Empire of the Ring

Yaniv’s mansion in Volgograd was busier than ever now.

It was because the mafia organization was having a promotional evaluation for all mafias. They would be receiving small and large businesses under the organization after this. Some of the mafias who knew Youngho tried to impress him with their smile thinking that his good words to Sergey or Yaniv would give them a promotion.

“Brother, I guess I came at the wrong time.”

“Do you want to join our evaluation team too?”

“Well, I always choose strong people. Would that be enough for you?”

“That’s our Boss’s standard too. We don’t need to evaluate a lot of things. Hahaha…”

Soon, Youngho was escorted to Yaniv’s room. He greeted Youngho with a big smile.

“What brings you here, Lee? I thought you’re swamped with work.”

“No matter how busy I am, I should pay you a visit. Zeynep also says hi.”

“Phew, that cunning kid is now trying to impress me. Should I give her one of my businesses in Russia?”

“Oh, she’d be too busy to manage a business. She’s studying.”

Zeynep did not ask him to say hello to Yaniv for her but Youngho only wanted to bring up his mood since he was quite fond of Zeynep.

“So, Lee. You must be excited about your business in Siberia since you’ve traveled there quite a lot when your business hasn’t even started yet.”

“Mr. Yaniv, the autonomous state is huge too although it’s not Siberia. I’m rather interested in the North Sea route. I think there are so many potentials in the North Sea.”

“You’re not trying to have fun alone, are you?”

“No, what can I do in Russia without you, Mr. Yaniv?”

“Of course you need me. What is it anyway?”

“I decided to make an icebreaker. I’m going to use the coastlines to approach Siberia.”

“I see. That means you’d be traveling above Russia.”

“The northern route will be a golden route from now on. This is going to be more efficient than using the Suez or Panama Canal. Since it’s going to save time and transportation cost, anybody would be interested in the North Sea route. The only problem is that there are not many icebreakers that could travel through that route.”

“The Russian government has a lot of icebreakers too including some atomic-powered icebreakers.”

“They must be for military or laboratory use.”

“If I ask Putin to open a sea route for me, he’d mobilize one of the icebreakers. I don’t see a need to have my own icebreaker.”

“When you ask for a favor, you’d have to be ready to repay for the favor. If you had your own, you won’t have to think about such an interest. Not to mention, you’ll make a lot of money by guiding merchant ships of different nations.”

“So, you’re saying that there will be tons of work for me if only I owned an icebreaker.”

“That is right.”

“Sergey, what do you think?”

“Boss. Has any business plan he brought ever disappointed us? I’m quite excited for this.”

“That’s right. He never disappointed me for once.”

“The North Sea route is our courtyard. I’m a little upset that our friend is taking over the route before us.”

“Alright. We can’t let this dude beat us to that. Very well. Why don’t we move to another room and talk about it with some drinks?”

Offering a drink was Yaniv’s way to show his interest. It seemed that Youngho had successfully managed to lure him.

***

Youngho visited Volgograd before going to Denmark.

As he explained his situation to Sergey earlier, he told Youngho to drop by on the way to Denmark. It was because Sergey was intrigued to hear a new business idea now that the mafia organization was getting rid of small businesses.

Youngho told him that Yaniv would be interested since a shipping business was a highly reputable business. Just as he thought, Yaniv was very pleased to hear a new business proposal.

Yaniv filled glasses with vodka and asked Youngho for a toast.

“For our new business!”

“Mr. Yaniv, are you already determined to do this?”

“Well, you’re doing it. I can do it too.”

“It’ll cost you more than 70 million dollars to build a new icebreaker.”

“If I asked, I can make it at a much cheaper cost in Russia.”

‘Jeez, he’s going to request a ship from a wrong shipyard.’

Although Russia’s technology could make icebreakers, if he paid less, he would be getting a ship that he deserved. Youngho only came here to make him order a ship from the Danish shipyard.

“You know Korea is well-known for its shipbuilding technology.”

“Yeah, of course. There’s got to be a reason why shipping companies from all over the world crowd in there to order ships, but Russia’s technology is not far behind.”

“I ordered an icebreaker too.”

“So I hear you ordered it from Denmark.”

“It’s because the Danish shipyard makes the best icebreaker in the world.”

“I know what you mean, but if I ordered it from Denmark, Putin will get furious.”

Youngho thought that it would be fine if Yaniv ordered an icebreaker from Denmark since he was close to Putin, but it seemed that he was not comfortable to cross Putin’s will.

Youngho was going to lose him if he did not act fast.

He quickly thought of another way.

“Would you still feel uncomfortable if you bought a used Danish icebreaker?”

“You said you ordered a new one. I should get a new one too since it’s a new business.”

“If you bought it from me, it’s going to be a used one.”

“…”

“If you made a contract with the Danish shipyard directly, President Putin would find out about it soon. But, if you bought one from me even if it’s a new one, he won’t care. Or you could make me your agent.

