Empire of the Ring

The price offered by Eriksson was 1.7 billion dollars.

The nonferrous metal smelter was rated the lowest for facility aging, while textile and chemical factory and combine factory were worth quite a lot. Although Nikolay did not have a world-class company, the transaction price was considered highest among other businesses in Siberia.

Now that there was an offer, it was Nikolay’s turn to decide to take it or not.

“Let me tell you that the price we offered is very reasonable. I don’t know how much tax the client will be paying to Moscow, but the price that will be announced officially is about 30 percent of the total price.”

“I’ll contact the client. He’ll probably accept it.”

“I’ll tell you in advance that the commission for this transaction would be fair for you.”

Eriksson meant that Youngho should make this happen if he wanted to earn a high commission. Youngho had not really thought of a high commission before since he only wanted to help Nikolay, but he was happy to hear about the money from Eriksson.

“I think I’ll have to change my job because you’re paying me so much.”

“It’s natural to have financial rewards for accomplishing difficult things. I’m getting paid for just delivering words. You know, information is money.”

“Speaking of that, is technology included in that information?”

“You mean advanced technology.”

“It’s not necessarily a high technology, but it’s what the Arirang Autonomous State needs. I don’t know if it’s easy to get.”

“It’s not that hard to find that for us. We can even buy and sell the technology to make atomic bombs easily.”

“I’d like to get some laser technology in our state.”

“That’s the kind of technology that’s available to any regular tech companies.”

“I’m afraid it’s not something that our state can come up with on our own.”

“Lee, I’ll give the technology to you as a complimentary reward if you can make this deal happen.”

“What? You mean you’re not going to charge me for the technology transfer?”

“It’s pointless to sell a simple technology that everyone knows for money. It’s a technology that you can learn just from reading a few relevant documents. I’ll be happy to do that for you especially if you want it so badly.”

“You must know that rubies are used in the lens of laser devices.”

“That’s common. They all use artificial rubies.”

“Why don’t they use natural rubies?”

“Natural rubies can’t collect light effectively because there are many impurities. Only the artificial rubies that are specially made could do the job, although the value of natural ruby is as expensive as diamonds.”

Listening to Eriksson’s explanation, Youngho realized something. D Drones must have known about this too, but they still asked if Youngho could get the price of diamonds because the company was interested more in the industrial diamonds. The company did not need natural rubies after all. This relieved Youngho since he was worried that rubies might affect the lives of the Evenks in Siberia. He would just tell D Drones that he could not find any ruby at all in Siberia.

Eriksson, soon aware of the change in Youngho, asked in a low voice.

“You were talking about ruby… May I ask why you mentioned about ruby?”

“Can you put ruby up for auction too?”

“Our organization handles everything. We’ve sold diamonds and gold for you before. I think dealing with rubies is going to be a lot more fun since it’s rare.”

“I also have some rubies from the inheritance of the Archduke family of the Serbian Kingdom. I’ll bring them to you soon.”

“How big is the Archduke family’s fortune? It appears so often.”

“I’ll leave it to your imagination.”

“That’s going to be a problem since I tend to imagine wildly. I think the treasure of the Archduke will continue to come out.”

“Hahaha…”

***

Nikolay was surprised by Youngho’s phone call. It was because he asked Youngho less than a month ago to sell his company. It was quite fast and not to mention the high price offered by the buyer. He even asked who in the world had offered such a high price.

“I was surprised, too. Is the price different from what you have expected?”

“I didn’t know my company was worth that much. But I’m afraid that the officials in Moscow won’t allow it to happen.”

“The agency said that he would pay the right taxes to the authorities in Moscow.”

“Well, they saw it, right?”

“They also said that you’re holding too much in your hands.”

“I guess I should leave some behind if I wanted to keep doing business in Russia.”

Nikolay soon realized the meaning of Youngho’s words. Since he had been doing business in Russia for so many years, he had that much sense.

“The official price of your business that will be released to the public will be 30 percent lower than the actual sale price.”

“You’re giving me a big present. I will repay you for this kindness.”

“Oh, please don’t feel pressured. I’m only doing a favor as a fellow businessman.”

“Ah…”

Nikolay was no longer able to speak. He was touched by Youngho’s warm words.

When Youngho finished talking to Nikolay, he looked at Eriksson who was grinning. Youngho asked him why he was smiling.

“I can see your intention of calling the client in front of me. You wanted to show me the client’s reaction, didn’t you?”

“Sometimes I think I should show my sincerity in business deals. I’m not selling mine or doing it for my own good. I hope there’s no misunderstanding.”

“We’re not interested in what’s going behind a deal at all. The only question we ask in the first place is who is going to bring us the deals. It’s got to be someone we trust.”

“It sounds like no matter how tempting the deal is, you won’t take it if you don’t like the person who introduces it to you.”

“Exactly. There are always risks to a deal. I don’t even look at the details if it is from someone I am not sure of. That’s the rule.”

Since the Information Agency’s businesses depended on correct information, it was too risky to deal with unknown clients. Wrong deals could shake the whole organization. The agency only dealt with clients when they were thoroughly verified and trusted, and when the verification process was done, the agency could make bold moves to make deals.

This was why when Youngho sold Nikolay’s gold bars recently to the agency, the agency easily paid Youngho 20 percent of the total price in advance just by looking at the picture of the ship loading the box of gold bars. Youngho was trusted by the Information Agency. He was flattered to hear Eriksson.

“There will be no remarkable profit or loss in each party of the transaction. Both the buyer and seller would have a fair deal. If the buyer thinks he had bought it at a high price, he would not keep the secret, so we always have to offer a satisfying deal for both parties. Our organization is always thinking about those cases.”

