Empire of the Ring

Lt. Col. Klimov, commander of the Krasnoyarsk region, had been in the region's base for years.

The reason for remaining in the cold Siberia where winter lasted for 7 months was because he was after money. While working at the border would give him a chance to get a promotion, he was having a lot of fun making money.

If he suffered here for the next few years, he could buy a nice house in Moscow, open a coffee shop in downtown, and spend his later years comfortably. That was why he was eager to do any business with the Kazakh royal family.

His duty of monitoring illegal logging and hunting in the taiga region of Siberia had long been on the back burner, and even his troops had been involved in the diamond collection and hunting.

His soldiers also considered serving in the Krasnoyarsk garrison as a lax and easy job. There was not much training, and all they had to do were collecting stones by the riverside in the summer and hunting animals for their skin in the winter.

In addition to that, it was widely regarded as the best place to work, as they received more money than soldiers at a higher level of command and given more abundant supplies and better facilities.

"You would've been welcomed even if you came empty-handed. Why did you bring these? How's the Duke?"

Klimov was delighted to see a box of vodka and cigarettes. The favorite gifts of Russian soldiers in remote areas were vodka and cigarettes by far.

"The Duke couldn't make it because of the Syrian matter, so I came here on behalf of him."

"He's now a politician recognized by the world, and it'd be rather strange if he visited this remote place himself. Maybe you could come here from now on, Mr. Suh. Let's hunt together in the forest and build our friendship."

Min-seok freaked to hear his suggestion to go hunting in the woods. He had no choice but to come to Siberia because he said he would go first, but now Klimov was asking him to be the point of contact and to go into the woods and hunt with him.

"I'm here for this time. Also, since I service His Highness, it's not good for me to leave my office so often. Besides, I don't have much of a hobby in hunting."

"You have no idea how thrilling it is to hunt wolves or bears in the woods. I'll tell you what. Let's go out right now."

Klimov looked like he was going to go hunting right away, which drove Suh Min-seok crazy as he was someone who could not even catch rabbits, let alone wolves.

He was in trouble as it was also impolite to refuse Klimov's suggestion.

"I have another schedule here, so I don't have time to leisurely hunt. We need to take a rain check."

"That's a bummer. I was going to show you the beauty of hunting. Then, next time you visit, let's go hunting together."

"Speaking of hunting, could you supply more taiga fox skins?"

"It's not easy to catch them, and there are not a lot of people looking for fox skins. You know Russian women prefer wolf fur than fox fur, don't you?"

Almost all processed fur-skin products from Kazakhstan were exported to Russia, as Russian women especially love wolf skins. They especially loved the brown wolf fur produced in Kazakhstan as they made them look stronger.

Russian women attempted to be as strong as men, preferring rough wolf hair to soft fox fur when picking fur.

"We'd like to export it to Europe. Ladies in Europe prefer fox fur."

"I guess European ladies don't know how warm the wolf fur is. Then, we will target foxes as well in this winter. It's hard to collect diamonds in the winter anyway."

Min-seok was not sure if he was talking to a merchant or a soldier. In fact, Klimov was closer to a merchant than a soldier.

"Lieutenant Commander, I'll take the liberty of asking you. Doesn't the military send you inspectors to conduct an on-site inspection?"

"Hahaha… I know why you are asking this. Don't worry about anything. Who will come all the way to this remote area? In the summer, there are mosquitoes waiting in the heat, and in the winter, there are severe colds waiting. Even if they visited us, they'd be busy going back without staying for even a few hours."

Except for frontline units, the Russian military did not provide a lot of supplies to troops and pay a lot of attention to them.

"Then I guess I can rest assured."

"I intend to end my military career here. His Highness is behind me, so I don't have to go serve in another location. Five more years of service will lead me to the retirement age. I'll find someone to succeed me."

The idea of seeking a successor meant that he was determined to work for the Duke of Kazakhstan. He knew that the Duke would reward him for such a job as the site here was like a goose that laid golden eggs.

"His Highness thinks of you as a special person. If you need anything, please tell the person in charge of the logging site at any time. We'll arrange for immediate help."

"I'm getting a lot of help now, but could you give me more combat food this winter, too? If you could, it would also help encourage the soldiers who need to hunt."

He was demanding combat food even though there were supplies. It must be either because of the lack of supplies or he was siphoning them for personal use.

"We will provide enough combat food. By the way, do you have any stones collected during the summer? The logging manager said he hasn't gotten it yet."

