Empire of the Ring

The Szechenyi couple and Crown Prince Frederick’s family arrived in the state.

They also brought along four young princes and princesses, so it would have been a very uncomfortable trip if Youngho did not send his private jet. It was because even the first crown prince could not mobilize a special plane of the Danish government for an unofficial trip. The royal family looked bright as they stepped out of the jet.

“Your Royal Highness, welcome to the Arirang Autonomous State. Did you have a good trip?”

“Thanks to you, prince consort, it’s been a comfortable trip. I’m so happy to have a rich family-in-law.”

“Hahaha… No way. I only make barely enough to feed my people.”

“I didn’t know you have this big airport in the state.”

While looking around the airport, Frederick pointed to the stone wall.

“Prince consort, what’s the big stone wall up there?”

“The continental wind is so bad here that it acts as a windbreaker. It also helps keep wild animals out.”

“You mean wolves, right?”

“Is your body getting itchy for hunting?”

“I’d like to go out with a shotgun right away.”

“I have specially prepared a rifle produced by our state for you, Crown Prince.”

“Szechenyi has talked about it so proudly. So, this is it! He said that you’re producing a very nice rifle.”

“The rifle made in the autonomous state has become a must for Russia’s newly rich.”

“I’m looking forward to using it.”

The Crown Prince and his wife kept exclaiming on the way to the Grand Palace from the airport. They were surprised to see big houses for residents and growing trees in the semi-deserted land. When they arrived at the Grand Palace, they admired the size of the palace again, saying that it was bigger than the palace in Copenhagen.

“Well, it’s not much of a palace but a fortress.”

“It’s a lot more practical than ours. There must be a shelter inside.”

“Yes, we have a lot of underground shelters throughout the whole state.”

“You know, when it’s peaceful, it’s the best time to prepare for war. Denmark was an imperial empire that ruled northern Europe until the 15th century, but after Norway and Sweden fell apart, it could never retrieve its glory of the past. It’s all because we haven’t grown our national power.”

“Isn’t it a great thing that you still maintain the dynasty, compared to the Serbian kingdom that collapsed by the Ottoman Empire?”

“What’s the use of maintaining the dynasty? You’re a scarecrow with no power or authority. In that sense, I really envy the Arirang Autonomous State. Isn’t it the only place where the realm is still alive?”

“Oh, it’s just a child’s play.”

The autonomous state, while advocating monarchy, was neither despotic nor democratic, but had its own strange systems. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was an individual state since it was created by Youngho. It seemed that the Crown Prince was envious about the fact that Youngho could decide anything about the state.

“I heard this place also suffered from terrorism too. I guess you’re on high alert now.”

“Our security was loose when our force left to the border area to do a joint operation with the Kazakh military. There was a little bit of damage, but it wasn’t a big deal.”

“Wow, you must have a great force to fight against the regular forces of the IS?”

“Well, all the IS strongholds and hideouts near the border area were swept away. Some soldiers were hurt in the process, but they had a good experience.”

“Szechenyi bragged that the Countryside Force of the autonomous state was the best in the world, and it looks like there was a reason for that.”

“That’s an exaggeration. We’re not many in number, so modernizing military equipment has been helping us a lot.”

The Crown Prince looked at the guards on patrol, envious of them since they looked as sharp as a knife.

***

Rather than hunting, the Crown Prince was interested in touring around the autonomous state. He was especially interested in the Bentonite production plant. He was quite excited after asking about the amount of reserves, as well as the production rate.

“Prince consort, the future of the autonomous state is quite bright with this much amount of reserve. Isn’t this the era of the bio-industry coming into the spotlight?”

“Now we’re in the test-production stage. We’ll start the production in earnest from next year.”

“Can I take some of the prototypes that are produced?”

“Where are you going to use them?”

“I’d like to ask a cosmetics company in Denmark and a pharmaceutical company to do some component tests.”

“Bentonite of the autonomous province has already been declared the best raw material.”

“Really? Then the supply lines must already be set.”

“Many companies are interested, but none have signed supply contracts yet.”

Crown Prince Frederick’s eyes glistened at this point.

“How would you like to sell it in Denmark?”

“It’s only a small amount of production now, but if it’s produced on a large scale in the future, we’ll have surplus raw material available for Denmark. What are you going to do with the surplus raw material?”

“We can have a Denmark company take over the sale. If we just supply the materials, the Danish company will be responsible for everything from packaging to transportation, and that will create a synergy effect.”

People tended to trust a product only when its packaging was plausible. No matter how high-end the product was, the difference between having trademarked as ‘Arirang Autonomous State’ and as a well-known Danish brand would be stark.

“I think that’s a good idea. The state supplies the ingredients and Denmark company will be in charge of packaging and sale. It’s the only way to increase the added value of the product.”

“Then why don’t we establish a company in Denmark that is responsible for packaging and distribution?”

“You’re not leaving it to the agency?”

