Empire of the Ring

Even though Siberia was in the south of the tundra, it was where winter lasted for more than seven months, the concept of stockpiling was directly linked to people’s survival. To greet winter without preparation was tantamount to giving up one’s own life.

In Siberia, people were willing to abandon humanity to survive. Snow and ice were everywhere, but it could not be used as a water source because the ice had to be melted to get water. Vodka was the only drink to enjoy in the long, cold winter. It was expensive, and because of that, bootleg liquors were openly distributed. It was commonly said that there were more people who drowned in vodka glasses than people who drowned in the sea.

Russians usually said that they could live in the cold of minus 40 degrees in Celsius but could not live without vodka. Vodka, slightly frozen after being left in the snow for a while, was said to be the perfect drink to forget that it was hard liquor. Sergeenko was now insisting that they should supply quality liquors to improve the health of the Russians.

“Sir, as I said, the damage caused by cheap bootleg liquors is quite serious here. So I’m just saying, why don’t we bring in some alcohol along with the daily necessities?”

“I’m afraid of smuggling alcohol. I’d rather build a vodka factory here. We can use wheat from the autonomous state. The question is whether we can get permission from the authorities.”

“The vodka factory? If you want to build a factory, I’ll try to get permission at all costs. I’ll take care of everything if you just build a factory.”

“I already have a wine business. I don’t think doing a vodka business is a problem. It seems to run counter to the authorities’ anti-drinking policy, but isn’t it a shortcut to preventing the distribution of bootleg liquors if we make and distribute the proper liquor?”

“Yes, the authorities cannot stop the drinking culture no matter what. Real vodka is too expensive, so cheap chemists sell bootleg liquors. Bad ones can even take people’s lives. The authorities would rather like it if we were to supply quality drinks.”

“But don’t push it too hard. I’m afraid we’ll get disadvantaged by this.”

“The authorities know that if we fail to keep up with the demand, we will have another round of smuggling. If alcohol production and sales come within the system, they’ll have an increase in tax revenues, so the local government will welcome it.”

After talking to Sergeenko, it seemed that Youngho was going to start another alcohol-related business in Siberia. A liquor business in Russia was never a failure, so he agreed to build a vodka factory. Sergeenko excitedly assured that he could obtain permission at any moment. It was because usually, people made a huge profit from the sale of alcohol.

It was more difficult to start a liquor business in Russia than it used to be, so Youngho wondered how Sergeenko said he was going to get permission so easily.

Putin rolled up his sleeves to reform his chronic drinking culture but pulled out in the face of resistance from the public. As a side effect of the strong anti-drinking policy, there was a phenomenon in which only bootleg liquors were used by people, so the government had come up with a special measure to lower the liquor tax. The government had to stop the smuggling even if it had to lower the price of alcohol.

The name of vodka meant ‘pure clean water’. Drinking vodka was a kind of culture and part of life rather than alcohol. It even had a mythical story behind it; a fisher who caught a golden fish wished to turn the river into vodka in exchange for letting the fish go. It was a ridiculous story, but this showed Russian people’s love for vodka. If the government would not let them drink it, they might as well all leave the country.

***

Youngho called Szechenyi after he was done talking with Sergeenko.

“Hey, Szechenyni. Find out the list of daily necessities available in Copenhagen and some inexpensive routes.”

“Are you going to sell them in Siberia?”

“Yes. We’ll supply them two or three times by fall, so we’ll have to take that into account.

“Okay, I’ll look into that. Can you stop by Copenhagen some day?”

“What’s the matter?”

“The Crowned Princess wants to see you in private.”

“Do you know why?”

“I don’t know the details. I told him that you’re in Siberia, so he asked me if you could stop by. He said that he could not move so easily because of the public eyes.”

“I’ll finish my work here by tomorrow. Tell him that I’ll be there the day after tomorrow.”

The wedding of Szechenyi and Princess Isabella was arranged six months ago by the Danish royal family and the government, so there was nothing to discuss anymore. Youngho wondered what the Crowned Prince was up to.

“Director Hong, you should go back to the state after finishing up things here. I’m going to visit the Danish royal palace with Suh Min-seok.”

“Then I’ll have to escort you. It’s not good to go there so simply.”

“It’s not an official visit. I shouldn’t be seen.”

“Even for an unofficial visit, does it make sense for the head of a royal family to travel without a single security guard? Commissioner Kim will give me an earful when he finds out about this later.”

