Empire of the Ring

“Boss, I didn’t think I would live in a paradise like this. I’ve become close to my daughter that we exchange jokes now. Thank you for taking us in, again.”

After hunting for a long time, Youngho and the family were having a barbecue party. They were drinking sitting around a bonfire and Park Youngsun thanked Youngho in tears.

“You shouldn’t thank me. I’m the one who needed you and did not let you go. I’m thankful for your presence.”

“No, I’m living in a dream since I can finally spend peaceful days with my daughter. It’s all because of you.”

“I hope you can expand your dream as a geologist too, going to Kazakhstan and here back and forth. I can sleep well ever since you came here, Dr. Park. I have not worried about the farm site.”

“Even if you force me to leave, I won’t be going anywhere, Boss. I hope I can work for you for many years.”

“How could I dare to chase you away? Look, your daughter Seoyoung over there will never let that happen.”

On another side of the yard, Park Seoyoung, the daughter of Park Youngsun, was trying raw deer meat for the first time in her life.

Youngho wondered how Park Youngsun could have lived so far away leaving her daughter behind since he loved his daughter so dearly. He could have not done that just for money. It was because he had a clear vision and sense of duty for his nation and people.

To Youngho, he looked like an independence fighter of Korean history. Youngho was not sure what specific goals drove him to the remote places but one thing was certain, he needed someone like Dr. Park.

The body of the corporation had been bloating and Youngho was in need of someone trustworthy and bright so that he could expand his organization and business branches. A person who can do one job well can complete other jobs given to him wisely too.

Youngho or his friends had limits to their capabilities. They were better at physical work since they had no management experiences for large corporations but Park Youngsun had plenty of experiences in public enterprise. Not to mention, he was one of the top experts in the study of his expertise. Youngho thought that someone like him could be a leader of one organization, like the Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan.

The reason that Youngho decided to make a farm on a dry wasteland was based on the thought of drawing water from the Ural River. However, with Park Youngsun’s appearance, it seemed that he might find an easier way.

After looking around the site for a short while, Park Youngsun had already figured that there was plenty of underground water being sustained. His theory was the amount of grass on the farm site could not be grown in a region with only 200 millimeters of precipitation. It could only be explained to say that there was a thin layer of clay underground which kept moistures and distributed water for grass. Also, the clay layer was very dense, and it could be trapping water underground. According to him, it was highly possible since Atyrau was located at the delta of the lower class of the Ural River.

Youngho was exuberated to hear this since it could dramatically shorten the development duration if he did not have to undergo waterway construction.

***

“Fatima, you don’t want to fly on the airplane?”

“Zeynep said it was about the size of a small car, are you sure it’s safe? I’m going to wait until you buy a bigger one for now.”

“It’s an airplane proven to be safe by the world. The company had sold 40,000 of the same model. I’m sure there is a reason.”

“Honey, you’re not afraid?”

“I felt dead scared in the beginning but now I feel comfortable. Unless the pilot makes a bad mistake, there won’t be any problem.”

Looking at Fatima’s face, Youngho could see that she was curious but because of the size of the airplane, she did not feel comfortable coming on board.

Although she did not show it very much, she was a person as curious as Zeynep. She decided to go back to school as soon as Leon begins to walk by himself.

She wanted to change her major that she was studying in her freshman year. Now her motivation to study computer science was driving her.

“You can go to Kazakhstan in three hours? Please take me to the new farm when the new airplane is delivered. By the way, Szechenyi said he’s not going to stay in the school dorm but will be commuting from his aunt. Is Yunsuh unni fine with that?”

“Well, that’s actually better. She said the store gets a lot of hoodlums in town. If Szechenyi shows up there, everyone would have to stay in a hospital. Yunsuh and Sangchun loved the idea, and what about their kids? They sure love their uncle.”

“I just don’t want them to feel uncomfortable because of Szechenyi.”

“Szechenyi is family to them. What are you talking about? They love him. Besides, he decided to stay in their place for a reason.”

Szechenyi would be leaving to Frankfurt soon since he was accepted in Goethe University. Fatima was feeling bad that her little brother was leaving to an unknown place alone.

“Fatima, Szechenyi is an adult now. He needs to learn to stand alone so that I’ll be able to trust my business to him in the future.”

“We haven’t been apart from each other for our entire lives. Will I be able to visit him whenever I want?”

“For sure. How about this? Whenever I go to Frankfurt for a meeting, I’ll take you with me.”

At Youngho’s assurance, Fatima finally smiled.

Youngho had not thought how close the siblings were and how Fatima was feeling about Szechenyi leaving. She had been feeding him a lot every meal time and Youngho did not see that it was because she was feeling sad for him.

Although Frankfurt was only a few hours away from Baku by airplane, she was sad that their goodbye was nearing. Youngho felt guilty that he had not been spending time with Fatima lately in an excuse of being busy. Since she was with Leon and surrounded by the Serbian descendants who cared for her, he did not try to take care of her anymore. He did not want to be that guy who would not care for his woman anymore after getting married but it seemed that he had been neglecting her lately.

