Empire of the Ring

The ministers were pleased to hear that Youngho would immediately make a decision on the hotel's site.

"Your Highness. As for its size, how about building it as big as the hotel in Frankfurt?"

"Sure. It takes more than 300 rooms to save our face. We'd like to secure as much land as possible."

"All right. I'll contact the branch office of the Information Agency to check it out."

"Right. There must be a branch of the Information Agency here, too."

Youngho had forgotten that Basten's Information Agency's branch was in Paris.

The company had its branch offices or business partners in important cities in the world so that it could collect, buy, and sell information.

To think about that, an idea popped in his head.

It would be a great collaboration if Basten's Information Agency and the Intelligence Service of Kazakhstan formed a partnership. Since the Information Agency was an elite group with a huge information network and accumulated know-hows, the Kazakh Intelligence Service could learn from it and provide a military force in exchange.

Basten was envious of military power since the days of the Arirang Autonomous State, so the plan seemed to be feasible.

"Lord Eriksson, doesn't Mr. Basten hate the winter cold in Northern Europe?"

"Do you have something to tell him in person? Everyone in Northern Europe is sick of it. Shall we call him to come to our next destination?"

The next destination after France was Spain, so it would be relatively warm. It was a place many wealthy people visited in the winter.

"What do you think about having collaboration between our intelligence service and the Information Agency?"

"I'm sure Mr. Basten will like it. He used to say that he wanted military power whenever he had the opportunity, so he would never refuse your offer."

"If you get a chance, can you ask him to come to Spain if he liked my suggestion?"

"I'll call him right away. He'll fly to Spain as soon as possible."

"Also, let him know that I've got a nice drink and some snacks ready."

"Then maybe he will fly to France right away."

Eriksson guessed it right.

Basten flew to Paris the next day. It was certain that Youngho's proposal fascinated Basten.

"I told you to meet me in Spain. Why are you in such a hurry?"

"What formality do I need when it's between you and me? You've suggested something great, so I had to come as fast as I could. I must thank you that our company continues to develop after you've become a shareholder of our company."

"It'd be weird if the company doesn't do well when you, the representative of the company, cares about shareholders this much."

"And rumors say that some shareholder even offers military power to the company, too."

"Hahaha… I should've suggested it earlier."

"When I heard from Eriksson, I thought it was a joke. Who would believe that we could use the military power of the Kazakh royal intelligence service? You know how difficult it is for a private company to acquire force, don't you? Even if we try hard, we can only have security guards."

"And if you need, you can also use Zeynep Security Service as well."

"If we could do that, I'll be able to sleep with my legs stretched out."

"Then we're in agreement."

"Surely."

***

Eriksson recommended three promising hotel site candidates.

They were not empty lands or old buildings that had to be destroyed immediately but were traditional hotel sales.

All of the hotels on sale were built less than 20 years ago, and what Zeynep picked among them was the Renaissance La Defence Hotel.

The reason was that it was only 30 minutes away from Orly Airport and was close to the city center, so it had good accessibility. Also, it was close to shopping centers.

She wanted an antique-looking hotel before, but now she was into the stylish, modern-looking hotel.

So Youngho decided to buy the Renaissance La Defangs Hotel for 250 million dollars.

This showed France that Kazakhstan not only sold resources but also had an ability to invest in businesses. To Youngho, who signed the contract without hesitation, Eriksson praised it, saying that it was a very good deal.

"This is a hotel that a Chinese billionaire tried to buy. He was trying to cut the price, but he missed it because of us."

"Oh, is that so?"

"There are a lot of rumors that Chinese businessmen are not only taking over hotels but also luxury houses in Paris. It must have been a big problem for the French government."

"I guess it is not only the Middle Eastern royal people that love Paris but the Chinese people as well."

"I wonder if there is another reason."

"How could you pressure the French government by buying a lot of the properties here?"

"It would create a natural opportunity for the Chinese to come in. That's why Chinese people buy real estates all over the world."

Youngho heard that Jeju Island in Korea was suffering from the real estate boom among Chinese people, and the same thing was happening in France.

"Your bold purchase of the hotel will be very favorable to the French government."

"Isn't that the same to the French government since it's sold to a foreigner?"

"I think it's a hundred times better than being sold to another Chinese. There's no institutional way to stop it but at least a purchase by a European."

