Empire of the Ring

"Eriksson, what do you think about our mega project?"

"Well, I didn't have to say a thing because you've made a perfect decision. It'll feel like an excessive amount of fund is used in the beginning, but you'll, in fact, save money in the end."

"Well, I'm flattered to hear your compliment."

"Also, please make sure to produce tap and sanitary wares at the royal territory. They are items that can be export-driven products if their designs are great."

"Is that so?"

"In advanced countries, labor costs are too expensive that they can't make products locally. But we have a huge workforce, don't we?"

"If we don't discriminate against them and treat them just like other residents, they will be a great power for us someday."

"I'm sure they will because they're given a new life because of you. Western Kazakhstan and the Arirang royal territory will become the hometown of Kurds."

"The problem is when more than a million people have settled here. I hope they don't ask for an autonomous state or independence."

"You won't have to worry about that at all. Kazakhstan is the only country in the world where more than 120 ethnic groups live in a single state system without any conflict. The Kurds will also learn about that soon. And the bottom line is that Princess Jelyan is also a Kurd. The fact that there was a kinship in the royal family means that this is a Kurdish country as well. Over time, they'll have a stronger perception of being a citizen of Kazakhstan."

Just like what Eriksson said, the Kurds were quickly finding stability because of Jelyan.

Nevertheless, there must be some people advocating nationalism, so Youngho could not put down his guard until the Kurds were fully assimilated here.

That was why he was rushing to build a multi-unit residence.

If they had a home, a job to look after their family, and a school for their children, they would make this their second home even if they did not want to be attached to the royal territory.

The longer they lived in the camps, the lower their quality of life would be, and they would not feel that they were residents of the state.

***

It was less than a week after confirming the partnership with Kim Joo-hyuk that South Korean builders came to the royal territory. Each of the leading Korean construction companies was lobbying to supply a little more supplies with their project plans.

Even though it was already announced that the lead manager was H Corporation, they believed that they could get more work if they targeted the leaders of the royal territory.

It was natural to think so since the project was paid directly by the Kazakh royal family, not by the financial sector.

Suh Min-seok was also one of the main targets of Korean companies. He was complaining that there were too many requests for a meeting to the extent that he could not even focus on his duties as a secretary.

"Your Grace, why don't you make an open bid? They even came to my office to bother me which is enough to paralyze my work."

"Is H Corporation not doing its job as a lead manager?"

"That's not true, but other companies are all working to get more orders because the royal family is financing the mega project."

"Summon President Kim. I'll decide after hearing what's going on."

In some cases, bidding for open competition could only raise the unit price of supplies through collusion, and companies could even lower the quality of building materials.

Although Youngho was not in a position to interfere with the situation, he worried that those companies might have approached Park Jong-il to lobby him if they approached Suh Min-seok.

Park Jong-il, who still had a lot of connections in Korea and Korean companies, would find it difficult to refuse requests from them. Then, only the Kazakh royal family would suffer from a bad reputation.

"Your Highness, I have no words to say. The competition for overseas orders is so intense that I can't control the companies these days."

"If we can't control it, we have no choice but to have an open bid."

If there was no answer to the competition among Korean companies, Youngho was going to attract other foreign companies as well.

When "open bidding" was mentioned, Kim Joo-hyuk's expression was solidified at once. He got eager to think that he would lose the state of being the lead manager of the mega project.

"We've agreed to set the construction volume by construction capacity, but it seems like some companies are trying to get more."

"Please let me know which companies are breaking their promises. I'll rule them out."

"If you give me another chance, H Corporation will take responsibility and control this. Please take into consideration the fact that some companies are suffering from job shortages."

"I don't intend to do charity work to help out Korean companies that have been hampered by lax management, so please take care of this situation by tomorrow."

Kim Joo-hyuk, who had never seen Young-ho speak so firmly before, was very embarrassed.

"Your Highness. The unsavory situation will be sorted out this time. Let go of your anger. I'll clean up the traffic by tomorrow."

The situation in the Korean construction industry, which was thirsty for overseas construction orders, was serious.

The reason was that the business environment deteriorated extremely due to unrest in the Middle East and Europe.

Looking inside, however, was largely due to the chronic over-the-top competition among Korean companies over overseas project orders.

First of all, the competition to win and lose work and reckless low-priced orders were causing huge losses and even a management crisis.

Now, they were bent over to make money over the multi-trillion-won project held at the royal territory.

If Korea's economy faltered, it would affect Korean companies in Kazakhstan, so Youngho wanted to help Korean construction companies but seeing their behavior made him sigh.

After many twists and turns, 14 Korean companies took charge of large and small blocks and signed construction contracts with the royal family.

Each company had won 400 million to 200 million dollars in order to build residential areas. Since there would be a series of other projects after the first part of the mega project, the companies seemed to expect more from the royal family, but Youngho did not mean to put the work on the Korean companies alone.

After the first housing construction was completed, the second city construction should also be given work to countries that had provided loans for the settlement of Kurds.

The first order was not only given to Korean companies since some civil engineering projects such as roads and water supply works and the two-block housing complexes were given to Kazakh construction companies.

For them, this would be an opportunity to learn Korea's advanced civil-building techniques while working with Korean construction companies.

By increasing the capabilities of domestic companies, Youngho was planning to win large-scale domestic construction and overseas work.

Some people might wonder about the capacity of Kazakhstan's builders, but they had been participating in various plant projects and construction projects in the country.

Foreign companies operating in Kazakhstan were required to have Kazakh construction companies as their own contractors as their business partners, so they were diligently acquiring advanced technologies.

If more engineers and technicians would be trained with advanced construction methods, Kazakh construction companies would not lose their construction business to foreign companies.

***

"What? When did that happen, and why hasn't anyone approached us? Dang, I missed a chance to get a free drink."

"I'm sure they've avoided us because they thought we'd all be like you, ignoring them after only getting a free drink."

Park Jong-il casually said.

"Certainly. Who here would fall for such a trick?"

"What would you do if your brothers in Korea asked a favor?"

"Hmm? Why are you talking about my brothers?"

"Wouldn't the builders know our personal information? They'd find a way to connect with your brothers in Korea somehow. Would it be easy to say no if your friends followed you and asked you for help?"

"That makes sense. I don't know about my first brother, but the second brother will definitely fall for it. But is the situation that bad for Korean builders?"

"The competition in the industry ruined it for all. Some of the companies that participated this time are said to be in a situation where they have to close down if they didn't win our order."

"Don't you have to stay away from such companies? If they were about to shut down, we don't know if they'll be able to complete our order."

"I thought it was a waste to let go of skills and know-hows accumulated for decades. I'd like to put my hands on them after seeing their work here."

"You want to take over those companies?"

"I'm just thinking about it."

"Would the situation change when you take over a company that's collapsing? Let's not take defeatist-ridden people and think about giving them a decent paycheck but make a new company instead. If you create a construction company in the royal family, talent will flock like clouds."

Park Jong-il's opinion sounded quite plausible as Youngho had only thought of taking over construction companies but did not think of creating a new one.

However, establishing a new company was a lot of work. Just because construction-related engineers were gathered, there was no guarantee that it would work.

Each company had its know-how, and such know-how and teamwork that was built from working together with each other for a long time could not be ignored.

That was why Youngho was trying to see if there were any construction companies that could be useful.

Aside from the housing project that was ordered this time, construction-related work pushed by the royal family was overflowing.

There was also a canal project in Russia and a Siberian development project.

Moreover, the docking and base work on the Greek island should be done. Such military facilities were a secret to the outside world and could not be entrusted to just anyone.