Feeling sorry, Youngho tenderly hugged Fatima as if she was a delicate crystal that could easily break. Looking at his complicated face, she also reciprocated his hug with a smile on her face.

***

Chief Niksic visited the farm to see Fatima. It was an unusual move for him since Youngho and Fatima visited the farm often to see him and other Serbian descendants.

“Chief Niksic, what brings you here? I would’ve come if you contacted me.”

“It’s natural for a subordinate person to pay a visit to his superior. It’ll be rude of me if I always wait for you to visit us.”

Youngho did not agree but since the Serbian descendants were so particular about their Archduchess, he did not say anything.

It looked like old Niksic must have some important issue to discuss since he came in such hot weather.

Youngho, Fatima, and Niksic sat down at his study with a cup of tea. After looking around the study, Niksic opened his mouth.

“I wanted to ask a big favor to you.”

Looking at his face, it did not seem like he was going to talk about a serious issue. Youngho was curious.

A few moments later, with a satisfying look on his face, Niksic looked at Youngho.

“So, you’re saying we should take Serbian refugees.”

“They are not refugees. Where you and the Archduchess are is the kingdom where your power reaches. They’ll be immigrants, not refugees.”

According to Niksic, Serbia had been going through many calamities like earthquakes and flooding, and many people had found refuges. The descendants of the Serbian Kingdom who had been living in Serbia had heard the news about the Archduchess’ existence and they had already started packing to migrate to the farm. Niksic wanted to take them at the Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan but that was absurd since the construction of the residential town had not even started yet.

“I can’t stop people who come to see Fatima but we don’t even have basic facilities ready for them just yet. It’s going to be winter soon and I can’t let them camp out in the open.”

“I know what you’re worried about but the situation is the same in Serbia. Since the farm site is on a plain, can’t we at least try building yurts* for them?”

Niksic was almost nagging, but Youngho could not agree to receive refugees there since he did not know the population of them just yet. Also, he would have to get permission from the Kazakh government.

However, since the descendants were already getting ready to move and it was something he could not stop in advance, he decided to prepare for any possibilities.

Located in the middle of the Balkan Peninsula, Serbia was a landlocked country. It was impossible to take them all on an airplane, let alone taking their belongings. It would be possible to transport them if they came to the Black Sea since they could use the Volga-Don Canal to get to Kazakhstan. In order for them to reach the Black Sea, they would have to pass through Bulgaria and use the Port of Burgas.

People could use airplanes and their belongings could be shipped in containers. However, it would not make sense to use such huge amount of transportation fee to move their old belongings that did not cost much, but it would not be ideal for them to throw away all of their belongings either since they would need basic necessities and cookware in order to live on the farm in Kazakhstan.

Another concern was arranging vessels at the Port of Burgas. Youngho was not sure if he would be able to arrange large vessels just in time.

***

“Man, they might all die in the cold if we accept them right now when the town is not ready. Besides, how are you going to get all the ships you need to transport them?”

“Then, what do I do? There are 228 families of 1,152 people who are ready to emigrate right now.”

“Man, I guess they don’t have tight family plans there. Why do they have so many children? Three or four children are normal.”

Youngho agreed on Jongil’s thought but he could see why Serbian immigrants tended to have big families. Many families of Eastern Europe where they worked in the dairy industry tended to have bigger families since more family members meant more workers. Kids would begin to help to milk sheep and to shepherd from early ages. So, it was not a big deal for a healthy couple to have three and four children as Korea used to be in the 50s and 60s.

***

“This is how good I am. Who could’ve arranged these ferries if it weren’t me?”

Youngho’s ear was hurting listening to Jongil’s constant bragging.

Jongil had called Mustafa in Istanbul and managed to arrange three car ferry ships that went around the Bosporus Strait.

Youngho had not thought about the numerous ships that went from East to West of Istanbul. Since there were plenty of small and large car ferries, it was not a difficult job for Mustafa to arrange three ships from there.

Three ships that could pass through the Volga-Don Canal could transport the whole immigrants and their belongings.

Jongil also bragged that he had ordered nomad’s yurts from Kim Chun in Atyrau. Although it was already mentioned by Niksic, Youngho flattered Jongil for his bright idea to use car ferry ships from Istanbul.

Flattered by Youngho’s compliments, Jongil was now speaking nonsense.

“Man! A boss should be able to take care of any issues. I feel like I’ll make a better boss than you. You should be my secretary.”

“Alright then. Why don’t you become a boss for real instead of me? Then I’m going to travel with Fatima and Leon.”

“If you step down to my secretary, you’d be busy with more physical work. You won’t have time for that!”

Anyway, Jongil’s idea had resolved the issue of transporting the Serbian immigrants. Youngho would still have to figure out how he could keep them warm throughout the cold season but he was not worried for they will surely figure out something. Now, he would have to pick some bright Serbian descendants from the village and set off to the Port of Burgas to greet the new immigrants.

*yurt- portable tents, traditionally used by Mongolian and Turkic nomads