Empire of the Ring

The new export route was named the ‘New Silk Road’ but there was a long way to export Central Asia’s underground resources and grains.

It was a matter of months to get the right benefits from the lack of transportation infrastructure, and it was not a big benefit for Kazakhstan either.

There was an inconvenience of having to cross the Caspian Sea, although there would be a reduction in the cost of transportation due to the new railroad transportation.

Still, Russia’s Volga-Don Canal was serving as the main export and import route as the volume of logistics carried by sea was overwhelming, rather than by land.

The immediate priority was to improve the transportation infrastructure in Central Asia.

However, it was not an easy task to connect the distance that was about two-fifths of China’s land area like a spider’s web.

Kazakhstan, which was the wealthiest in Central Asia, was still like this, not to mention other countries. They were busy making ends meet so improving the transportation network was always pushed aside.

After accepting Kyrgyzstan as a federal state, Kazakhstan had invested heavily in its development, so now its living infrastructure level could now match Almaty’s level.

Kazakhstan was now investing in Tajikistan, but it was such an underdeveloped area that there were so many places to work on.

The problematic area was the Uzbek section. It was almost impossible to know where to start.

“Your Highness, why don’t you use the skyway to move logistics?”

It was Eriksson’s sudden suggestion.

“Do you think using airplanes is suitable for Central Asian economic conditions?”

“If it’s a propeller plane, not a jumbo jet, it’s not much of a burden.”

“Can we digest the logistics with that?”

“We can carry enough daily necessities by planes. That way, we will dramatically reduce traffic since we can distribute passengers and cargo by plane. That would give us some room on the existing tracks and roads.”

Given the reality of people relying only on roads and railroads for everything, it seemed that distributing the logistics would have a great impact.

Central Asia was where people had to risk their lives to drive because the traffic culture was not established. Poor driving culture and accidents were making the already poor road conditions worse.

“There is not a lot of room for cargo on a 16-seater or 32-seater plane.”

“Why don’t we produce a cargo place?”

“Do you want me to change the passenger plane to a cargo plane?”

“Of course we need to produce both. That’s how we can maximize traffic distribution.”

“The transportation costs will definitely be expensive.”

“We need to take advantage of an oil-producing country. If you lower the price of aviation oil to production costs, anyone can use it without any burden. People will be happy to open their wallets if they could shorten the two to three days’ distance to a few hours.”

Crossing Kazakhstan by car only required two days of traveling. Considering the cost of going to the destination, it would be rather profitable to pay for a slightly higher airfare.

It was funny that they were planning to produce outdated aircraft instead of jumbo jets in the 21st century, but there was no other alternative for cheap transportation.

Of course, it was not too burdensome because production costs were low.

“I admit that production costs and maintenance costs are cheap, but I feel like we’re going backward.”

“There is also the advantage of a propeller over a jet. It’s safer and not to mention—cheaper. In our reality, there is no better transportation than that. If we can introduce the latest propeller planes, we will also guarantee its safety.”

A jet should have a perfect runway system to prevent foreign bodies from being sucked into the engine, but a propeller could float and drop anywhere flat, so it cost a little to maintain. The propeller runway could be easily made by flattening and paving the ground.

“It sounds like a good idea. Then, I’d like you to map out specific plans. Let’s discuss the cargo plane production with Cessna.”

“Cessna will be active because it’s an opportunity to enter a new business.”

The old-fashioned technology, the propeller, was treated as a declining industry, so Cessna would welcome Eriksson’s proposal as he stressed that it was a market of more than 100 planes per year in Central Asia alone. Furthermore, it was an opportunity to target the Russian market.

***

Talks between Cessna and Kazakhstan on the production of the cargo plane went smoothly.

The company had nothing to lose because producing propellers was a generalized technology that could be produced by anyone with sufficient technical skills. Cessna was happy to have the old technology back on track.

Cessna executives’ visit to Kazakhstan came less than a week after the proposal was brought up. They came to figure out how many more production facilities should be built.

There were signs that they were in a hurry to discuss the matter as they thought that the royal family would have other companies in mind.

“Can you build a production line right away?”

