Empire of the Ring

"What on earth is there in Xinjiang Uyghur that Chinese authorities are obsessive about it?"

"It's fishy, right? Shall we go and see for ourselves?"

Park Jong-il jumped up from his seat as he thought Youngho was going to Uyghur himself.

"You're still out of your mind. What can we do even if we go there?"

"I know, it's just that it hurts my pride to watch the situation passively like this."

The only news the two had been hearing about the region lately was that the Uyghur independence forces were being pushed back. They did not expect the independence groups to beat the Chinese forces, but the continuous bad news was still frustrating.

"Shall we supply some more weapons?"

"How useful is it to supply arms to the poorly trained people?"

"I thought it would be better to supply something with a little bit more firepower."

"Unless you're supplying cannons or tanks, it's not going to make a difference. So what can we do?"

"If we supply the Stinger Missiles, we can effectively prevent attacks by helicopters and airplanes."

"All right, let's send them first then."

A Stinger Missile was 1.5 meters long and weighed just over 15 kilograms. It was an anti-aircraft missile that could be launched on a human shoulder. It tracked heat from an engine and shot down an aircraft effectively within a radius of 11 kilometers, so it seemed that it could be effective in Xinjiang Uyghur where there were a lot of mountainous regions.

It would not reverse the tide, but it could reduce the loss of life by countering heavy air attacks. It was the second-best option since Kazakhstan could not send Russian-made fighter jets to the region.

***

Building a prefabricated accommodation, dining rooms, and a bathroom with sandwich panels was not a difficult task.

After pouring concrete for the base, walls and roof were put on top of the building. Things were being built at a fast pace because as long as the foundation of the floor, water supply, and drainage facilities were built in advance.

There could be confusion if refugees were concentrated in a site, so the Kazakh government decided to increase the number of campsites than initially planned.

The border with China was so long that people could enter from any point, so there was no need to build only a few campsites.

"Do we really need to fence the campsites, sir?"

"Wild animals show up in these regions, so we need a fence even if it's shallow. And since the camp is going to be operated autonomously, we will not have guards to protect it. We will place only administrative personnel and medical teams there because I want to make sure that Uyghurs run it on their own."

"That's a great idea. Giving those opportunities to the people who never had a chance to live autonomously in a controlled society will also help them adjust to living in Kazakhstan."

"But it's a problem because we don't have enough medical staff. We can prescribe medicine to light patients, but what about serious patients? They would need to be transported to the city which is inconvenient and far away."

"Let's build a short runway for airplanes here. We will place light planes in each campsite to transport emergency patients."

The role of Cessna's light aircraft in Kazakhstan was incredible.

Most of the people of Kazakhstan lived in large cities, and 70 percent of the country's landmass was where it was hard to find people, so there were no roads to connect to the places where not many people lived.

The construction of railroads and roads for the few residents was economically inefficient. The only means of transportation that could travel all-weather was a light aircraft. Therefore, these days, when there was an emergency situation in remote areas, light airplanes were mobilized, which was a huge recent change in the transport change in Kazakhstan. It was because the six-seater and eight-seater Cessna airplanes that Youngho had ordered previously were arriving in different locations one after another.

Many people still drove cars to remote places where there were no roads, but they were mostly merchants who bought dairy and leather supplies from nomads and supplied daily necessities to them.

"That should work fine. I'll start the short runway construction immediately. Do you have any other concern?"

The Minister of Construction's voice was full of energy.

Although people got sweaty just by standing outside in the mid-summer of Kazakhstan, he was directing all the construction works while staying at the site for more than a week.

"Minister, you should take it easy. The camp facility is looking great. I won't have to worry a bit."

"Since Your Highness's passion for this project is great, how can I stay in my office? Besides, this is for Uyghurs who are like our brothers, so I should be doing my best to prepare for their migration."

"It's very kind of you to do this. I'm so happy that everyone is working hard in one spirit. When the camp is completed, I'll treat all of the workers at the royal palace."