“It all sounds great but what is the real reason that you’re dragging me to the Danish shipyard company?”

The old mafia boss was quite quick-witted.

Youngho thought for a moment whether he should make another excuse, but it looked like it would be the best if he came clean. He opened everything up to him since Yaniv would one day find out about the relationship of Youngho and the Danish shipyard.

“Yikes, guess I’m caught. You know I’m going to be in-laws with the Danish royal family. I bought the share of the shipyard to impress the royal family. Since the shipyard has its original technology, the investment value is quite high.”

“I see what’s going on. You’re going to buy the shipyard in the future, or you won’t be promoting the company like this.”

“I can’t say I’m not interested in that. I’m only being honest since I don’t want to lie to you, Mr. Yaniv. This company’s future will be bright and I don’t want to miss it. ”

“I feel like I’m going to get an earful from you for a while if I ordered a ship from the Russian shipyard.”

“No, sir. Maybe it was too much to ask. You can go ahead and order your ships from Russia, but could you please order at least one ship from Denmark to compare their performances? I’ll get you a deal at the same price as the Russian ships.”

“You talk like it’s your company already.”

“I can make it. How would you like that?”

“I don’t really care about the Russian shipyard. I only worried that Putin might not like my decision. You know what, I’ll take your offer. Putin’s not going to say when I buy used ships from you.”

“Great decision! I’ll talk to Sergey about the details, but you should make a deposit first before I can proceed with the shipbuilding orders. The shipyard is not doing so well these days.”

“Hahaha. Alright. I’ll hold you responsible if I don’t make money with those icebreakers.”

“I’ll buy all of your icebreakers if you don’t make enough money.”

“It should be worth trying since you’re so confident about it.”

***

The Danish shipyard company’s building was antique as it was an old company with a long history. It looked like it had been managed quite well.

Youngho visited a bathroom for workers and pleasantly nodded. It was because he had heard that a company’s status could be grasped by looking at one of its bathrooms. Szechenyi, who came along with Youngho looked at him curiously.

The company’s staff who was giving a tour around the company to them was nervous since Youngho was meticulously looking around the company’s building. But, he soon sighed in relief seeing Youngho’s smile.

“The workers look bright.”

“It’s because we’ve recently got several orders to build icebreakers and car ferries.”

“I guess the company hasn’t fired the employees even though it hasn’t been getting a lot of orders.”

“Yes. We held out with our savings of past decades.”

“I’m glad to hear that the relationship between labor and management is great.”

“That’s the only way we survive. We stick together in hard times. It’s also hard to find such great technicians.”

Most of the company’s employees were employed for long-term, usually more than ten years. Even during a time of slump, the company and technicians endured it together waiting for the time of booming again. The company seemed to know well that the boom time would be as long as the length of the recession.

At the conference room, Youngho could tell that the members of the company’s leadership group were excited to see him. It was because they had already figured out that the Archduke’s family that was going to be in-laws with the Danish royal family was wealthy. Not to mention, he was a major stockholder who ordered a 70 million dollar worth of an icebreaker.

“Our company will need about seven million dollars to build a lodging facility for workers and about 20 million dollars to replace our old dock and goliath crane.”

“Alright. If I invest in your company, what would I get in return?”

“We will give you the right to attend the board meeting as a member and the return of your investment income at the end of every year when we settle accounts.”

“As far as I know, you haven’t made a profit for many years. It’s going to take me forever to receive the investment income. I’d rather take your company’s share instead.”

“This has to be discussed at the board meeting but I’m positive that we’ll be able to give you the share that’s equal to the amount of your investment, under one condition that you remain amicable to our company.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m going to be the future in-law of the royal family. How can I act hostile to you?”

“That’s why our board members are excited to have you on our team.”

“I’d like to hear what kind of privileges would I get if I attract clients who’d order ships.”

“Are you talking about regular vessels?”

“No, I have a person who’d order about three icebreakers.”

The leadership group was stirred to hear Youngho’s remark.

An icebreaker was different than regular vessels. On top of its strong and powerful engine and body, it was equipped with a function to break the ice as it went through a repeated motion of going above the ice and dropping its body on it.

“We’ll give you a commission of three percent of the total price of the ordered vessel.”

“I won’t take that much amount of money. I’m a major shareholder and an investor of the company. I don’t want to get blamed for taking such commission. I’ll take it in the form of a share instead.”

“Well, we’ll appreciate if you’d like to take the share instead of money even though it’s not so valuable now.”

“Alright then. I’ll make an investment. Please make masterpiece vessels for my client.”

People applauded in satisfaction.

They were glad to receive such large orders for a long time since it would save them and the company. However, Youngho had a different idea in mind. As soon as his share of the company reached 15 percent, he would be firing some of the members of the management group since they were the ones who drove the company to this point.

As Youngho was leaving, they all shook his hand one by one. He also responded to them with a smile.