Empire of the Ring

“Your Highness, congratulations. It’s the joy of the royal family and of the whole nation.”

“Thank you for visiting us even though you are extremely busy in this new year’s season, Mr. Prime Minister.”

“Of course, I should visit the Queen. I think it’s the first time that we have this kind of celebratory event since we became a constitutional monarchy.”

“Hahaha… That’s true. I have mixed feelings because I’ve waited for this for ten years.”

Youngho had a big grin on his face.

Such congratulations were pleasant to hear at any time.

“Your Highness, why don’t you give your people a little hope for such a happy time?”

“If you have any good ideas from the government, please let me know.”

“I think the special amnesty proposed by the royal secretariat is the best way, so far, no special pardons have been granted in Kazakhstan. If we take this opportunity to do it selectively, all the people will welcome it.”

“Very well, please set standards for special pardons so that as many people as possible can be pardoned and reinstated.”

The government officials, who visited the royal territory, were not only Prime Minister Kasim and Cabinet ministers but also military officials.

“I don’t think each chief of staff is very busy. Is the Chinese border all right?”

“Our military is a royal army. No matter how busy we are, we can’t skip congratulating such a happy occasion, and there are no Chinese weapons at the moment that will pierce the near-perfect air defense network, so don’t worry.”

Kasim showed a lot of confidence.

The Kazakh military was an absolute loyal group to the royal family as it was the main force along with Youngho that brought down the former regime.

Prime Minister Kasim, who was formerly a military general, was also deeply trusted by the royal family, so the military’s pride was high.

Since becoming a constitutional monarchy, the military’s sense of inferiority compared to Russia disappeared, as the base of the nation’s self-defense had been laid out by realizing the wages of long-term service workers and modernizing barracks facilities and purchasing high-tech weapons.

Perhaps that was why the number of military service, which had been shunned by young people, had increased dramatically, and now the regular army easily surpassed 100,000.

The fact that the military leaders ran to royal territory immediately to hear the news of the Queen’s pregnancy was also a direct indication of how much support the Kazakh royal family received from the military.

“Although China continues to provoke us, each military should be confident in any case. The secret weapon that will shock China will soon be ready.”

“Your Grace, is the development of the laser weapon complete?”

“It’ll be deployed soon. It’s a weapon of the future that no one can imitate.”

Further development was still needed for laser weapons to be deployed in practice.

Nevertheless, the reason why Youngho was loudly saying that Kazakhstan had the power to neutralize any attack was that he trusted the power of hidden tactical nuclear weapons.

Today’s remarks would soon be made known to the Chinese side as there were Chinese spies among Kazakh politicians.

His remark was kind of a warning and a gambit.

One might wonder what a great weapon it was that the Duke of Kazakhstan mentioned it at the celebratory event for the Queen’s pregnancy.

“Your Highness, why don’t you openly demonstrate the laser weapon? Wouldn’t China freak out?”

“Oh, we don’t have to be so kind as to do that. It’s better to make China more curious about it. It won’t be able to move for a while when the new weapons are deployed.”

***

Perhaps because it was a child in nearly a decade, Youngho was in a good mood every day. Jong-il, In-soo, and Chul-hwan, who were chatting next to him, told him to stop smiling like a fool.

“Man, you’re smiling like a fool every day. You’re not the only one who’s had a second child.”

“Oh, you all have two or three children already, but we’re having the second after a decade. Do you know how it feels to see a latecomer? Oh, why don’t you take this opportunity to make some latecomers?”

“Don’t even start it. My house is like a war zone every day.”

Park Jong-il and Cha In-soo had three children and Cho Chul-hwan had two.

Considering how it was hard to handle Leon alone, Youngho could tell what his friends must be going through.

However, those from Korea tended to have fewer babies.

Serbs and Kurds had jaw-dropping birth rates.

Although Eastern Europeans were particularly prolific, they started to give birth to two or three more babies than average as their lives were stabilized after settling down in Kazakhstan. In addition, Kazakhstan was offering birth incentives to increase the population in any way, which was another reason for their high birth rates.

“There’s something I felt now that we are having a second child.”

Everyone turned his head to hear what Youngho was about to say.

“I was tempted to try something for my newborn child. I mean, didn’t you guys want to challenge yourself to do something new when your kids were born?”