“Oh, please. I’ll only take Min-seok with me. You just take care of this place. Don’t forget to make the underclerk of the Chinese company fully on our side this time no matter how much it costs.”

“He’s a heavy drinker, so he’s going to cost quite a lot.”

“Don’t let him find out that you’re a Korean. Be careful.”

“Don’t worry, people know me as a Koryoin. That underclerk guy lives here with his family, which is unusual. He’s the only one that was not fired from the Chinese government. I think he has a powerful background from the mainland.”

“Then send some gifts to his home and please his wife. Maybe he’s the real power of the company. If we could take advantage of him, we should as much as we can.”

“Are they going to give away things so easily?”

“It’s thanks to the Chinese company that we bring in lumbers cheaply without even logging.”

“You’re right. It’s a lot cheaper to carry the lumbers that are already at the pier if you think about the cost of logging and transportation.”

“The Chinese logging area is five times larger than ours, so I’m sure they’ve paid quite a lot to the Russian government. They’ll cut woods like crazy to recover the money they paid. They don’t even have enough room left for logs at the docks.”

“Yes, that’s what the underclerk told me. They’ll only be able to transport the logs from the tundra when they emptied the logs at the docks.”

“Let’s empty the storage yards for them. No matter how much we carry out on our 3,000-ton freighter, it won’t be obvious.”

The regulation that said the transfer of lumbers to the outside should never be made existed only on paper, but they could be carried out through the Yenisei River. The management officials of the river docks never actually came to check the docks. Youngho had transported lumbers through the North Sea route, but no one had inspected him. The autonomous state’s wharf was already full of logs now.

***

Crowned Prince Frederick—the brother of Princess Isabella, welcomed Youngho. Since they were about to be in-laws, Youngho was familiar with him.

“Hello, sir. I’m very sorry I couldn’t attend the coronation. Isabella said it was very impressive.”

“Your Highness, I wanted to invite you, but I couldn’t help it because it was an internal event.”

“I heard that the state of Arirang is a very vibrant city, so please invite us sometime. You know I like hunting, right?”

“Please come anytime in the spring next year. I’ll leave the wolves alone and wait for you to hunt them.”

The sound of the wolf made him very excited. The crowned prince was famous for his love for hunting. He was once criticized for going hunting to Greenland, so he would definitely make a long trip to Kazakhstan to hunt at all costs.

“You must keep your promise. I’m really looking forward to that day.”

“Princess Isabella was also a master marksman. The wolves will dry up when your Royal Highness comes.”

Prince Frederick suddenly settled down and lowered his voice.

“Prince consort, I was hoping you’d help me personally. We have some royal funds, but we’ve been looking for opportunities to invest but we can’t do it quietly because of the public eyes. I knew you’re always busy but I had to ask you to come because I heard you are a genius for investment.”

“The genius of investment? That’s embarrassing. I just got lucky.”

“Oh, prince consort. The autonomous state itself is your biggest asset. It proves your ability as an investor.”

“It’s because the state’s residents actively cooperated to build the state.”

“Would you say it’s luck that you’ve put the Danish shipyard company back on track? I’d like to put royal funds in Prince Szechenyi’s investment company.”

“If you’re going to invest in the investment company, I’ll consider it positively. Szechenyi’s doing a good job, so you won’t lose your money. How much do you think you’re going to invest?”

“We don’t have cash, but we have some European national bonds. I’ll have to find a way to dispose of the bonds first before I can make an investment.”

The crowned prince was looking for a way to dispose of the state bonds. The royal family also had a clandestine organization, and it was not difficult to dispose of the bonds through it, but the government bonds Crowned Prince Frederick wanted to sell were like slush funds managed separately. It was a secret fund that the royal butler did not even know about.

“It’s not a problem. There’s an organization that I do business with, so I’ll be able to dispose of it right away.”

“What? You can dispose of it right away?”

The crowned prince was rather surprised when Youngho replied promptly without hesitation since Youngho had not even asked about the amount of the bonds.

Youngho talked big because he had Eriksson of the Information Agency which was an organization that could close a deal right away.

“You speak so easily that it’s hard to believe.”

“I could call the organization right here to confirm it. How much government bonds do you have to sell?”

“It’s only about 500 million dollars.”

“I’ll check it right away. Please wait for a moment.”

“What? Oh, you shouldn’t have to be in such a hurry…”