“We need to fix the passenger production plant a little bit, but it’s not going to be a problem. With today’s production system, we’ll be able to make enough 20 units a year, but ultimately we’ll need to focus on assembly plants that can produce 100 units a year. And we need more hangars to store the finished goods.”

“Okay, that’s going to be resolved in the immediate future at the royal territory. Importing most parts from the U.S. is also expensive, so we’d like to increase the number of items available in Kazakhstan.”

“That’s easily possible. If you can only meet our quality standards, we’re planning to procure engines from here.”

“If you can transfer technology, I’d like to make it in the royal territory.”

“It’s not a great technology, and it’s an item that we’ve been working with the royal family, so we’ll actively consider technology transfers. Thanks to the royal family, the propeller, which had been classified as a declining industry, can maintain its reputation and make profits, so what more can we ask?”

Although Youngho expected some resistance for technology transfer, it rather surprised him that the executives of Cessna gladly accepted his request. It was not a huge technology for Cessna, but it was an advanced technology for Kazakhstan.

When Cessna said it would consider technology transfer, it was Eriksson who was most pleased.

“I guess I should have asked Cessna to transfer jet engine technology.”

“We can’t afford that kind of high technology, but the propeller engine is the right technology for the level of Kazakhstan. And while the propeller market is a declining industry, it also has the advantage of being in high demand. Recall that most of the military transport aircrafts are propeller-driven.”

“I guess we’re not in a position to choose.”

***

The excavation work on the slope leading to the underground cave was carried out earlier than scheduled with the completed work underway.

Originally, it was estimated that one kilometer of digging was needed to reach the cave, but the natural cave that connected to the cave from one-third of the site was discovered soon, saving time and effort.

Work lanterns were lit all over the cave, shining inside.

Youngho, who rushed to see the cave, was inwardly disappointed when it turned out to be a natural cave. He had expected something mysterious to be revealed.

“Dr. Park, this must have been a water route in the past.”

“That’s right. I think it was a pretty big one. The laser probe showed a small gap, so we went down this way. We were lucky to meet the cave.”

“Then this means that there was plenty of precipitation here in the past…”

“Considering that it was created tens of thousands of years ago, Central Asia probably wasn’t as deserted as it is today.”

“It wasn’t an artificial cave either.”

“Hahaha… There’s no recording that says there was a high civilization in Central Asia, so don’t expect anything.”

The cave was made out of solid rock and there was no fear of collapse. The square-shaped underground space of about 9km2 was perfect for an evacuation shelter in case of an emergency.

Park Young-sun said that the cave could be expanded as much as possible.

“Wouldn’t the cave collapse if we accidentally touch something while trying to expand it?”

“I’m not worried about that at all. Most of the cave is surrounded by granite, so it is quite strong. You can think it’s harder than concrete.”

“A little bomb won’t affect this place.”

“There won’t be a problem if the atomic bomb falls since this is deep underneath the ground.”

“I intend to make sure that many people can stay here, so talk to the construction director to make it more efficient.”

“We’ll also consider continuing to expand along the waterway if necessary.”

“If it’s safe, expand it no matter how much it costs. And extend the entry into the cave to allow vehicles to enter, and make sure that we have entrances of the cave spaced out at regular intervals.”

“You’re going to make it a fortress.”

“I’m just trying to prepare for an emergency situation. It’s reassuring to know that such a safe shelter exists.”

“We should also consider housing space and warehouses then.”

Park Young-sun drew a rough blueprint for the cave.

Youngho was nodding to the meticulousness of mentioning air purification systems and excrement treatment facilities. It seemed that it would be a perfect shelter.

“First of all, I’ll try to convert it into a shelter that people can stay for a year. It’s too much to live underground for more than a year. If I have to stay here for a year, it’s going to feel like the end of the world for me.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we had a device like the artificial sun?”

“It’s possible, but what’s the point of being more alive when the whole Earth is dead?”

“Come on, we have to survive even in that situation. There’s natural healing power, so it’ll be purified someday.”

Although the Earth was not immediately going to fall apart at all, preparing for a rainy day made Youngho happy. It was a luxurious thing to do. If the royal territory was poor, it would not have been able to focus on such a cave.

There was a leisurely smile on the face of Youngho as he left the cave.