Empire of the Ring

Chapter 518: Double-sidedness (1)

Autumn was deepening in Kazakhstan.

Youngho had been busy ever since he settled in Kazakhstan, but this year was particularly breathtaking, so he was not even aware of the changing season. Especially, the fall of Central Asia was so short that it passed by so quickly.

Youngho just noticed different colors on the leaves of the trees on the street. He, who was looking out of downtown Almaty through the windows of the Arirang Hotel, turned his head. Coffee was waiting on the table in the suite parlor. He was waiting for the coffee to cool down before drinking.

"Your Highness, the coffee is getting cold, shall I reheat it?"

"Just leave it there. If it's too hot to drink. I can't taste the unique scent of coffee."

"What do you mean? Isn't it perfect to drink coffee when it's hot? It's best when you blow on it to cool down before taking a sip."

"That is by Korean standards."

"…"

"I don't know why you drink when you have to blow on it because it's too hot. All you need to do is just to wait patiently for it to cool down."

"I feel better when I drink hot stuff. In that sense, you certainly have a foreign mind."

"Oh, I've changed because I've lived out here for so long now. You'll change like me in a few years."

Talking to Suh Min-seok made him realize how much he had changed since he left Korea. He sometimes felt like all of this was a dream. He just worked hard like other people, but he ended up becoming the Duke of Kazakhstan.

When he was thinking about it, the phone rang. The ring tone of the phone was telling him that it was not a dream.

The phone screen was showing Fatima's name. She would probably nag why he was not coming back soon.

It had already been five days since he left the palace, so it was about time for Fatima to wonder.

Yesterday, he looked around the construction site of Almaty's arms industry fair. It was his joy to visit the site once in two months and encouraged the workers and officials there. Since people worked even harder when they found out the Duke was interested in their work, he did not forget to visit important construction work sites.

Now, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were in the process of transformation, so construction was going on everywhere.

"Suh Min-seok, are we supposed to visit the border campsite today?"

"I've been informed that the campsite can't have visitors today because of the road work. It will be completed within a week. So, how about the new site for a traditional market in the city of Shymkent?"

"All right. Let's go to Shymkent."

Shymkent was a transportation hub 690 kilometers west of Almaty. It had an oasis and had been providing a haven for nomadic people in Central Asia for thousands of years. It was the third biggest city in Kazakhstan with a population of 650,000 people. It was only 120 kilometers away from Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and was home to many Uzbek people.

The 120-kilometer distance in Central Asia was not considered long, so agricultural produce from warm Uzbekistan was circulated into the traditional market in the city of Shymkent.

There was a fire in the traditional market of Shymkent recently, so a new, modern market was being constructed now. The traditional market was more than ten times the size of Korea's traditional markets and was where all kinds of goods were traded.

From fish, meat, fruits to home appliances, all sorts of goods from Central Asia were being sold in the market.

***

The next stop after visiting Shymkent was the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the central state of Karaganda.

The space station was the world's first and largest. Its size was so huge that it was said that U.S. officials who first visited there in the 1970s could not close their mouth when they failed to look around the whole area even after flying over the sky for 15 minutes. Since it was ten times bigger than Seoul, it was quite a huge area.

The world's first satellite Sputnik 1 and Yuri Gagarin's first manned space flight took place here. This was also where most of the space development, including all of Russia's manned spaceflights, moon and planet exploration, and the launch of geostationary orbital satellites, was conducted.

It was still playing a big role in space development, including launching a spacecraft to the International Space Station.

Although it was made by the Soviet Union, having it in Kazakhstan was a great asset for Kazakhstan. Russia was paying more than 100 million dollars a year to use the site that it had built.

It was the place where rockets were made and controlled.

If that was the case, making intercontinental ballistic missiles would be a joke.

Russia contracted to lease the station until 2050, so Youngho had thought about taking it from Russia's hands early, but he had to give it up since there was no way to do so. If he forcibly tried to do that, he would have to face Russia's invasion.

