to carry an excessive amount of lumbers. However, making a connection with the harbor manager would make it happen even if it was illegal. Besides, no one in Russia seemed to hate a little bribe.

Sung-ki's story of his voyage never knew when to end.

Since he was a great storyteller, even the sailors and guards were absorbed into his stories. They were bored with the trip, and it seemed like Sung-ki had turned their boring experience into a fun and exciting adventure.

"So you are saying, it would only take about 20 days for a round trip during July and August. Right?"

"There is no ice in that season. We won't need to be as cautious as now. We just have to keep sailing all day and night."

"Still, land transportation seems to be quicker."

"But we will be able to carry way more lumbers."

Youngho was afraid that the North Sea route would not be better than using the land route, but this voyage proved that using the North Sea route would make a huge difference. He felt relieved and excited. He could probably instigate Yaniv to make more ships. Yet, he was certain that Icebreakers from Yaniv and Youngho together would make a revolution of lumber transportation in European countries. With this in mind, he now had something to negotiate with the Russian government when he signed a contract for Siberian development. The Russian government always took advantage of their Trans-Siberian Railway since a train was the only means of transportation in carrying a large amount of lumbers from Siberia to other regions. Lumber businessmen would be disadvantaged if the government would not arrange train cars for them. However, now that Youngho could use the sea route, it was a whole another story.

***

Irtysh the Evenk and his family had already left the Taiga forest in Siberia, where Youngho was assigned to develop, he must have gone to the tundra region with all of his reindeers. It was a shame since Youngho had finally had his amphibious light-armored vehicles and he wanted to get a more guided tour around the region.

Klimov the lieutenant colonel and commander of the battalion unit in the region was also gone, so it was only Youngho and his team that would roam around the region.

He heard that Klimov and his soldiers had gone patrolling around the Taiga region. It was not to watch for illegal logging but to collect rough diamonds. Klimov must be hurrying to find more diamonds since Youngho promised that he would visit when the snow melted. He must also have grilled his soldiers to hunt animals down to collect animal skins to sell to Youngho. He was quite determined to make money as much as he could while he served in the military.

Since Youngho could not log trees for business purposes yet for he had not signed a contract with the Russian government other than the memorandum of understanding, he could log trees for trial purposes to check the forest's economic feasibility. This was conventionally done as an excuse by many log businessmen, so he did not worry a thing. The only difference was that most of them did not bring lumbers home but left them in the forest while Youngho was planning to take them all.

After hearing the news that Youngho's group was in the Taiga region, Klimov hastily came back to the unit and visited where Youngho's group was.

"Mr. Lee, did you already get permission for logging?"

"No, I'm doing a trial logging just to check the business' economic feasibility. I don't want to ruin the forest by randomly cutting down trees, so we'll only be cutting down old trees after checking their ages."

"You are indeed a prospective businessman who foresees a hundred years ahead. If all of the loggers were like you in Siberia, a unit like us would not have to be around here."

Klimov intentionally flattered Youngho. He was like a businessman who was about to make a large deal.

"Lieutenant Colonel, you work so hard. You're patrolling around the Taiga forest for days in this cold weather."

"I'm only fulfilling my duty as a soldier. It's what I'm here for."

"You're a true soldier."

Both of them were busy flattering each other. Now, they were ready to talk about business.

"How much fur did you collect so far?"

"Not much since it had snowed so much here."

"Could you bring them to us here? From here, we can carry them to the Yenisei River."

"You must've prepared a lot for this."

"I brought some tools and vehicles to carry things. I'll be signing a formal contract next month. Then, I'm planning to build a temporary building near the riverside. So, I brought some building materials."

"You could start building it now since you're going to sign the contract anyway."

"I wish I could but I did not want to cause trouble."

"Well, who's going to cause trouble when I gave you permission? With this manpower, you'd be able to build it within a month."

"Thank you for your accommodation."

"Oh, we're partners now. Of course, I should help my partner."

Youngho almost laughed out loud since Klimov was almost bending over backward to impress him.

***

The next day, Klimov brought quite a lot of animal skins and surprised Youngho, especially when he said he could not catch a lot of animals due to the heavy snow.

However, the condition of furs was not that great. It was because Klimov's soldiers carelessly fired at the animals and paid little attention in the process of skinning and drying them in the cold weather.

Although the skins had many scars, it looked like the state could use them by stitching them together. Knowing the quality of the animal skins, Klimov did not ask too much for their prices. Since there was another deal to make, he did his best not to offend Youngho.

The other deal was about rough diamonds. Youngho wondered how many Klimov managed to collect so far. Just like he thought, Klimov, soon, opened his mouth first.

"Mr. Lee. I've collected some rough diamonds. Would you like to see?"

"You managed to collect them when you're so busy like this?"

"I told my soldiers that I'll pay them, and they worked hard for their reward."

'Well, that's great that you made everyone your confederates.'

It was better this way. Even if they found out about the diamonds, the soldiers would not spread the word since they were now helpers of Klimov's crime. Youngho had brought combat rations for the soldiers since they worked hard to collect animal skins and diamonds, but it seemed like it was not needed since they were already rewarded by Klimov.

"I have more of them this time. I hope I'm not burdening you with this."

"I said I'm just going to think of it as my savings. I can sell them as industrial use, and I won't be losing money. So, please don't worry about it. I'm a businessman, remember?"

Klimov worried that he was selling too many useless rough diamonds to Youngho, but he soon felt relieved by Youngho's comforting words.

"I should have met you way earlier, Mr. Lee. It's a shame our time here would not be so long."

"If you still want to keep your position, I'll tell Mr. Yaniv about you. He could arrange you something."

"Really? If you could do that for me, I'd really appreciate it. I'll treat you well, Mr. Lee."

"Well, we should help each other as partners, right? I'm only doing this because I want to buy animal skins from you."

Youngho did not mention a thing about diamonds. Since he did not seem interested in diamonds too much, Klimov would not be able to raise its price.

"My soldiers have worked hard, and we managed to get 400 diamonds in such a short period of time. I doubt that there will be a lot left around this area now."

It was quite a lot since Klimov had only collected 500 diamonds in years. It seemed that he was determined to find as many as possible before he retired.

Most of the rough diamonds that Klimov spread on his desk was smaller than the diamonds he gave Youngho last time. However, they looked clearer. Some were as big as an adult's nail. Even at a glance, they looked valuable, but Youngho did not make comments about them.

"Mr. Lee. They're smaller than the last time, but they will be equally valuable since they are clearer."

"I guess some of them could be processed as jewels. You could store them and use them for your own good."

"Oh, well, I value cash that is tangible now. I also have my dreams but where would I sell them? It's only going to get me in trouble. In Russia, jewels in weak people's hands only bring misfortune."

Hearing his self-mockery, Youngho felt sorry. So, he paid some more for the animal skins, and Klimov thanked him. On top of that, Youngho gave him the combat rations he brought for the soldiers. Klimov looked happy to receive such a gift. He might be thinking of exploiting his soldiers more with the combat rations. Now that he knew the taste of money, he would not hesitate to find any chance to collect more animal skins and diamonds.