Empire of the Ring

"Intelligence Chief. You should begin an internal investigation into the power elite group in Tajikistan. Freeze the domestic assets of those involved in corruption who have already left the scene."

At Youngho's order, Park Jong-il answered without hesitation for a second, "I will do as you said."

The conference room was chilled in an instant.

This was because the bloodbath that occurred in Kazakhstan in the early days of its rise as a constitutional monarchy would soon occur in Tajikistan.

"Your Highness, isn't that a little premature?"

Kasim, the Prime Minister, tried to dissuade Youngho.

"Mr. Prime Minister, if we don't settle it now, our chances will be lost forever. Now that Tajikistan became a federal state, its past corruption should be washed clean. It's what the Tajik people want as well."

"There may be a backlash."

"Intelligence Chief, please explain what you know."

"Yes, Your Highness. I can't go into details here, but we discovered a group that is unhappy with the results of the vote and is secretly moving. The intelligence service believes that if we don't respond preemptively, it will develop into a bigger force."

When Park Jong-il briefed it quickly, questions poured in from all over the place.

"Is it a political group or military group?"

"The military is already under the control of the Royal guards and Royal Armored Division. Besides, it was cooperative from the start."

"After all, you were a politician, but it's strange that they agreed to the referendum."

"They thought that they could maintain their positions even if the country was incorporated into the federation."

"Don't we need carrots to stop the potential bleeding?"

"Such a strong backlash from the establishment helps stabilize Tajikistan early. I think people will eventually turn their backs on leadership."

"I'm afraid the bloodshed will damage our royal family."

"We are well aware of the concerns of many Cabinet members, but this is something that we have to figure out for once."

Park Jong-il was making the armed conflict a fait accompli.

This meant that there were those who oppose the inclusion, big or small.

Although the name of the nation had not changed, there would also be systematic resistance from the nationalists as its status as an independent nation no longer existed.

Tajikistan had been independent from the Soviet Union, but its defense had been left to Russia, and now Kazakhstan took it over and was defending it from China due to Russia's economic difficulties.

The country was poor with less than 7.8 billion dollars in gross national income and had maintained diplomatic relations with only a few countries. In such a situation, there was no advantage in keeping the corrupt establishment intact.

The new wine would not last until it was put in a new bag.

If the government did not drive out corrupt and incompetent politicians and vested interests, no matter how much money was poured into the people's welfare, it would only lead to fulfilling the belly of those who already had more than enough.

***

"How can you announce that openly when we don't know if any of the Cabinet members are connected to the leadership of Tajikistan?" Returning to his office after the Cabinet meeting, Youngho asked Jong-il.

"Of course, it was meant for them to hear."

"…"

"We have already taken control of the presidential security forces, the military, and the police, so don't worry."

"What about the members of the hard-line Islamic Party?"

"Most of them became members of the party because they can't make ends meet, and in fact, they are the ones who stood up to oust existing political forces. In a way, they are true patriots."

"In the end, they are hard-line nationalists united in the name of religion."

"It is a little vague to call them nationalists because they are a complex group encompassing many ethnic groups. I found out that it was surprisingly favorable to our royal family. If you think about the fact that there are quite a few of them in the militia too, it's more like a friendly force to us."

It was surprising that the Islamist party, known as the hardliners, was in favor of the Kazakh royal family.

"You said there are about 170,000 members, didn't you?"

"Yes. Most of them are young people. How about we take them as our royal family's force?"

"It's all right, but… how do the residents see the Islamic Party?"

"Despite the party's name, it has very little religious color. It is like a civic group that is led by young people and is determined to wipe out corruption in the country."

"Okay. Meet the leader of the party and see if we can use it as a royal force."

"Would you fund it, if he's a good fit?"

"Yes, I will, and take a look at the movement on the Chinese side as well."

China was by far the most sensitive country to the Tajikistan referendum.

It had gone to great lengths to manipulate pro-Chinese politicians from behind to thwart the referendum, but its effort had gone to waste.

Considering that it had worked hard on Central Asia, it could not be in favor of Kazakhstan.

If it was in Eastern Europe or Southeast Asia, it was impossible to establish a federal-state relationship centered on a main country.

Central Asia, however, was a place where numerous ethnic groups had long coexisted, allowing countries to be incorporated into federal states.

Kazakhstan alone had about 120 ethnic groups, and the rest of the Central Asian countries consisted of dozens of ethnic groups.

