Empire of the Ring

With the participation of the royal family in the expansion of the Volga-Don Canal and the Volga-Baltic Waterway, Youngho was confident that there would be no Russia’s hostile action against Kazakhstan for the time being.

It did not mean that it was not a threat anymore. Russia was different from China, but it was still one of Kazakhstan’s tentative enemies as long as Russia did not turn into a democratic state.

Apart from Russia, there was a problem that had been getting on Youngho’s nerves. It was the Uyghur refugee problem.

With the number of Uyghur refugees already reaching over 20,000, there was a high possibility that they would turn into scourge in Kazakhstan.

Although they were a member of the same race with the Kazakh people and were accepted by them, they were merely a group of idle people now, but they were not in a position to immediately engage in economic activities.

Youngho was agonizing over them since he could not drive them into the streets.

Most of the Uyghurs were in agriculture and livestock business because Chinese people drove them away from the cities.

Polls were frequently conducted to refer to the management of state affairs. And as Uyghur refugees grew in the country, Kazakh citizens began to complain about their taxes being used on the refugees. Many also worried that having Uyghur refugees would provoke China.

Because the results of the polls were so serious, Youngho rushed to the capital to settle the situation.

“Mr. Prime Minister, isn’t this due to the lack of publicity about government policy?”

“I have nothing to say. It’s our fault.”

“If public opinion is negative, then we should ask for their understanding first. I’ll try to persuade them because it would only get worse if the government came forward and tried to persuade them. The Uyghur refugees in the camps must be also uncomfortable. We need to encourage both the people all together.”

“That must be true. The Uyghurs must be paying attention to the public opinion toward them…”

“That’s why we need to calm it down in the early stage. In order to live harmoniously in the future, Kazakh people should show generosity toward Uyghurs now by enduring them.”

If Uyghur refugees were aware of the public opinion about them, they would be deeply saddened.

They crossed the border risking their lives and it would be extremely discouraging to know that they were not welcomed by the public.

This was not good for Kazakhstan either since Uyghurs’ anxiety and anger could turn into a potential social anxiety.

***

The capital of Kazakhstan was originally Almaty, but it was too far south, so President Nazarbayev picked the northern province of Astana as the nation’s administrative capital in 1997. Now it had a population of more than 700,000 people.

In the process of switching the capital and making it the largest city in Central Asia, 18.5 billion dollars of oil money was put in. It was an amount that was worth nearly 40 billion dollars in the current time.

He dreamed of a financial and transportation hub city like Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, but because he focused on building magnificent structures and sculptures, it did not have homely and cute structures as European cities.

If the money had been invested into national territory development, high-tech industries, and education research, Kazakhstan would have become an advanced country already.

Still, people were very proud of Astana. There was a sense of pride in creating such a global city in such a short period of time.

Astana had a large number of exhibition halls and buildings, one of which was the Presidential Palace. For security reasons; the surrounding area was empty and only the magnificent building stood tall alone.

The government recommended that the presidential palace be used as a royal palace, but Youngho firmly refused and returned it to the public. Instead, a small palace was being built inside the royal guards’ command.

There was a long way to go before the palace was completed, so Youngho was now announcing a public statement in the temporary office of the command building.

There was not much content in the public state.

It was all about appealing to the hearts of the public. However, the Kazakh citizens were touched by the fact that the Duke of the royal family was explaining the situation in detail and asking for people’s understanding.

Youngho first said that as a leading country of Central Asia, Kazakhstan should defend its dignity by taking care of its neighbors in need. Then he explained how more population was needed for the balanced national development. In that context, receiving Uyghurs would benefit the Kazakh people. In the end, he stressed that Kazakhstan could be on the threshold of becoming an advanced country within a few years.

He sent a message of hope that Kazakhstan would guarantee decent jobs, a nation of integrity, and the right to live like a human being, where freedom was guaranteed.

As the camera lights went out, Prime Minister Kasim consoled Youngho for his hard work.

“Your Highness, how can you raise the national income to the level of advanced countries in such a short period of time?”