"You finally admit that Kazakhstan is part of Europe now."

"Hahaha… I meant the Queen is a European descent."

The schedule in France went smoothly.

One of the most notable aspects of the schedule was the negotiations to build additional nuclear power plants in the country, which were linked to uranium exports and also a transfer of the French technology relating to nuclear waste for reprocessing facilities.

As a country known for its independent activities without caring about the international community's view, France had no hesitation about nuclear technology transfer.

Park Jong-il would have loved to hear it if he was there because he had finished the preparation to make nuclear weapons in the royal territory's laboratory.

The laboratory would be able to manufacture a few nuclear weapons within a month if it wanted to now.

***

After fulfilling the purpose of the visit to France, Youngho's group traveled to Spain, Italy, and Greece in a row and finally arrived in Turkey.

There were many minor episodes while going through various countries, but overall, resource sales went generally smooth.

Each country welcomed the Kazakh royal family and ministers and promised to engage in economic exchanges with Kazakhstan since those countries all desperately needed resources from Kazakhstan.

It was helpful to have studied the trading styles of southern European countries.

Because of that, the Kazakh ministers were confident all the time and kept their poker face.

If there was an excessive demand from officials of such countries, they postponed their discussion to the next day, and if there was an item that Kazakhstan needed, they persistently and obsessively asked for it until it was provided.

Southern European officials, who pretended to be noble at first, blushed in stress and embarrassment.

The officials who followed Youngho on this trip were happy to save the face of Kazakhstan.

It was a great achievement for their first diplomacy trip.

When they got off at the Istanbul airport, they had a confident look on their faces.

Another reason for this was that the royal family had bought top-of-the-line hotels in Spain and Greece as well.

"Your Highness, the Greek government seems to be expecting too much from us, but nothing has been fixed yet, so I feel burdened."

Greece had urged Turkey to help it get oil from the Caspian Sea through the BTC pipeline—Baku, Azerbaijan-Tbilisi, Georgia-Jayhan, Turkey.

As if Youngho's verbal assurance was not so promising, the Minister of Energy's face was dark with worries.

He seemed to have decided that Turkey and Greece were never easy to deal with because they often growled over territorial issues on small islands in the Mediterranean Sea. He worried about how Kazakhstan could persuade Turkey.

"Minister, you don't have to worry too much. The owner of the oil in the pipeline is Azerbaijan. The two countries are brotherly countries to us. Do you think they will refuse our request? And the amount of oil that Greece consumes is not that much, so there's no pressure for them. If they refused, we will send it directly through the Volga-Don Canal."

"Wouldn't the Azerbaijan government be reluctant to do so because of Turkey?"

"President Aliyev is not a very easy man. Also, Turkey can't pressure Azerbaijan since it's using Azerbaijan's oil. It's a waste to get oil from the Middle East across the Mediterranean when you can use oil from the field right next to you."

The Greek government promised to sell its financially troubled shipping company if Kazakhstan would help it to get oil supply. It was an opportunity to buy a large shipping company at a cheap price.

Moreover, Youngho also believed that Turkey would not refuse it.

It was because he was planning an underwater pipeline in the Caspian Sea. The pipeline to Europe via Russia was already saturated, so it was necessary to expand it.

Russia wanted to expand it, but Youngho wanted to build Kazakhstan's own at this opportunity.

The construction of the submarine pipeline between Kazakhstan and Baku would enable the existing BTC pipeline to be connected to Europe. Even if Russia opposed the idea of penetrating the Caspian Sea, the oil could be carried to Baku, Azerbaijan by a tanker since Turkey was only two hours away from Azerbaijan.

"Since Turkey use oil from Kazakhstan, it won't be able to refuse our request so easily."

"It's a little relief to hear that, but I'm afraid we'll miss this precious opportunity because of Turkey's high pride."

"I guess you're also interested in the shipping company, too, Minister."

"It's a chance for our royal shipping company to become a major player. Kazakhstan must be the only country that has two shipyards and icebreakers even though it's not touching the ocean."

The Minister of Energy's praise was proof that the Kazakh royal family was being politically successful in Kazakhstan on top of the sky-high support of the Kazakh people.

"I'm embarrassed to say this, but I was very proud to be a Kazakh on this tour."