Empire of the Ring

What Park Youngsun asked Youngho was whether he was willing to listen to any bitter pieces of advice. His reason was that any advice could be taken bitterly and could ruin people’s relationship. People tend to not give advice unless to a very close person since it could irritate or hurt the listener’s feelings. Park Youngsun also wanted to give advice many times but he was reluctant since the trust between them was not built yet.

Since the canal plan was a huge problem, he stepped up and stopped Youngho but he had been worried about his behavior since he might have upset his boss.

Park Youngsun wanted to make sure that such problems would not happen before he starts giving any pieces of advice but such thing was not a matter to Youngho.

“Dr. Park, I understand what you’re concerned about and this is why I’m trying to position you as an advisor. An advisor of a corporation is sometimes higher than the CEO. You would be able to give directions even to me.”

“…”

“I just think that if you can be someone like that to me, our group could grow without too much trouble. I just accepted your condition. Your concern is taken care of. Now, what do you say?”

“I have no words to say since you see the value in my experience.”

Park Youngsun accepted Youngho’s offer.

“Thank you for doing a huge favor. It must’ve been a hard decision.”

“Not at all. You’ve done such amazing things to my family. I’m glad I have a chance to repay your kindness.”

As Park Youngsun become one of the leading members of the corporation, the person who welcomed him most was Cha Insoo.

He had been in charge of the security company just because he was Youngho’s friend and it was overwhelming for his capacity. Whenever there was a security service request, he was in the position to decide whether to accept it or not. Most people who requested for the service had someone who intended to harm them and any misjudgment could tarnish the company’s reputation, so he needed to make cautious decisions. Up until now, he had discussed important decisions with his two other friends but it was still hard for him.

It seemed that with Park Youngsun’s joining to the company’s leading team, the company would gain a huge strength from now on.

***

“So, I’ll be visiting the Netherlands for this. What do you think, Dr. Park?”

Youngho asked for Park Youngsun’s opinion about buying a freighter.

“That’s a great idea. If Russian product is well-known, you won’t have to go far to look for other freighters but if you consider the expansion of Arirang Farm in the future, such big size of a ship is necessary.”

“Mr. Park, since you recommend buying a big freighter, I’ll take your word for it. I agree but I was only hesitant because the freighter will not be used as often.”

“You won’t have to worry about that. You should consider making good use out of it and lending it to people as a tramp steamer.”

Youngho only thought that he had to use the ship but as Park Youngsun was saying, if he could lend it to deliver cargo for other companies and traders, it seemed that he would be able to make extra money and money for its maintenance.

“I’m not sure if there is a need for a tramp steamer.”

“You have no idea. Many traders prefer tramp liners rather than cargo liners because they are faster. So, you won’t need to worry about the size of your freighter. Shippers would love large freighters due to their stability.”

***

Youngho accompanied Jongil for his trip to the Netherlands.

The freighter moored at the third wharf of the Port of Amsterdam looked almost as new. It was only five years old and it was nicely polished by the owner to sell in the market.

Precisely, it weighed about 49,980 tons and it could sail at 18 knots. Its price was thirty million dollars in the market.

“How do you like it? It’s a terrific deal since almost a fifteen-year-old bulk freighter costs about twenty-five million dollars these days. The market prices had been reduced tremendously compared to the past.”

“Is there any problem to the freighter? What’s the reason for its price reduction?”

“The shipping industry all over the world is suffering an extreme regression now. It’s because the number of trade goods had been decreased. So, I can tell you this with confidence. When you buy a ship in times like this, the price of the ship will double in the up-phase.”

The unfortunate regression in the shipping industry came as luck to Youngho.

“That’s very good. I’d like to take over the shipping finance of this freighter. Would that be all possible?”

“The banks will welcome it from an entrepreneur like you. They’re going to extend the finance period with a great condition.”

There was no need to buy the freighter with cash since loan interest rates were low at the time being. All Youngho had to do was to pay a third of the freighter’s cost to own the ship now and pay the rest of the amount monthly.

“Do you like it?”

“Of course. When will I own such a huge ship if it’s not now? It’s interesting that it has thirty cabins even though it’s a freighter.”

“Steve said that there are many people traveling on freighters now, so the owner made the passenger’s quarters.”

Cruise trips were quite expensive for people in the middle class. Instead of expensive cruise trips, there were alternative trips on freighters or container ships. The crews on board liked having guests on board since new faces were refreshing in long journeys. Many crews who were exhausted from long sailing gained strength from meeting new people and there were many travel agencies who connected those cargo ships to travelers.