"We should be more grateful to you for doing this for the Uyghurs. We are only doing what we're supposed to do."

***

After visiting the construction site of a refugee camp, Youngho visited a gold mine in Almaty, which belonged to the royal family.

The gold mine in Almaty was being operated in full swing after Zeynep Security Service took over its security. The new residential buildings and schools under the mine site were under construction, so the townspeople looked very bright.

It was because the area had been developing a lot since the royal family took over its ownership. The mineworkers and the townspeople already had a great pride that they were related to the Kazakh royal family, but when the royal family built amenities, schools, roads, and railroads, they acted as if they were chosen people.

Such pride was also shown in the mine manager's face.

"Your Highness, the vein is getting wider and wider. It looks like the mine is going to be surrounded by gold in no time."

"Is that so? If that happens, I'll have to reward you and all the miners a gold medal."

"Your Highness, it's like I've already received a gold medal. What else would I want when the working and living environment has already improved so much?"

"It's a reward for you since you had worked in such a poor environment before. In the future, everyone in the mining village will live much better lives."

"All of the mining villagers, including myself, are grateful for you and Her Majesty."

The money spent on improving the residential and work environment was nothing compared to the value of the gold that was produced at the mine. Youngho rather felt sorry because he felt that his reward was too little.

"If you need anything at the mining village, you can frequently ask the royal staff or the head of the security team dispatched here. By the way, I'd like to see the mine. How long do you think you'll keep me standing here?"

"Oh, jeez! Please forgive me for my discourtesy. I'll show you right away. If you go in there, it'll be so bright."

Youngho wondered how thick the vein of gold was that the mine manager was making such a fuss.

Under the guidance of the mine manager, Youngho stepped inside the mine shaft. There were indeed numerous veins of gold all over the place. Some were thin, and some were thick, and some united in one place.

"Manager, have you ever seen anything like this before?"

"I've never seen this kind before, but it's said that these were often found in the past."

"How long ago was that?"

"The gold mines around here began to develop about 100 years ago. In the early stages, it was said that such veins used to show up at the entrance and then disappear after a while."

"Then this could go away very soon, too."

Youngho was disappointed to hear that the vein of gold might soon disappear.

However, there was nothing to be disappointed with. It was because the results of the scrutiny showed that the amount of gold deposits ranged from at least 3,000 tons to up to 6,000 tons.

"Your Highness, it's too early to be disappointed. It's because there was no case when the veins were combined together before. I heard that the gold veins in the past were completely cut off, so miners did not try to mine them."

"Well, did you recently start mining this shaft again?"

"Yes, we did. We dug just a little deeper from the surface in the beginning, and we found a thin vein of gold. We've produced in small quantities so far."

"Then you must have encouraged the miners to keep digging."

"Well, it's great that we've had a good result."

"You've done a great job. If it weren't for you, this mine would've been given up, so you're saying the combined veins are a good sign."

"It's not written in the text, but it was said among the miners that these kinds of veins have a huge deposit of gold. I don't mean to predict it wrong, but this could be the world's best gold deposit."

Though he was saying it cautiously, his facial expression was full of confidence.

He seemed to have some reassurance. He had come up with a prediction according to his experience and field expert's judgment.

Youngho felt a certain thrill as he walked out.

"Your Highness, I'm telling you; I think you should stop the public from entering this mining town. It's no good to be rumored that there's a large amount of gold buried in here."

"Who dares to have an eye on the royal mine?"

"My personal opinion is that China might be interested in it. Haven't you scrapped the Chinese government's plan to build a large logistics base near the mine before?"

Youngho had scrapped One Belt One Road logistics base project near the mine because Chinese people had to buy land for land speculation purposes. However, the mine manager was saying that the logistics base might have been related to the mines.

Chinese companies and individuals bought and sold land around the planned logistics base among themselves, and the reason for doing so was to keep no one else in the area.