Empire of the Ring

As relations with Russia had become more amicable than what the previous administration had, Russians, who lived in Kazakhstan, also actively responded to the government.

Russians living in Kazakhstan mostly immigrated from Russia or the Soviet Union, so they belonged to a privileged class. Many owned a mine, a factory, or a large yard coming from the beginning of their settlement because the Russian authorities offered them various favors.

In other words, most Russians living in Kazakhstan had a middle to high-class life.

Having better economic power than normal Kazakh people gave their children a relatively high chance to receive a higher quality education.

Then, when Kazakhstan gained independence, Russian people were no longer given special treatment as they became ordinary citizens of Kazakhstan.

Even though they had a chance to return to Russia, a large number of them refused to move to their home country because the democratic system came as a charm to them as most of them were businessmen.

On the other hand, it would have been regrettable to leave their hometown as well as the site where they lived for nearly a hundred years. They now became one of many ethnic groups that were assimilated into Kazakhstan.

They also welcomed the constitutional monarchy since it came after defeating the dictatorship and was based on a free democracy.

"The survey results showed that the approval ratings for the royal family and the government among the Russians in the northern industrial cities had a slight increase. This is the aftermath of the waterway project with the Russian government. I think maintaining a strong relationship with their native country Russia seems to have given them a sense of psychological stability."

"I see. They would've been insecure if Kazakhstan was on bad terms with Russia."

"There has never been a case in which Russian business owners, who used to evade taxes, voluntarily paid them before."

"Russians may have been benefited in the past due to their historic background. But let's apply strict standards to everyone from now on, regardless of race."

"I think they are now realizing that rampant bribery doesn't work anymore. We expect to see a huge increase in tax revenues next year."

Prime Minister Kasim was greatly relieved that Russians actively cooperated with government policy because most of them, who run mines and factories, had been evading taxes bluntly.

They thought that the Kazakh government could not touch them because of Russia. However, the world had changed for them now. Since a clean government that did not tolerate illegal activities was introduced, there was no way to get away with illegal activities for them now. In other words, they realized that if they did not fulfill their duty as citizens, they would be penalized by applying strict laws.

"Your Highness, should we ask the National Assembly for a supplementary budget from the Ministry of National Defense when we expect more tax revenue?"

Even now, the annual defense spending had exceeded 6 billion dollars, which was five times more than the previous defense budget. And of course, the expensive fighter jets and Aegis destroyers were bought with the royal funds.

"Do you think the National Assembly will agree to that since we're already paying an excessive budget for national defense budget?"

"Compared to China and Russia, it is not even a lot. The royal family is paying the cost of purchasing fighter jets now. And you've invested two billion dollars in the Russian canal projects already. I'm afraid you're going to run out of royal funds at this rate."

"I don't care if we run out of royal funds if I can spend them for Kazakhstan. Besides, we have enough to spend for the next few years."

"Your Highness, the royal power comes from funds. I'd like you to save as much as possible."

"I just wanted the royal family to be loved by the people. What do you want more?"

"I would be satisfied as long as the royal family is in favor of the Kazakh people."

Youngho had President Nazarbayev's slush funds and had even managed to get ownership of the gold mine that might be the world's best reserves. He was confident that he could afford to spend billions of dollars on defense every year.

"Your Highness, every time you invest in a large project, I am ashamed."

"Mr. Prime Minister, I have no intention of getting the funds I spent from the government back. This is because such work is also necessary to keep the royal family alive. I know what you're worried about, but I'm also prepared for emergency situations."

"Your Highness, why don't you take more gold mines?"

Youngho almost got caught a look of joy.

It was because Youngho was crazy about gold that he would jump up in his sleep if someone mentioned about gold.

"People will say that the royal family takes the lead in stealing what's classified as a national strategic mineral."

"All people of Kazakhstan know that the royal family has spent an astronomical amount of money for the well-being of the country. The government cannot pay the royal family back with its current economic power. If the government pays the royal family with gold mines, the public opinion about the government will get better."

"I'm burdened with the gold mine I own now. I don't want to keep any more…"

Since Youngho already owned a few gold mines already, he did not want to be seen as greedy. So he stepped back first.

"It's better for the government if the royal family took care of the mines. When the royal treasury runs out, it's a misfortune for the nation. The government can change, but the royal family lasts forever. You know how they were poorly managed by the previous government."

"You mean I should take care of them well and open for Kazakhstan when it needs money."