"It's quiet on the Pamir Plateau's side, but I have no idea what's going on there."

"Request British Intelligence to get inland data."

"Eek, I have to ask for it again…"

"What are you talking about? Doesn't Britain provide military satellite data?"

"There's a limit to getting a free pass every time. Originally, we have to pay for the use of military satellites…"

"Did Russia ask us to pay a fee for using it?"

"No, but it hurts our pride to borrow it."

"So, shall we launch a military satellite?"

"No, it's not a penny or two. It's better to lose face."

"It's not about our face. We have nuclear submarines and Aegis destroyers, and it's time we have our own military satellites. We need to look all over China, too."

"It would cost a lot, and there should be satellite projectiles…"

"We have a Baikonur Cosmodrome. What's the matter? Talk to Russia and ask to launch a military satellite. I sold nuclear submarines, but I don't think military satellites would be too much of a burden."

"Oh! That'll do."

"If we invested a little more, we can use it for multiple purposes such as telecommunications and weather, so let's have a satellite of our own."

***

"Your Highness, we have an answer from Russia."

Suh Min-seok entered the office with a document from Russia in his hand.

"Already? How much is the launch cost?"

"The projectile is 120 million dollars and the satellite is about 200 million dollars on average, depending on the type of satellite. The launch date is six months from now."

"The satellite will be completed in six months? It's the time when we take over the nuclear submarines."

The delivery of the two submarines currently under repair at the White Sea 402 Naval Shipyard was six months later.

There was enough time to complete the training of submarine crew members and turn them into full-fledged workers until then.

"The time has been cut because the Russian government gave up a satellite that was being assembled."

"There are more than a hundred satellites floating in space. It's not exactly giving up."

"They just said it to show off."

Only recently did Youngho found out the number of satellites in space—786 from the United States, 139 from Russia, 203 from China, 44 from Britain, 50 from India, and 65 from Japan.

South Korea also had eight satellites, but it had yet to have a military satellite.

In the case of Russia, only about ten military satellites out of 139 satellites were known.

"It's cheaper than the U.S., so I'll have to get the Russian one."

"The U.S. will be disappointed."

"I can't help it. It's much cheaper to shoot from our space station."

"Your Grace, there are several military satellites—surveillance satellites, communications satellites, and navigation satellites. You have to choose one of them."

"Choose what? We have to fly all of them at once. Without any one of them, we would be like a body missing a limb. We have to shoot them all at once to save money. Call Director Park."

Park Jong-il rushed to the office like a bullet, hearing that military satellite data had arrived.

"You already heard from Suh Min-seok, didn't you?"

"You said you'll fly all of them."

"Yes, we need all of them, or it won't be complete. We would save money if we shoot them all at once. We have a mobile fleet, so we need a communications satellite and a navigation satellite."

"It's going to cost a lot of money…"

"It's for security's sake. It's not like we don't have any money."

"When can we use them?"

"Russia is offering us its satellite."

"I guess Russia is in such a hurry, too, seeing them concede military satellites."

"Well, it probably made a concession because it doesn't need it right now. If there's a security breach, would you have given up its satellite?"

"No. I think Russia is really having a difficult time. It's relying too much on us these days."

"Well, anyway, let's launch all three of them because if anyone of them is missing, there will be a hole."

"It's welcome by me."

"The data says we can even identify license plates on personal vehicles, so you can utilize it for many purposes. Also, see if there's any other way to use it in addition to military use."

"Sure, but who's going to be in charge of the management?"

"Since the original purpose is for military purposes, why not let the Intelligence Department and the Defense Department become the main body and the private sector access only the communications satellite?"

"Why don't you make a new department instead? If the management entity is dualized, it will be hard to clarify who's responsible, and there is a possibility of a leadership struggle."

"I'll have to tell Prime Minister Kasim in advance."

"Now the satellite era is finally open."

"In the future, we need to acquire the technology to launch our own satellites, but try to recruit Russian engineers."

"Russia won't like it if we steal its engineers…"

"There must be quite a few engineers who have been pushed out of the mainstream, just like the time when you recruited air engineers from Russia."

"Then we'll have to bring along the ballistic missile technicians together, right?"

"Why is the ballistic missile coming out of here?"

"We have to launch the satellite ourselves."

"All right. I don't care how much it costs, so just bring it in."