"We couldn't mobilize many soldiers because of the maintenance of our camp. Don't worry, we'll be able to meet our goal by next month."

"I see. As soon as we receive it, we will make an appraisal and deposit it into your personal account."

Most of the diamond stones collected by Klimov's unit were high-quality ones that were processed for jewelry.

As the unit was in charge of the region, the soldiers were able to navigate large and small rivers that stretched like cobwebs across the taiga region.

"Please thank the Duke for me."

***

"I almost got dragged to the hunting ground."

-Hahaha…

"It's not a laughing matter. You know how big the wolves and bears are in the taiga region."

-You've practiced shooting at the Royal Bodyguards' training ground. And you're scared of wolves?

"Was that a firing drill? I didn't even shoot a few times but just did physical drills. I'm not going to go for shooting training again."

-So why did you go to Commander Klimov's unit? It wasn't on the schedule.

"Since I'm in Krasnoyarsk, I should look around. I was there to represent His Highness. So, wouldn't it be bad if I didn't show my face there? Well, now that I'm done here, I'm going to take the Trans-Siberian Train."

-Sorry to break this to you, but I think you should revise your plan. You'll have to take the train another time. His Highness will be visiting Moscow soon. You have a lot to prepare here, so you have to come back.

"But Chief Kim, I'm on vacation."

-I know, but if you were on schedule, you should've already taken the train and been preparing to come back.

"It got delayed in Krasnoyarsk."

-So why are you visiting a military unit when you don't need to? Stop talking and get back here.

"No. If I do that, I'll get your hair pulled out by In-hwa."

-That's your situation.

"Oh! You can't do this. When does His Highness leave for Moscow?"

-He'll be there in a week.

"Then there's plenty of time. I'll take the train for two days and go right back."

-Hey, are there only one or two things you need to do in advance from the secretary's office before His Highness leaves for Moscow? Just take the half-day ride and come right back.

"Why are you telling me this suddenly?"

-Are you saying His Highness has to fit in with your schedule? We gave you enough time off but it's your fault for not taking advantage of it fully. I'm going to Moscow to discuss security services in the morning of the day after tomorrow, so do as I say, okay?

"Wow! This is driving me crazy."

-Hahaha…

Min-seok revised his ambitious plan to ride the Trans-Siberian Train for a few days and had to return to the royal territory after a half-day ride.

There was a lot of work for Min-seok if the Duke went to Moscow. He had an earful from In-hwa on the way back, but he felt a sense of achievement as he finished his duty in Krasnoyarsk well this time.

There were not a few things to show off to the Duke.

He followed the path Youngho had already paved, but his visit had accomplished a lot. He even built up the status of the Duke of Kazakhstan by making up words.

***

"You went through a lot of trouble. I heard you did a great job this time."

"I haven't done much since you've already set the business connections there. From now on, I'll take your place."

"I'd appreciate that. But you said you only took the Trans-Siberian train for a little bit?"

"With only half a day, I could enjoy the atmosphere of Siberia to the fullest. When the trans-Siberian train is modernized, we plan to ride for the entire section."

"You'll probably have to wait another 10 years for that to happen."

"Your Highness, how do you view the Siberian Railway business? If we invest in the Far East railway as a royal family, we may be able to modernize it more quickly, and the logistics of Kazakhstan will be much better."

The Trans-Siberian Railway, which began in Vladivostok, was in a hurry to modernize from the outset because the Far East section was the most backward, but due to Russia's economic difficulties, the modernization work was slow.

It was not sure what he heard during his trip to Siberia, but Min-seok was now proposing a railroad project in the Far East.

"Oh! You want to invest in the Trans-Siberian Railway? Is there any economy?"

"Yes, I think there is enough economics. First of all, if H-Rotem Kazakh factory produces and supplies electric cars, the transportation cost will be reduced and the price will be the same as delivering to Korea since Russia doesn't charge tax."

"That's a very good idea. We might be able to work out a contract when we go to Moscow this time."

Youngho needed a carrot to throw to Putin for the use of the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

If he presented a carrot that he would invest in the Siberian railway project, he might easily secure the right to use the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

The White Sea-Baltic Canal was a canal built in the 1930s by the Russian Navy to help ease the inconvenience of traveling around the Scandinavian Peninsula.

It was also a canal that was made for military purposes and was not available to anyone.

Youngho was going to try to persuade Putin as it was a necessary canal for his Siberian business. If he could travel the canal, he could save as much as 4,000 kilometers of traveling distance.