Empire of the Ring

‘The Arirang’ was built as a multipurpose freighter.

There were two huge cargo holds at the front side of the vessel and a small cargo hold at the afterdeck behind the steering house.

The Arirang weighed three thousand tons and had 94 meters of length, 18 meters of width, and 18 knots of the maximum speed. It was considered to be pretty fast in the Caspian Sea where there was no heavy current.

Youngho was going to name the freighter ‘The Zeynep’ but Zeynep disagreed on using her name after searching about large vessels on the Internet. The reason was that the freighter was too small to fit her great name.

Today was the first official sail of the Arirang which was considered to be supersized in the Caspian Sea. Up until now, Youngho had been recruiting the captains and crew and even had trial sails with wine cargo on board. Since wines would be shipped directly to the Volga River in Volgograd from now on, Youngho could not save a tremendous amount of delivery time and cost.

Sergey also was glad that the freighter could provide a large number of wine bottles to him at once because the wines were always out of stock and he had to hear complaints from local distributors all the time. Also, now that there were no land-route transportation problems, he suggested raising the wine’s factory price even more for the lessened transportation cost. Youngho was in fact, planning to raise the wine’s price soon with the same reason.

Primarily, the freighter was bought as a transportation method between Kazakhstan and Baku but it unexpectedly resolved other issues of wine delivery. The waterway of the Volga River was a huge gain that Youngho did not see.

After he bought the freighter, he had to hire crewmen. Hearing the news of Zeynep Corporation’s recruitment, people crowded into the farm to apply for positions. It meant that the corporation had portrayed a great image to the public. The crew had come up with an idea to deliver wines to the Volga River, and now the freighter had become a regular wine delivery vessel. Although the Arirang crew could make some money even when the ship was not on a sail but because they made much more money from sailing, they had come up with such an idea.

However, in the Caspian Sea, all-year-round sailing was impossible because the Northern ports and the Volga River froze for three to four months during the winter season. Therefore, the crew had to work hard to make up for the winter time’s delivery before the river froze.

There were too many people at the farm who wanted to follow Youngho on the first sail of the Arirang, so they had to draw lots to figure out who would be going on the trip. It was because the Arirang’s existence meant a lot to the farm family and the Serbian descendants.

Indeed, it was so much more convenient to deliver wines on a ship than on cars since there were no border inspections.

If one followed the waterway of the Volga River, he could even reach the Black Sea. Since Youngho carried a lot of secretive stuff, he was glad that he found the waterway, although he would have to use a smaller ship to get there.

***

The Arirang drove off for the Port of Atyrau with Youngho’s group and the crew on board. The waves of the Caspian Sea were strong due to the seasonal wind of May.

Feeling sick from all the motions of the vessel, Zeynep’s face turned pale. Soon, she began to throw up at the guardrail of the deck. She had given up school to come alongside Youngho but she was having a hard time since it was her first time traveling on a ship.

The sickness would naturally disappear once she gets used to the ship’s motions but there was another way to forcefully stop it. Since lying down on a bed would not make the sickness go away, Youngho made her run around the deck, which he learned when he severed in the Navy. Running a few times around the deck magically made the sickness go away and all the colors of face come back.

Feeling a little better after running around, Zeynep smiled as she wiped the sweat on her forehead.

“Oppa, you said I won’t get sick because the ship is huge.”

She blamed him for her sickness.

“These waves are not even strong. You won’t speak like that if you see waves in the Pacific.”

“Phew. I can breathe now. Wait a minute, why are Fatima unni and Leon not getting sick?”

“They’re wearing the rings, that’s why they don’t get sick.”

Youngho and Szechenyi gave their rings to them, but they did not feel a thing despite all the waves. As Youngho mentioned about the ring, Zeynep asked where Jongil was and left to find him at the steering house. It seemed that she was going to take the ring from him.

Many vessels floating on the Caspian Sea were not even painted or decorated. It was because many shipowners did not invest money for their ship’s aesthetic purposes since the vessels only considered as transportational means. Moreover, there were not a lot of large cargo deliveries on vessels since there were little international exchanges between nations. The only vessels that stood out were bulk carriers that carried grains.

That was why the Arirang, a brand new vessel that was painted with bright colors caught people’s eyes when it entered the Port of Atyrau.

Kim Chun, who had been waiting for Youngho’s arrival with a craned neck, waved his arms as soon as he saw the ship at the dock so that the captain could come alongside the pier.

Some people accompanied Kim Chun and they were chatting about the huge vessel.

As soon as the ladders were laid, he climbed up on board and excitedly greeted Youngho.

“Boss, you are late. I almost had to give this dock to another ship. If I didn’t insist, I would’ve lost the best spot.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Kim. I had to wait for a tugboat. Anyway, thank you for your hard work.”

Kim Chun had reserved the best dock spot and waited for them. It was only possible because the port was not so crowded. In big trade ports, reserving a great dock spot could take a few days of waiting in line.