"Hahaha… How dare I say that to the royal family?"

"The mines will eventually be used for Kazakhstan anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter who owns them. I'll take them."

Prime Minister Kasim was saying this because he was not aware of the potential value of the gold mines. Most of the gold mines in Kazakhstan were world-class.

***

"What? The government promised you to pay with a gold mine?"

Youngho thought he made a wrong decision because Eriksson seemed perplexed by it. However, he did not mean it that way.

"Aren't the government officials too simple to give away such important national treasures? It's a little ridiculous how easily they give up on the gold mines. It's fortunate that the royal family will own them, but what if they had fallen in others' hands? The officials are too complacent."

Listening to him, it worried Youngho that too. Kazakh officials tended to treat their strategic assets recklessly since Kazakhstan was full of resources.

"Wouldn't it mean that the government officials trust the royal family enough?"

"That may be the case, but I'm afraid we'll be as lax in our resource deals with other countries in the future."

Youngho planned to go to Europe for resource diplomacy in the New Year with other officials, but if they dealt with European countries so loosely with Kazakhstan's overflowing resources, it would be a huge problem.

"I guess we've forgotten about the value of the resources."

"You approach things as a businessman in any case, but bureaucrats don't have that kind of mindset. We'll have to take this opportunity to educate them firmly. Or they'll give away the most valuable resources at a bargain price."

"I'll have to mention that at next week's Cabinet meeting. I was so excited about getting gold mines that I almost missed something important."

"If necessary, I would like to attend the Cabinet meeting as an observer. If I explained in detail how fierce the resource war among the European countries, the cabinet members will also be on their toes."

"That's a good idea, too. I'll talk to the Prime Minister to arrange your position as an observer. As the policy advisor of the royal family, you should be qualified to enter the meeting."

Since the Cabinet meeting was the government's top decision-making body, even the royal family with the right to nominate the Prime Minister did not have a say in its decision. Youngho would be violating its rule if he entered the meeting without permission.

"It's not enough to emphasize a hundred times that we have to think carefully when we sell our resources to foreign countries. From expelling the Chinese oil company from Kazakhstan, we've learned enough how difficult it is to withdraw international contracts once they're signed."

"I humbly accept your advice, Eriksson. I admit that I've been underestimating our resources."

"You've made great a deal that's made a few times as much profit. Both England and Sweden must have admired your negotiation skills."

"Do you think so? I thought I yielded to them by far."

"You did money-wise, but all the deals were followed by a strategic weapons technical tie-up."

"You're flattering me even though they're not great technologies."

"It may not be big technologies for the developed world, but it's an essential skill for us because such technologies are more advanced than what's applied to Chinese or Russian weapons."

Weapons technology that Kazakhstan earned in partnership with Britain and Sweden were great technology from a global perspective, but Kazakhstan still had a long way until it could absorb it.

It was frustrating to see the fact that the finished products were purchased and used, but Kazakhstan did not have the technology even to replace parts in them.

Even if it was a good technology, it was useless when the receiving party was not able to properly use it.

"There is no way to overcome the absolute shortage of engineers. Is there any way to attract technology workers from Europe?"

"It's going to be difficult, but we have no choice but to expand our workforce in Kazakhstan."

"I know that Kazakhstan is not a very attractive place, but I'd like to kidnap them from Europe if I could."

"Why don't you bring them from your home country?"

"Most of the members of the Cyber Unit and the medical staff are from Korea. Isn't it a problem if we're too focused on Korea?"

"We're a multi-ethnic country with 120 ethnic groups. I don't think people will care about many Koreans being brought in. It's actually a great idea to bring them from Korea because Korea is full of highly educated workers, and I also know that Korea's unemployment rate is high."

Kazakhstan had brought in Uyghur refugees to get out of the population shortage, but most of them were farmers. So it was difficult to find engineers and technicians among them. So Youngho was contemplating on how to attract Europe's technical personnel during the upcoming resource diplomacy trip.

"Let's figure out a way to promote Kazakhstan to people."

"Shall we do propaganda like the East Asian countries?"

"We don't even have a lot of tourist attractions. Is there anything to draw attention to?"

"We have to come up with something. What would European engineers like to hear?"

"There's a method I used before the Arirang autonomous state became the royal territory, but I don't know if it will work. Do Europeans like gold, too?"

"I've never seen anyone who hates gold, regardless of their origin. But what's your plan?"