“I’m so busy with my current job that I can’t think of anything new. We never thought of that before, so don’t count on us.”

“Aren’t you tempted to have bigger land to pass on to your children?”

“Jeez, you’ve got quite a greed for land. Do you need more land when you’ve got Siberia which is the size of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan and is going to become our federation soon?”

“Siberia is a place that will be returned later, and it’s not much even if we combine Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It also bugs me because China is interested in Uzbekistan again these days.”

“You want to merge Uzbekistan?” Cho Chul-hwan asked excitedly to think that it would be an annexation by force.

“Annexation? Get that idea out of your head. Do you want war?”

Then Park Jong-il snapped.

“Then, shall we start maneuvering?”

“Yes. I’ll have to clean it up with secret maneuvering. If we leave it alone, it will be gulped down by China.”

He had recently received information that China was continuing to target Uzbek politicians.

Uzbekistan was a traditional ally and recently entered Kazakhstan’s economic bloc, but unstable domestic politics were stimulating Youngho’s nerves.

There was a pro-Kazakh political party, but there was also a party that was pro-China.

“I’m planning to expose the corruption of politicians who take the pro-China line to the media first. That would end their political life. We can also encourage anti-government rallies more violently than now by providing more funds to democratic groups.”

“Okay, there’s enough justification for us to intervene in the event of a bloody conflict. What will they say about us trying to protect the Kazakh royal property? In-soo, beef up the security at the royal gold mine in Uzbekistan, and Chul-hwan, deploy the royal bodyguards secretly to Shymkent in the South.”

There had been a behind-the-scenes operation against Uzbek political forces.

Since Uzbekistan was an inland country that could only be accessed by land, there was no way for China’s weapons to enter Uzbekistan if the roads from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were blocked.

China could go through Turkmenistan, which faced the Caspian Sea, but that was also not possible due to the Kazakh navy, which controlled the Caspian Sea.

Uzbekistan bordered Kazakhstan, and if China made its way into Uzbekistan, it would be a threat to Kazakhstan. If it were not for the rivalry between China and Kazakhstan, it would not matter whatever the internal political situation was, but Uzbek politicians, who were still pro-China despite Kazakhstan’s help for its economy and social welfare, could not be overlooked. Uzbekistan would claim it was equidistant diplomacy, but Youngho could never tolerate it.

He wanted to get rid of the source of trouble that might break the peace in Central Asia later.

***

The number of Royal Bodyguards had swelled to 25,000 in the meantime due to the enlistment of Kurdish youths.

The expanded Royal Bodyguards included not only the Army but also the Air Force and the Navy, which were organized and operated separately from the Kazakh government’s military forces, with 15,000 troops, 3,000 airmen, and 7,000 sailors.

The reason for the increase of navies was that there were 16 combat ships waiting to be fully operational in the future. It was also planned to increase the number to 10,000 in the coming years as multipurpose landing ships and submarines would be added.

When combined with regular military forces, Kazakhstan would have about 130,000 troops.

Although the number of troops compared to the time of the previous administration had doubled, it was still a lot short given the wide land area and long borders.

The Royal Bodyguards were planned to increase the number of troops to 200,000 within a few years and operate 300,000 in the long run, all of which were attributable to China.

“Commissioner Kim. Wouldn’t this year’s operating budget for the Royal Bodyguards be insufficient?”

“The maintenance cost is sufficient with our budget, but if we were to buy weapons, we wouldn’t have enough, but since the royal family usually buys weapons, we didn’t set the budget anyway.”

“The barracks looked a little old, won’t that have a bad impact on our soldiers’ morale?”

“I talked to the head of the Royal Bodyguards, and he said he could use the Kurdish settlement camps. I was going to discuss it with you.”

“Using temporary camps?”

Although built temporarily, the camps were not shabby facilities.

It was because they could last several years and were equipped with good auxiliary facilities.

They were too good to be torn down just because they were no longer needed as the Kurds now had their own houses. Such empty facilities were being considered to be used as barracks.

“The size was too big for the Royal Bodyguards to use, so we have to tear down the rest except the facilities to be used as military units.”

“Look for ways to turn temporary camps into light industry plants. It’s a waste to get rid of them as they’re equipped with roads and water and sewer systems.”

“I’ll have to consider that as well. If you take advantage of the accommodation or the dining halls, we will be able to turn them into a small daily necessities factory.”