The people he brought along were the employees of the Arirang Farm and port staffs. He was so thrilled to introduce Youngho’s group to those people since he was the branch head of well-off Zeynep Corporation that even owned its own huge vessel.

Youngho also did not forget to praise him for his work because it would encourage him to work for the company knowing that his boss appreciates and trust him.

“Mr. Kim. Since you’re working this hard, I won’t have to worry about a thing here. I know you’d do a great job at managing the farm’s work.”

“Thank you, Boss. These are my friends who’d be managing administrative businesses of the farm. They are all third or fourth generation Koryoins.”

Youngho was introduced to five Koryoin-descents. After meeting everyone, the entire group went to a hotel to rest for the night.

***

“Jongil, I think we should reserve this hotel’s reception hall. Mr. Kim invited too many people, I don’t think going to a restaurant would be enough.”

“You’re right. He must have a wide circle of acquaintances. The chief of police is understandable but I didn’t think he’d invite the mayor and the governor of the city.”

“He told me that he used his connection to other Koryoin descents. What was it? Oh, yeah. He said that a multimillionaire from Korea was opening a farm in Kazakhstan or something. Man, he’s full of bluff.”

“Well, he’s not a liar. You should be a little more boastful of yourself.”

Youngho had told Kim Chun to invite people related to the farm for dinner so that he could be introduced to them. Youngho initially thought that he would be having dinner with a dozen of people but it already had become a huge event in the city because, apparently, Kim Chun invited all of the influential people in the region.

Born as a Koryoin descent, Kim Chun had been a minority his whole life but he had been proud of himself ever since Korean culture became popular in the country. And one day, an investor who could be more influential than Korean cultures showed up, so he wanted to show off Youngho’s existence to the mainstream society.

Knowing where he was coming from, Youngho did not say anything to the large guest list. It would be helpful in the future to make some connections this time anyway since, without officials’ help, it would not be easy for him to establish the farm.

In fact, it turned out to be a great idea that Kim Chun invited many important local people because it made a great impression of Arirang Farm to the mainstream society. The party was even highlighted by Fatima and Zeynep’s appearance since Youngho introduced them as West European royal family’s Archduchess and princess. Now Youngho had become a wealthy billionaire investor who had a European royal wife.

Because he invited and treated important officials to the event and made a great impression, they would be favorable to any Arirang Farm-related licensing and permitting processes. They would also expect some bribes from Youngho, knowing that he was a well-off business owner.

“Man, it’s so funny! Did you see their faces? They did not know what to do when they saw Fatima and Zeynep.”

Jongil chuckled to think about the startled officials when they greeted the high royalties, Fatima and Zeynep.

“Yup, that was pretty cool. I didn’t know why Fatima followed me on this trip with Leon but she made a great choice.”

“Of course, she knew this was big for you. Man, I should’ve bought Karajan too! Maybe she could’ve been seen as a royalty too.”

Jongil was now holding his stomach since it hurt from laughing too much.

“Man, I’m glad we did it. The Arirang Farm will be on a smooth sale from now on. Don’t you think the governor and the mayor look a little greedy?”

“Yup, I noticed that. You know what I did for us? I gave emerald necklaces to their wives and told them it’s from Colombia. They were in love with those necklaces.”

Jongil had bought many emerald jewels in Colombia and had been using them for business purposes. Since they were valuable in Kazakhstan, the wives of high officials thought that they were being treated specially.

“We should ask Edward to send more of them later. Anyone in Bogota had those jewels on their necks and ears, even young children, but they’re valuable here.”

“Hey, it depends on how you process the stone. I bought expensive ones only. It’s not the same with the ones sold on the streets. Don’t mention it in front of Yunsuh, she’s going to grill me to buy some more for her if she found out.”

“Alright, alright. Anyway, I’ve got to admit. Your business skills are amazing.”

Jongil was amazing at understanding women’s mind whether it was an older woman or it was a young girl. He was a born womanizer.

***

The effect of the freighter delivery came at once. The Emptied vessel after finishing the delivery of wines in Volgograd, Russia usually came back loaded with construction materials and equipment. Then it went to the Port of Atyrau and came back to Baku with grains imported from Kazakhstan.

The reason that it was delivering grains from the port was that many shippers requested a delivery since the Arirang was a huge vessel that visited three countries on a regular basis. With the use of a freighter, Zeynep Corporation could now open a new delivery and distribution business. Although there had been other freighters that went between Baku and Kazakhstan, not only their sizes were smaller but also they did not travel regularly.

By doing these delivery cycles, Youngho was also putting the vessel into a test if it was strong enough to be driven during the winter times. The freezing of the Caspian Sea during the winter made it difficult for many vessels traveling around but the ice was not as thick as the Arctic’s. The freighter was not an icebreaker but any vessel with a strong hull and powerful engine could overcome the ice. Youngho only wished that the largest shipyard of Baku, where he bought his ships, had the technical skills to make such sturdy vessels.