Since freighters visited more than ten ports in different countries once it set off, travelers could look around each port cities when the ships stayed at the ports. It recently gained popularity that it was hard for travelers to find spots now.

“That’s such an interesting turn on a cruise trip. Man, our freighter has many cabins, it’d be great for that.”

Jongil liked the fact that there were many cabins since he was the one who wanted to travel on a large ship.

Because of its huge size, the ship would not be shaken by heavy waves and currents. Also, a crane was attached to the freighter, so it did not need to wait for cranes at ports.

After signing the contract for the purchase of the ship, Steve helped Youngho with the financing process at a local bank as well.

***

An important guest visited Zeynep Farm. It was Princess Isabella that Szechenyi invited.

Szechenyi stayed in Frankfurt after traveling around Europe with an excuse for studying and it seemed that he had spent quite some time with the princess.

It seemed that the princess was burning with passion toward Szechenyi now. She could not spend a day without seeing him.

A princess’ visit was a huge event. Although it was unofficial, she brought more than ten people as her entourage for her foreign trip. Sangchun’s parents were in Frankfurt with Yunsuh and Sangchun, so Youngho cleaned their house for the princess to stay. Since the house was well-built, it was as same as a nice villa.

Youngho planned her visit at Arirang Hotel and prepared everything for her since she was an important guest but she insisted to stay at the farm in the last minute. Youngho later found out that it was because Szechenyi had told her that if she stayed at the farm, they could go ice skating at the reservoir and hunting together. All facilities were already nice but Youngho was still bothered since the princess was coming into his daily life.

“Hyung. I’m sorry that I made it inconvenient for everybody because I invited her to the farm.”

Szechenyi, with his nice smile, leaned on Youngho’s shoulder, playing the baby.

“Well, you’re fine. I allow everything she does here but not the airplane, okay?”

“I already told her that.”

“Her entourage will pass out if she wants to be on such small airplane.”

“I don’t think she’ll want to either once she sees its size. At first, even I wondered if that small thing could fly.”

“By the way, why did you decide to bring her here? You could spend time in Denmark or Germany.”

“I bragged about our farm and ranch. I told her we have beautiful scenery every season and she couldn’t wait to come here.”

It seemed that Szechenyi also bluffed a little. It was not likely that Princess Isabella had not been to huge farms or ranches. She was just intrigued to see where he grew up.

Princess Isabella entered Baku from the airport secretly. Since it was not good to be rumored at this point, everyone acted carefully to hide her identity. It would have been even troublesome if she decided to stay at the hotel.

The princess’s group was all surprised to see the farm. They had expected a smaller size, family farm but it was totally different. Excited, Isabella’s face was reddened as she entered the farm with Szechenyi’s escort.

Youngho held a little ceremony reception for Isabella’s arrival at the cafeteria usually used for the farm’s employees. The place was far from elegant but its rustic atmosphere was also as great. Just in time, it started snowing outside as if Baku welcomed the princess’ visit.

At one side of the cafeteria, lamb meat was being grilled and people comfortably interacted with each other. It relieved Princess Isabella’s nervousness since she had been following strict rules of Denmark royal family all her life. Everyone had some wine and the reception was already in full swing. On top of that, Park Jongil who was quite drunk sang a song in front of everyone with his reddened face. Everything was shocking and new to the princess.

“The princess is not willing to go home.”

“I talked to her yesterday and it looks like she’s going to follow me to deer hunting. She is so outgoing and she loves Leon.”

Fatima liked her bright personality. Talking about Princess Isabella, she smiled.

“Could it be that the Denmark royalty is pushing her to get married early because she’s too much of a tomboy?”

“Hahaha… Honey, what are you going to do with our little Zeynep when she finds a man?”

“What? Who’s going to refuse our Zeynep? But, you have a point.”

Zeynep was the most beautiful girl in the world but she was such a tomboy as well as the princess.

“See? I think any families will shake their heads if they see Zeynep’s personality.”

“If that happens, I refuse them as well! How dare they refuse our precious Zeynep?”

Even though Youngho was saying that he had no confidence in his words. She was so adventurous that she could now comfortably fly an airplane on her own. It was all because of Youngho since he was the one who taught her all that.

“Anyway, Isabella went to the ranch with Szechenyi. She had such fun yesterday that she wanted to go again.

“Again?”

Because the princess was visiting the ranch yesterday, all of the mining was stopped but it seemed that he would have to cancel mining today too. He sighed. Since the workers had recently found a new vein of gold, they were working hard to produce gold bars.