Empire of the Ring

Previously at the general secretary’s house, Youngho and Jong-il found a huge safe in the basement. He had stored all the rough diamonds he had collected in Siberia for the past two months. All of the diamonds were in a leather pouch. There were some Russian rubles and dollars, but he begged not to touch the cash because it was the salary for the employees.

Youngho and Jong-il did not touch the cash, but it was quite stupid of him to ask not to take the cash because if thieves broke into someone’s house, they would prefer cash. Soon, the security department agents came to the house to find out if everything was okay, and he would have to report the missing valuables to them. When the agents found out that everything but the cash was stolen, they would accuse him of taking the other valuables. It would be wiser to report that everything was stolen including the cash.

When Youngho and Jong-il came back to the office and opened the leather pouch, they found at least 4,000 small and big rough diamonds.

“If the collection of only two months was this many, how many diamonds have been transported to China so far?”

Although most of the raw diamonds seemed like industrial grade, it would still make an enormous difference for companies and countries because diamonds could be used for anywhere that needed for the strongest hardness, a high conductivity, a small thermal expansion coefficient, and a high acid resistance. The amount was not something that could be collected in two months. It seemed that the Chinese government worked under pressure to get as many as they could in a short period of time fearing that Russia might find out about it.

The day after Youngho and Jong-il came back to the state, they heard that the general secretary of the Chinese enterprise went missing. Later, they found out that the guy took all the money and ran away that very same night. He had lied about the money being the employees’ pay. But it was unsure why he decided to run away rather than lying to the government. Maybe he feared that mafias would continuously bother him.

“Lucky. I guess we can do it again. The Chinese government would think that the general secretary even took all the diamonds.”

“Hmm… Wouldn’t they leave the diamonds in their office instead of a house now? We can’t carry a large safe, and we do not know how to pick a lock either.”

“We need to learn how to pick a lock from an expert.”

“It won’t take long for you to learn since you’re a smarty.”

“Let’s find a guy who can teach us that, or we can find a guy who knows the password for the safe.”

They were thinking about robbing the office for a few more times, but they did not need to do it. Since the general secretary went missing, the Chinese government would have to be more cautious about their move from now on. It would not dare to think of collecting in another area.

Youngho did not report the Chinese company’s illegal exploitation of resources because he feared that the Russian government might find out about the raw diamonds in his logging area. Since he had not signed the official contract with the Russian government yet, the government could ask Youngho to stop his business in the Taiga region. Youngho wanted to sign the contract as soon as he could, so he called Yaniv.

“Mr. Yaniv. We are done preparing for the logging business in Siberia. We’d like to proceed with the official process to contract with the government. Do you mind if I contact the government officials?”

“Let me handle that for you as your agent. Something good must happen since you are rushing.”

“We found out that our ships can travel for at least five months in the thawing season. We would like to get lumbers as soon as we can.”

“You’ve only had a few small ships. You won’t be able to move a lot anyway.”

“We need to move our equipment as well. I would rather bring some lumber back to the state than nothing.”

“I see. I will contact Moscow and let you know soon.”

***

Car ferries from the Yenisei River came back full of lumbers. As the lumbers arrived, Kim Chun, of course, was the busiest person at Arirang Wharf. He talked to Hong Sung-ki about the voyage and walked around the cargo section to check out the lumber.

“We should get a gift for Sung-ki. I bet he took some serious risks to get all these lumber.”

“I’ve heard they worked in the swamp area to get them. It had to be very difficult and dangerous. This was only a trial logging before signing the contract. I don’t think we can do it again until we sign the contract.”

“I get it. I’ll wait until the contract is signed then. I have also heard the hardship they went through. I am happy with what they have brought.”

“Sung-ki tried really hard to impress you by the way.”

“Impress me? For what?”

“Do you remember that he was planning on living with his parents after his wedding? I think he wants a nice house and some farming land near the city area.”

“It won’t be difficult to arrange that. I will surely make it work for him.”

“This is why they call you the real boss, commissioner. I am just a puppet for you.”

“Huh?”

“Hahaha…”

Lumber was the major building material especially for a country like Kazakhstan where insulation was essential. The exterior might be bricks and stones, but people preferred wood for interior finishing. Since the state could have its own lumber now, people of the state did not have to worry about using expensive lumber from Volgograd.