“The trademark will be trusted when the company is launched in Denmark. You and I can handle this business together. Why would we leave it to someone else?”

“Are you in need of some funds, Crown Prince? Should I lend you some?”

“Hahaha…”

“…”

“We’ve spent a lot of money, but we still have a lot of royal funds stored. I’m trying to get this opportunity to create a kind of government fund. It says that where there’s money, there’s power, right?”

“You want to strengthen your crown.”

“I just want to raise the royal voice in the Danish government.”

“If that’s your goal, I will join you.”

“Then I’ll have Szechenyi set up a company. How do you like to have 50 percent of the net profit?”

“We’ll already have a stable market for raw materials. If I take the sales commission too, I’ll be a thief.”

“Usually, the median distributor has a higher margin than the producer. Don’t be satisfied by only supplying the raw materials. You should keep in mind to secure sales companies overseas.”

Frederick wanted to take the distribution margin as well.

Unreasonable prices of fruits or vegetables were usually caused by the distribution margin that was created in the process of packaging and transferring goods, and as sales commission was also added, consumers were bound to pay a high cost for each packaged product.

“It is not desirable to hear that the royal family is trying to make money. I think it’ll be better if Szechenyi will be in charge of this business.”

“I hope your people won’t hate the Arirang Autonomous State for taking the Danish market. We’d like to remain a good image for the Danish people. ”

“There are lots of companies that are in charge of supplying raw materials and distributing them as well. Most of the big companies work that way.”

“Ok. But, I’ll also provide raw materials to Danish drug and cosmetic companies at a factory price.”

“Our people will love to hear that.”

“I should do that for Szechenyi and Isabella.”

“Isabella has such a great family-in-law.”

“I’d say the whole of Denmark also has a good family-in-law.”

“Hahaha…”

***

Although the Crown Prince said that he came for wolf hunting, he had a different purpose in mind. He had come to check the military power of the state and to see if there was any business that he can start with the state.

Seeing through his intention, Youngho showed every side of the autonomous state to the prince in detail. The prince seemed to be shocked as he found more things about the state for the next several days. With less than 10,000 people, the prince thought that the state would not have much to offer, but he was surprised to see that there were a general hospital and a medical school.

The shipyard and industrial complex with heavy equipment production facilities, and different laboratories dropped his jaw. It was also stunning news that the state would be making its foray into the aviation industry since the state would be armed with naval, army, and air power.

As Youngho told him that the Kazakh president was supporting this wholeheartedly, he could not understand.

“The president is allowing the autonomous state to grow its forces?”

“Well, we are ultimately a member of Kazakhstan.”

“It’s like having a knife under the chin.”

“Well, if it’s based on trust, Kazakhstan will understand that the knife is to shave its beard.”

“I hope Denmark can also join your plan. Sweden and Norway’s aircraft companies are friendly to Denmark. We’re all Viking’s descendants after all.”

Denmark used to advocate a neutral country, but nevertheless, it could not avoid war.

The Crown Prince knew well that a neutral country would not last if there was no power. Having that kind of past, he showed a strong interest in the aviation industry.

Leaving Isabella behind, Szechenyi and the Crown Prince’s family returned to Denmark. Isabella would be spending the winter in Zeynep Farm in Baku.

The winter in the autonomous state was too cold that it was not safe for a pregnant woman, and since Baku was not attacked by terrorists so far, she decided it was the best place to stay.

Soon, Fatima and the children also decided to accompany Isabella to Baku. Since the Frozen reservoir of the farm was now a great ice rink, it was a major attraction for the children and kids from the international school.

Despite the cold weather, the railway construction was still in the process, and the icebreaker of the state busily moved around to break the ice over the Arirang River.

The Vigilante Army was receiving hard training. There was no discharge of men so far.

Youngho often joined their training, and today he was panting hard after the rough training.

“Where did you find that instructor? he’s crazy.”

“He’s a retired sergeant from last year. That guy doesn’t have mercy. I also avoid training when he comes out as an instructor.”

“This is regular training? Jeez. Are you sure he doesn’t hate us or anything?”

“That’s nonsense. We haven’t even talked to that guy.”

“I’m surprised that these people are not giving up.”

“I told them that I’ll pay them a commission for training. If they give up now, all of their two months of hard work will be wasted.”

“You give them a commission for training? Isn’t this their duty to get trained as a vigilante?”

“Do you think this is Korea? We can’t expect strength and combat power from them if we trained them in a way that we did in Korea. This is a place where people get a commission for a battle.”

Cho Chul-hwan looked at Youngho as if he was from the past.

Youngho had forgotten that people here had a different concept of military service here. This was Kazakhstan and most of the guards were Serbians. Maintaining the combat power of a soldier should be supported with money. Of course, people volunteered to become Countryside Force and vigilante, but they were highly motivated to make money. After all, a deterrent against war, the balance of power, came from economic power. It was sad to admit but they were living in a world where money was power and strength.