Empire of the Ring

Prime Minister Kasim and other Cabinet ministers came to say a new year’s greeting at the royal territory when Youngho and his family returned from the family trip.

It did not end there. Other military chiefs and governors of the country also visited the palace, so the banquet hall was crowded for several days in the New Year’s season.

After becoming a constitutional monarchy, this had become an annual event even though the law did not say anything about visiting the royal family in the New Year.

Politicians and high officials were careful to show respect to the royal family so that they would not lose the favor of the Kazakh people as they endeared the royal family.

“Your Grace, did you enjoy your vacation?”

“Mr. Prime Minister, I’m sorry that only the royal family went on vacation while the government members were working hard. I wish I could have taken you on our trip to the Greek island.”

“Well, the cabinet ministers wouldn’t have been able to leave their seats anyway since we’re quite busy. Besides, I’ll get to have rest when I retire from the position of the Prime Minister.”

“Oh, bless your heart. Mr. Prime Minister, you won’t be able to rest.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you’ll have to run another term in your position after your current term is over. The people want it, and I want it. You can’t be retiring already. I have a lot to do with you in the future. You’ll have to serve one more term. That’s what the Queen wants, too.”

Even though Prime Minister Kasim was not a politician, to begin with, he had been a great leader of the country with his calm and firm personality since the revolutionary government.

Kazakhstan was yet to be stabilized as a country, in this transition period, Kasim, who was a strong leader who had been a soldier all his life was more qualified than any other politician since policies and complicated economic issues could be handled by someone like Eriksson, who was elite.

“Your Highness. There are so many talented people in Kazakhstan. You need to recruit people with fresh ideas.”

“The head of state should not be changed in order to maintain consistency in government policy, either. I beg you to stay. Other Cabinet members will also stay in the same position, too.”

When the Duke mentioned about leaving everyone in their office, the faces of the Cabinet members at the banquet were brightened at once. It was because it was usually natural to appoint a new Cabinet minister when his term expired, but not doing so meant that every minister had done their job well. It was a great compliment.

“Stagnant water is bound to rot. That’s why we rotate any level of officials from top to bottom every three years. It wouldn’t set a great role model if the ministers stay in their position.”

“If you’re worried about corruption, we can simply prepare a proper safety device institutionally.”

“If officials have worked for a certain period of time, we can consider sending them abroad for about two years to give them a chance to study new things for their professional development.”

“That is a little burdensome to the government because of budgeting. I doubt whether the National Assembly will approve the budget.”

“If you don’t have enough budgets, the royal family will pay for ministers’ education, so don’t worry.”

Youngho thought if officials could study in developed countries for about two years with their family members and return to Kazakhstan, it would create a new wind in the civil service community. Moreover, it was obvious that their loyalty to the Kazakh royal family would be strengthened.

“Your Highness. Why don’t we expand that to include not only ordinary civil servants but also those working in special jobs?”

Park Jong-il, who was listening to their conversation next to Youngho, interrupted them.

The special job he described must be referring to intelligence agents and soldiers.

“Would the Director of Intelligence be interested in this project? I know you haven’t even finished your studies at Baku University yet.”

“Oh, how can I leave Kazakhstan when I’m in the position to support you. In particular, the Army needs new education. New weapons come out every day, and we can’t really utilize them with our existing operational concept.”

No matter how good a state-of-the-art weapon was introduced, it was useless if soldiers were not educated to operate it.

“From what I hear, we should start with the Army. It would be very helpful for soldiers and intelligence personnel to have an advanced education for about six months. Defense Secretary and the Director of Intelligence, please select agents that need to be sent for education of the operational concepts of advanced countries. The royal family will pay for the cost.”

Kazakhstan’s Air Force or Navy had already been sending soldiers to Sweden or South Korea to learn how to operate the latest fighter jets or warships, and foreign instructors were coming directly into Kazakhstan to teach advanced technology. But the Army did not even have a chance to do so, so it was urgent to send soldiers to acquire advanced technology and its operational skills.

***

-Hyung, Zeynep is ordering something strange. Do you know about this?

“I’ve already heard that she’s going to invest money in an asset management company.”

-This is not something of that sort. She is going to order a ship from the Danish Shipyard, so I wondered if you’re aware of this.

“Did she ask for a yacht?”

-I wouldn’t have called you if that’s the case. She asked about the cost of building a hospital ship.

Youngho had a flash of thought in his mind when he heard it. Fatima tipped him off about Zeynep wanting to build a hospital.

“I heard she was going to build a hospital. Was that a hospital ship?”

-I think so. She’s such a free soul. I don’t know what she has in mind, but the size of the hospital ship that Zeynep is asking for was too big.

“How big was it?”

-It’s a hospital ship that can accommodate 300 people at once. I checked with the shipyard that a ship of that size should be at least 20,000 tons.

“What? It’s not 30 people, but 300 patients? She’s going too big. What the heck is she going to use such a big ship for?”

-She didn’t say much about the details.

It seemed that Zeynep wanted to build a hospital ship equipped with wards and medical equipment that would travel around the world to treat people in the places where medical service was not provided well.

“I think she’s up to something. Give whatever she asks for. Zeynep is not a child, she must know what she’s doing.”

After talking to Szechenyi on the phone, Youngho went to see Zeynep, but she left him hanging, saying that she needed to go do volunteer work at an orphanage. She wanted to talk later at the dinner table.

She knew exactly why Youngho was there, knowing that Szechenyi would have told about their conversation already.

It was clear that she wanted to buy time. So, Youngho asked Suh Min-seok to find out if there were any countries that operated large hospital ships.

“Your Grace, there are no privately operated hospital ships, but the navies of the United States, Russia, and China have it.”

“How large are the hospital ships owned by the U.S. Navy or other countries?”

“The U.S. operates 70,000-ton ships and has two hospital ships that have modified large tankers. It’s like a general hospital with 1,000 beds and dozens of operating rooms each. And the Chinese navy has 20,000-ton ship, and the Russian navy has 12,000-ton ship.”

Youngho could not keep his jaw closed at the size of the U.S. hospital ship which could easily exceed the level of decent general hospitals.

To maintain a ship of that size, only the labor costs of medical staff and maintenance personnel would be extremely high.

It was also surprising that Zeynep was planning a ship of such size.

Listening to it made Youngho even more curious about what Zeynep was up to.