On the way back to the palace after visiting the royal s.h.i.+pyard, he stopped his car for a while and looked at the river.

In the middle of the river, there was already an icebreaker cutting through the ice.

Usually, the river got frozen in December, but the early cold this year had already frozen the river solid even though it was only the end of November.

Youngho quivered in cold and turned around to return to the palace, but Kim Chun, who was standing next to him, said that he would buy a drink. He was being overly chatty because Youngho had just ordered two 30,000-ton and 50,000-ton s.h.i.+ps each at the s.h.i.+pyard.

He hastily ordered those s.h.i.+ps in advance in preparation for the Russian waterway expansion. Since Kim Chun had been nagging Youngho to buy a 50,000-ton s.h.i.+p to sail into the Caspian Sea, he was happy to hear the news.

"Commissioner, now that we can digest all of the grains produced in Kazakhstan, please don't ask further."

"Your Highness, people will think that I wanted to order big s.h.i.+ps out of my greed if they heard you. Wait and see, you'll need a bigger s.h.i.+p in the future."

"The VolgDon ca.n.a.l is fine, but even if the VolgBaltic is expanded, 50,000-ton s.h.i.+ps are too high to go through it because of the bridges everywhere."

Due to so many bridges in the VolgBaltic Waterway, it was concluded that the vessel to be used could not be over 30,000 tons because the height should be lowered as much as possible.

"Your Highness, if we set up some floodgates in the Ural River, we can transport goods to the Oral region."

"That's possible, but I don't think it'll be economic because we don't have a huge volume of logistics going into the region."

"If you go about 100 kilometers up to the river, we don't even have many 1,000-ton-cla.s.s vessels. It's a shame. Why don't we investigate its feasibility just in case?"

The distance from the Arirang state to the city of Oral was about 500 kilometers. Even though it was a long stretch, the water there was abundant. It would be a valuable waterway if they could fix a few places along the way. However, sedimentary soil had acc.u.mulated on the riverbed, so they must be removed, and its economic value must be examined.

"In order to develop the West, we should make roads or ca.n.a.ls, but it's doesn't seem so economical because we don't have a lot of logistics."

"Wouldn't the logistics naturally increase if we make a waterway available? Just a rough dredging would give you plenty of room for shallow-draught s.h.i.+ps for ca.n.a.ls."

"A ca.n.a.l s.h.i.+p?"

"Yes, if the s.h.i.+p is only going to sail around the inland waterways, not to the sea, wouldn't it be okay to have a flat bottom?"

"I haven't thought of that before. There are no waves, so you don't have to worry about the resilience. If we come up with a ca.n.a.l vessel, we won't even have to do much dredging work."

Youngho had never thought about vessels with a flat-bottom even though many s.h.i.+ps that sailed around the world's big rivers were made that way. Such s.h.i.+ps would not be able to sail to the sea, but having ca.n.a.l s.h.i.+ps would decrease the construction cost of the ca.n.a.l if it was too excessive.

Kim Chun's idea just opened the possibility of the Ural River waterway project for Youngho.

***

Kulibayev, the construction minister of Kazakhstan, had been working hard these days.

Although it was not a government-sponsored project, he was recognized by the Duke and selected to lead the Russian ca.n.a.l project.

In addition, he was asked to pay attention to the Siberian development project.

Except for the prime minister and the defense minister among government ministers, he was most likely the only minister who received the attention of the royal family.

At the beginning of the new government, the royal family was only interested in the national defense, but he was able to be in the spotlight as he was needed for the construction of the Uyghur refugee camp, and now he was in and out of the royal palace every week on the royal jet.

Today, he was on his way to the palace again after receiving a call that the Duke needed him in a hurry. As he visited the palace often, even Serbian knights guarding the palace said h.e.l.lo in a friendly manner as they got to know him.

Kulibayev, who was saluted by knights and happily stepped into the palace, was even exchanging light jokes with Suh Min-seok in the secretary's office.

"Welcome, minister. How was your flight?"

"I'm kind of worried that I won't be able to fly on a regular plane again because the royal jet is so comfortable."

"Don't you get scared of a small plane?"

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"Oh, what are you talking about? I would've been on a domestic airplane and go through the ha.s.sle if it wasn't for the royal jet. I'm just grateful for Her Majesty and His Highness's kindness."

"Oh, you don't have to pretend that you like the flight. I know how it is…"

"Hahaha... Was it too obvious? By the way, do you know why the Duke was suddenly in such a hurry?"

"Maybe it's because of the construction of the Ural River waterway. His Highness will tell you about it in detail."

"A waterway construction on the Ural River?"

"Your Highness is waiting for you. You can now enter his room."

"Sure. Am I the last visitor today?"

"Yes."

"Should we taste the Ural trout after we're done?"

"Sounds great!"

Kulibayev diligently recalled data about the Ural River in his head as he opened Youngho's office.

"Your Highness, I'm here."

"I'm sorry that I call you here too many times these days. I was going to talk to you on the phone, but I've been pus.h.i.+ng you so hard these, so I wanted to serve you some Ural trout tonight."

"Oh, I'm so grateful for your gesture. I'm only doing my job as a public servant."

"It takes a while to dress the trout, so I'd like to hear your expert advice while we wait."

"Ask away, Your Highness."

"What can I do to make good use of the Ural River? Do you have some ideas?"

"Secretary Suh just briefly told me about the waterway construction. The Ural River basin is so vast that it's a little overwhelming, but I'll study about it. As you may well know, the river that rises during the thawing season is flooding the area frequently. Thanks to this, the land nearby is fertile and agricultural productivity is higher than in other areas. If you'd develop the waterway, you'd have to endure farmers' resistance too."

"Could you find ways to develop the waterway without disrupting agricultural production?"

Youngho quickly added because he feared opposition.

The Arirang territory was also an area where the water from the Ural River was used to farm and create pasturelands. Agriculture could be greatly affected by the development of the Ural River. However, there were plenty of other farmlands in Kazakhstan that were not near the Ural River.

"In order for s.h.i.+ps to travel on a waterway, dredging is essential, and with dredging work, the river will be lowered in height. Except for the thawing season where there's a lot of flow, irrigation-dependent farms would be affected by the construction. That's why I dared to say it's a little bit overwhelming work."

"What if we set up floodgates? The water level won't be lowered in the dry season, and it won't disrupt agriculture."

"That's a good idea, but there's the ha.s.sle of building a bank. The banks can cause an ecological disturbance."

"I see. I only thought of dredging and installing floodgates, but after hearing your words, this is more work than I thought."

"But there's nothing to be negative about. All of Kazakhstan's rivers and lakes now are already destroyed by Soviet Union's overdevelopment and the spread of pesticides, so they won't get any worse. Rather, waterway development can help heal the environment."

'What is this guy telling me? So can we do it or not?'

"Minister, I feel like I'm going up and down listening to you."

"I'm sorry to confuse you, Your Highness. I have to put it simply, but I guess I've been beating around the bush."

"Why don't you leave it open and investigate it in depth?"

"If you'll leave it to me, I'll work my best to take a look at the scene and come up with the best result."

"Please don't overdo it. If the Construction Minister, the backbone of the country, gets sick, that's a national loss."

He looked moved because of what Youngho's said.

Although he said it to encourage him, he really meant it since the construction minister was doing so much work pa.s.sionately. There would be trouble if he got sick.

Youngho needed such loyal people around him now. He planned to encourage other ministers this way as well.

With Youngho's trust, the construction minister would be going in and out of the area of the Ural River excessively from now on.