“That’s something I can understand. I’ll be happy to open up my wallet when I think I’m benefiting from a deal.”

“Lee, there will be a day when you will buy from our clients. I look forward to that day.”

“I’m open to decent deals.”

“Some of our clients have pretty good things, even though they have an eccentric personality. Anything you say, I’ll get it for you.”

At last, Eriksson was in business with Youngho. Youngho had only been a middleman of their deals, but he had never jumped directly into the purchase market. Eriksson’s note meant that the Information Agency now saw Youngho as someone who had the ability and funds to buy their clients’ products.

“Do you also sell small things?”

“If anything is hard to get from the public market, just tell us.”

“It’s definitely hard to get in the market…”

***

There was Zeynep Wine who was a distributor in Frankfurt. It was run by Cho Sang-chun, Youngho’s college friend and brother-in-law. Apparently, Zeynep Wine was selling like hotcakes now for its outstanding taste.

The store on the first floor of the office building was crowded with consulting staffs and buyers. There were now more than ten employees working in the distributor.

Sang-chun was so busy that he did not notice Youngho who just walked into the store. After finishing his consultation with a buyer, he welcomed Youngho as he saw him.

“You’re here for the meeting. Has it been a month already?”

“Whoa, our wine’s doing so great in Europe. The sales here might exceed sales in the Russian market.”

“It’s still far away. Maybe next year or so.”

Considering the confidence in his voice, it seemed that it was not far from the day when Zeynep Wine would be able to overtake mass-produced, cheap wines in the market.

It was premium-quality wine that was sold in Europe, and the flavor was different from that of short-term aged wines.

“Let’s hire more salespeople. If you’re here all the time as a boss, your staffs will be intimidated.”

“Europeans don’t care about such a thing. They rather like me being here helping them since it’s busy.”

“You managed to settle well even though wines from Southern Europe are popular here. You did a great job.”

“If it doesn’t taste good, would you buy it? It’s the quality of our wine that’s promoting itself.”

Since oak barrel manufacturing factory was on Zeynep Farm, wine factory often changed oak barrels in the process of making it, and storing the wine in a cave cellar added quite a nice naturally matured taste to the wine. Many said that drinking Zeynep Wine was like a treasure hunt because each bottle had a different taste rather than a uniform taste. The wine had an uncanny charm to it that was appealing to many wine lovers.

The American buyer who had just consulted with Cho Sang-chun and left the store was that case. Saying that wine produced in the Caucasus tasted rough, but its natural taste was far ahead than wines from other regions. He wanted to import some to the States.

“I stopped him because he wanted to bring a high quantity for a starter. To be honest, I’m not confident of our wine against the ones produced in California, Australia, and South America.”

“What are you talking about? It’s working in Turkey, too.”

“Americans have different taste preference. It’s hard for a premium wine to settle in a place where there are a huge selection of low-cost wines.”

“You should arouse their vanity. They have blind admiration for Europe. Georgia was the first place to make wine historically. Let’s try to make a mark on the fact that the Caucasus is the origin of the wine.”

“Shall we hold a tasting in the middle of New York City?”

“That’s up to you, general manager.”

If the wine was slowly being recognized by Europeans, who were known for their picky palate, there was nothing to fear about the U.S. market. Many Americans were also wine lovers.

Michael of the European chapter was a great example of that. He was also a heavy wine lover. He would be retiring from the CIA soon, and it would be a lot of fun to have him serve as the general manager of the U.S. distributor.

“Hey, hold that thought. I have a perfect person for the U.S. market.”

“If you already know someone who knows the U.S. market well, that would be awesome.”

“He’s a real sales genius.”

Having served as the head of the U.S. intelligence agency’s European chapter, he was quite good at managing connections. He would do well in sales with such connections.

***

“Hey, You haven’t left here yet?”

“Oh, Chief. You should go a little easy on the staffs here, or they’re not going to show up at your funeral.”

“Come on. I want to live in peace when I retire. I won’t make them come to my quiet, rural farm anyway.”

“It’s going to make you sick if you stay in a quiet farm all of a sudden just because you retired. You’ve been working hard in crowded cities all your life. So, I’ve come up with a solution for you.”

“That’s enough. I said I’m going to live a quiet and peaceful life after my retirement.”

“You don’t even have to lift your finger. You’ll work through the phone.”

Michael was anxious to hear what Youngho was about to say.

“Lee, why are you beating around the bush? Spit it out.”

“What do you think of Zeynep Wine?”

“It’s a delicious wine. I’m only going to drink this from now on.”

“There’s a way to drink it for free all your life.”

“…”

“I’d like you to be the sole distributor of Zeynep Wine in the U.S. Annual sales will exceed tens of millions of dollars. I don’t think I can leave it to anyone but you. I came here because you were the only one I could trust.”

“The CIA won’t be happy to find out about our relationship.”

“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem at all. Can’t you even meet old colleagues after your retirement just because you were a CIA agent? You’re only taking a wine distribution business. There’s no harm in this.”

At Youngho’s persuasion, Michael’s eyes were slightly shaken.

Living in a big city sounded quite attractive rather than being stuck on a farm in a rural area.

“Do you think I can do sales well?”

“The delicious Zeynep Wine will do its sales itself.”

“Phew, I guess I’ll be indebted to you for the rest of my life.”

“And what’s wrong with that? It’s a gift for your old age.”

“Is this a gift? This is a deal.”

“Thank you for taking it.”

“I haven’t given you permission yet. Shouldn’t you have to ask your wife’s opinion first?”