“Hahaha… Mr. Prime Minister, you are mistaken about what I said. I promised an advanced country, not to become an economic powerhouse.”

“Isn’t that what you’re saying?”

“Well, it depends on how our people accepted it. Now we have to start improving people’s civil awareness to become an advanced nation.”

“…”

“I intend to make a booklet of what the real developed world means and distribute it to the entire nation as a textbook. I think that in order to become an advanced country, economic independence is a natural thing and that freedom, equality, magnanimity, and tolerance must be included. These are the first priority.”

Youngho’s idea of advanced country was not about wealth, it was about a country that was developed evenly, encompassing national income, industrialization standards, politics, society, and culture in order to be recognized as an advanced country by others. Education levels, living standards, and quality of life would also be considered.

“I see. It would be a great country if all people had that sense in their minds.”

“In the beginning, we will intentionally put the idea in people’s minds, and if the royal family and the government become their role models, we will foster civic awareness in a short period of time.”

Economic development was not a huge issue since it could be achieved within a short period of time. Fostering people’s civic awareness and their standards were more important in becoming an advanced country.

In Kazakhstan, people’s minds should be reformed in order to achieve that.

“Choosing you and Her Majesty is probably the best thing our people did in history.”

“Oh, don’t flatter me too much. I didn’t say I have that consciousness. I’m a greedy businessman.”

“There should be no tolerance for the enemy, you are endlessly generous to your own people. Where in the world is the royal family offering all its wealth for the people? Our people are really blessed.”

Youngho felt shameful since his money was only from President Nazarbayev’s slush funds. However, he was pleased to hear Prime Minister’s praise to the point where he actually thought about spending all of his wealth for the people of Kazakhstan.

***

“Your Highness! Public opinion has changed completely. State support has increased by six percent. In addition, the negative view of Uyghur refugees has almost disappeared.”

Suh Min-seok excitedly reported the results of the recent poll.

As the royal family stepped up to issue a public appeal, the public was pleased by it. Also, his assurance that the country would become an advanced country in the near future was quite appealing.

“Only up by six percent?”

“That’s an extreme growth. It’s normal for the state guidance to fluctuate 2-3 percent. You’ve got 89 percent of the state support rate now. Foreign media won’t even trust these figures.”

“Well, it’s a shame that it didn’t reach 90 percent. Don’t you think?”

Youngho said it to tease Suh Min-seok, but he looked down. It was because he was too excited for the growth rate, but Youngho did not approve of it.

“Min-seok, you should focus on making a booklet about advanced civic awareness from now on. Don’t do anything else. If necessary, contact humanity professors for an expert advice.”

“Do you think it is possible to foster an advanced mindset? That’s a social issue. I don’t think it’s going to be easy for the Kazakhs to change from books. They’ve been living a nomadic life for a long time. You’d need to force the basic order.”

“I won’t restrict them. It should be left to them freely. If we continue to promote it, they’ll follow the order in embarrassment. We need to put a lot of examples of advanced countries and let them wake up to themselves.”

It is also too much to expect a change overnight.

The idea of making a booklet was a bit childish, but most people were so ignorant that they needed some guidelines.

Enlightenment was a big deal, but Youngho was hopeful since he heard that Kazakhstan’s civic awareness changed greatly after the Asian Winter Games in Kazakhstan.

In order for them to live like a decent human being, the country also needed to create decent jobs.

Social security could not raise the economic level of all the people.

The government had been giving away excessive social security measures to people with its oil money, and it had made people lose motivation for work and in life.

It is absurd to want a normal life while not working. People could only live a satisfactory life when they had a rewarding job that gave them a sense of accomplishment. Only a man who had worked hard could enjoy his spare time and spend it well because he would know how precious the leisure time was.

Then there should be adequate recreation facilities everywhere for people to enjoy, but there were not many of them in the country yet.

The royal family had just begun building vacation facilities near Almaty or in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

Youngho’s mind got busy because he mentioned about the advanced country to the Kazakh public already. The only person whom he could discuss was the Minister of Construction.

When he called, he rushed to the palace. These days, he was almost living in the royal territory because of the construction of the Ural River waterway.