Behind Russia's recognition of the new government of Kazakhstan was Russia's strategic facilities that were built everywhere in Kazakhstan. Russia had not given up on the idea that Kazakhstan was its satellite state even if the regime had changed. On the other hand, Russia wanted to use its strategic bases by gently appeasing Kazakhstan to use it as a buffer against China.

"The biggest weakness of Kazakhstan is that it had been a member of the Soviet Union for a long time, and it's an inseparable relationship."

"However, Russia is not like China, and it is fortunate that Russia is amicable to us."

"Are you kidding? It's not amicable; it's just diminishing us as its satellite state."

Somehow, Russia and Kazakhstan were in a rather complicated relationship to develop into hostile relations.

Russia could not give up on Kazakhstan since there was a number of its strategic facilities in various parts of Kazakhstan.

There were many Russian scientists and families living there and many companies involved in the space industry.

Russian strategic bases were still maintained throughout Kazakhstan, and 30 percent of the population was Russian or European because of such strategic facilities and factories built in the Soviet-era. That was why Kazakhstan was in a position where it could not draw a line unilaterally against Russia. Especially when China was another potential threat, it could not have Russia against it, too.

Maintaining a smooth relationship with Russia, for now, was the best option. Moreover, Youngho had to do so in order to keep the Siberian development business and the North Sea route open for icebreakers.

***

As expected, refugees from Xinjiang Uyghur were coming into Kazakhstan.

Every day, dozens to hundreds of Uyghurs crossed the border area avoiding the areas where Chinese checkpoints were located. As it was a rough mountainous place, there were even cases of people who died from falling. It was inevitable since they were not coming via established roads.

Thus, the Kazakh government informed the Chinese border troops that Kazakhstan would allow Uyghurs crossing the border seeking refuge. Since then, the Chinese border troops had not stopped Uyghurs from crossing the border. There was no reason to stop those who left because they did not like China because the empty room left by the Uyghurs would be filled by the overflowing Chinese people.

"How many people have entered Kazakhstan so far?"

Youngho received a call from Commander Kabak, who was in charge of Uyghur refugee camps near the border area.

-A little over 2,000 people. Your Highness.

"Commander Kabak, can you request the Chinese side to transport Uyghurs by truck or bus?"

-Would they be so kind to move Uyghurs? It'd be better for us to provide the vehicles.

"Notify the Chinese side that if it doesn't cooperate moving the Uyghur refugees, we would close the free trade zone."

-Your Highness, then we'll have a bigger blow. Right now, the livelihoods of the vendors moving in and out of the border area will be severely disrupted.

"Tell them that we'll supply industrial goods from Southeast Asia and India. They'll like it since it will be more profitable than trading Chinese goods. By the way, what's the reaction of the Chinese border guards?"

Youngho wondered how the Chinese troops would react to the royal guards deployed at the border checkpoints. Unlike the Kazakh border troops, royal guards did not wear combat uniforms.

-They seem to be very bewildered. They're busy figuring why we're accepting the Uyghurs without any condition. Even the commander of the Chinese occupation forces in Xinjiang Uyghur came out to the border area to see what's going on.

"Have you met him?"

-I didn't reach out to him.

"If you meet with him in the future, please tell him that we're accepting Uyghurs from the royal family, not from the government level."

Uyghurs openly supported the Kazakh royal family since the beginning of the dynasty as if it were their own.

-Your Highness, it's going to be winter soon if we accept Uyghurs at this slow rate. Shall I meet the Chinese commander of Xinjiang Uyghur to come up with a measure?

"Is he someone who can make a decision without communicating with the Chinese government?"

-Rumors say that he is a close associate of a high authority in Beijing.

"I'll give you full powers. Please meet him and take care of the issue."

-Thank you for trusting me. I'll meet with the commander of the Chinese Army in a few days.

"I will look forward to hearing good news."