“Mr. CEO. I am so glad that we don’t need to think about the lumber cost anymore. Commissioner Kim kept giving us a look whenever we used too many lumber and wood materials, but those days are in the past now.”

“Did he really?”

“Even if he didn’t, everyone would’ve been really careful with such expensive material anyway. I’m glad we don’t have to worry about it anymore!”

“We have enough for the state. So use them away.”

“The hotel is about to be done. We will use a little more wood for finishing. It would look more natural and warm.”

“Soon, we will start making furniture in our state. If you could gather some people to work on the project, it would be nice.”

“Some wood craftsmen were already asking me about it. How about we build a furniture factory?”

“If we have the technology to do it, why not? Why don’t you discuss it with Commissioner Kim?”

If the state could have a few furniture factories, it would greatly improve the life of the residents. The lumber would also help out with the shipyard as well.

Since many mentioned about the furniture factory, Kim Chun got excited.

“Boss. We will make an office furniture factory and a home furniture factory. A lumber factory for a shipyard can come in handy too. If we were to make beds, all we need to do for a bed is import some mattress. We can make the bedframes in our factory.”

“I will leave that to you. Let’s make sure to build a factory big enough to compete with other furniture factories.”

“We already have the site for the factories. We left the place that used to be the open-storage yard for empty minerals. Even after stacking all the lumbers there, we still have a lot of space for factories.”

“The shipyard was planning on using some part of it. Do you think we still have enough room?”

“Of course, the lot is enormous. I will manage the space.”

“That sounds like the most convenient place for the factories because it’s close to the wharf. We can save time and money to transport the lumber.”

***

The board members of the state had gathered at the conference room in the administration department. Youngho summoned everyone. The coronation of the Archduchess was planned to be held in June, but the state was still busy with the process of all of their work. So Youngho wanted to ask if they could postpone the coronation. Farming and ranching villages were still in the process of being built.

“It would be more reasonable to have the coronation ceremony in September when the harvest was over. Since we have a big wedding in October in Denmark, the coronation will be a simple ceremony.”

“We will support your decision. It doesn’t need to be rushed. The Archduchess won’t be happy if we just rush the crowning ceremony not considering the circumstances.”

“Alright, Elder Niksic agreed. Any other opinion?”

“She is already respected by Serbians as the Archduchess. I agree that we don’t need to rush this issue. But I am concerned about how state residents from other places would take the crowning. I think we should ask other ethnic people’s opinions about this as well.”

“Prince consort, I don’t think that’s something we should be doing. The state was originally built for Serbians. Kazakhs and Koryoins already knew about this when they decided to move in. I don’t think it’s necessary to think about their reaction.”

“Elder Niksic, This place is going to be a multicultural state. I don’t own this place, but the residents do. If we forcibly make them comply with the Archduke family system, how long do you think it would last? We will have the coronation when everyone agrees.”

The debate went on for a while without a conclusion. Kim Chun got upset as the debate went on.

“Boss. I have never seen any Kazakh or Koryoin who opposed the Archduchess system. If you truly think that way, why don’t we let the residents take a vote?”

“Majority of the residents are Serbians anyway. It would be pointless.”

“We can have a democratic justification at least. We can also tell the future immigrants about how the system was decided.”

“This is technically your own property. Who would dare to oppose your policy?”

After having another long debate and sharing their opinion, they gradually reached a conclusion.

“Okay. We’ve decided to have a residential vote to sort this out.”

“Are you going to have a vote every single time? You need to rethink this.”

Old Niksic kept complaining about the decision because he thought it would have no point because the majority of the residents were Serbians anyway.

“We do not know that. I am following the board’s decision. I just cannot accept that we are going to the Archduke family system in the 21st century without a democratic agreement from the residents. If leaders decide everything, there will be backfires from the residents soon. It might look pointless, but we need this.”

“Justification is important, but I am afraid that the sudden change in how we originally do things will cause disputes. I think they would be more proud to have a figure of importance that they can mentally depend on.”

He might have a point, but this was a necessary process. If the system could not be approved by the multicultural residents, the whole crowning would not have much meaning to it.