“How many times did you launch the strikes? What’s on the news must be just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Probably. I heard that the attacks were reported by the Chinese media. I don’t know why they didn’t control the press. Did you see the refinery attack, too?”

“What? That wasn’t on the news.”

“I guess the Chinese government couldn’t put it on the news.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a primary refinery in Xinjiang Uyghur. We came a little behind schedule because we destroyed the refinery first.”

“That wasn’t even in the initial plan.”

“It was right on our attack route. It would’ve been a waste if we just left it behind, so we had to go around our schedule a little bit. The Chinese soldiers would’ve been freaking out for that.”

“Hey, what if you were caught by the checkpoint?”

“Oh, come on. We flew drones from 50 kilometers away. We’ve already been out of there a while ago.”

“I guess you didn’t retrieve the drones.”

“What do you have to worry about retrieving it? We dropped drones together with the explosives.”

“What a waste. They cost a lot.”

Cho Chul-hwan cringed at Jong-il’s gaze while he was feeling sorry for the lost drones.

“It’s a hundred times better than putting yourself in danger. What if we get caught trying to retrieve the drones? From that day on, it’s war with China. Man.”

“You’ve made a good judgment. Getting out of there is a priority. Ignore him because he thinks equipment comes first over human life.”

“We’d be in a frenzy if we did that. Take out the drone’s price from Chul-hwan’s salary.”

Chul-hwan slapped Jong-il’s back for his last remark. Everyone already had a few drinks and was making comments as they listened to the story of Jong-il’s journey.

“Let’s hear what the h*ll you’ve been doing there.”

“Oh, just like this? I’m not that cheap, you know. Pour some drink in my glass first.”

Park Jong-il and 25 members of the Special Forces entered the secrete route in the Tian Shan Mountains that was connected to Xinjiang Uyghur.

As they carried drones and bombs and had to travel only on foot, their target of the attack was the city of Kucha, about 200 kilometers from the border. The plan was to destroy major facilities within a 100-kilometer radius around the site.

It took them five days to get there, and it was a lot of trouble because they had to go only on mountain roads to avoid inspection.

There was also the border town of Aksu nearby, but they went further since it was too close that they might get suspected of involvement.

And Kucha was a great target because of the presence of a Chinese military border unit that controlled the border areas of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Attacking such military command could startle the Chinese government rather than attacking other facilities.

However, they later found that there was an oil refinery located in the expected route, so they had to change their plan as blowing up the refinery would have a great impact as it would maximize the effects as the oil would burn.

Jong-il continued on saying that his team blew up the refinery first and then attacked other facilities consecutively that was initially planned.

“Good job. It was like fighting against a rock with an egg, but it’s a great achievement to have startled the Chinese government.”

“Hey, Youngho, why don’t we strengthen our borderlines just in case? The Chinese government will eventually find out that it’s not the attack from Uyghur independence fighters.”

“I’m sure they’ve already issued a heightened alert for the border troops because I informed Kasim of the situation.”

Prime Minister Kasim would have already issued a warning.

That was because China would suspect Kazakhstan even if there was no evidence.

When human trafficking rings were discovered, Youngho and Jong-il also immediately thought of China as well. However, without evidence, China would not be able to launch retaliatory strikes on Kazakhstan.

***

Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city and economic capital, was home to Central Asia’s largest wholesale market, Baraholka and Zelionyj Bazaars, a small and medium-sized wholesale market.

Generally, traditional markets were limited in handling items such as groceries and clothing stores, but large traditional markets in Almaty dealt with everything necessary for daily life.

There was a flood of food and daily necessities from all parts of Central Asia. Among them, Chinese goods had overwhelming numbers. This meant that there were many Chinese merchants as well.

There was a separate market only for Chinese merchants, and since every transaction was done in cash, there was no way to check their sales at all. In particular, they preferred U.S. dollars as it was a means to take money out of the country easily.

Chinese merchants were also known for not being involved in banking. Despite the potential danger of having a lot of cash, the reason for this was to pay less or no taxes. The previous regime also played part in their decision not to trust the Kazakh banking system because it tried to recklessly look into personal bank transactions.

Kazakhstan’s Internet had rapidly accelerated under the new government.

Even though advanced financial transactions such as credit card transactions and Internet banking were being carried out without inconvenience in large cities, sticking to cash transactions was tantamount to trying to make data-free transactions.

It was difficult to identify the volume of goods the Chinese merchants brought in because they were bought from vendors who traded goods from the free trade zone by the border.

Although other vendors also used the same route, only Chinese merchants in traditional markets were sticking to cash transactions.

Small and medium-sized gangsters in China, who played down the weaknesses of such merchants and had a symbiotic relationship with the merchants. The gangsters were working with Chinese merchants on the pretext of serving as middle merchants between free trade zones and protecting the Chinese merchants from the unfair treatments from local merchants.

When Youngho spat out a groan while looking at the report data, the atmosphere in the conference room cooled down.

A cold wind was blowing in the conference room of Almaty City Hall, where the head of the National Tax Service, incumbent mayors, and police chiefs was present.

The local police chief, who was reporting that there were more than 100 Chinese gangs in Almaty, was sweating.

“I’d like to hear why they’ve left alone so far.”

“The first reason is that we can’t apply domestic law unless they committed a crime. The second is that our merchants are getting low-cost supplies from them, and if we press them, there might be domestic inflation.”

“If a gang doesn’t use violence, they won’t be classified as gangs. What is the reason for their classification as gangs, not dealers or brokers?”

“It’s because they worked as gangs in China. We don’t know why, but they haven’t been involved in violent activities in Kazakhstan yet.”

“Since when?”

“There has been a case where Chinese organizations were beaten up by Russian mafia members before, and I think that’s the starting point.”

Youngho once came to root out the Chinese gangs in Kazakhstan because they came to Baku, and it seemed the police chief was referring to that time. He would freak to hear that it was the Duke of Kazakhstan who made a mess with the Chinese organization at that time.

“No matter what, I don’t understand that gangs have been quiet so far. Well, I’m glad that they’re not causing any trouble now. Let’s keep an eye on them for now. But I can’t watch the Chinese merchants evading tax any longer.”

“If we start an investigation, we should also investigate our merchants.”

The head of the National Tax Service replied with a troubled look on his face.

“It doesn’t matter if you are foreigners or Kazakhs. We will track down all tax sources. The traditional markets had never been taxed properly since the beginning. As far as I know, the giant wholesalers in the Baraholka bazaar make more than mid-sized enterprises.”

“It is true that we have been negligent in tracking the revenue sources in the wholesale and retail markets. And the backward financial system played a part. We’re improving little by little since the new administration emerged.”

“I’m not asking to change it in a day, but I think the efforts of tax authorities had been lacking. You need to work hard. Where there is income, there must be tax to become a fair society.”

The bureaucrats sitting in the conference room crouched as the Duke, who had always maintained softness, berated them as never before.

They had no words to say since Youngho’s words were true.

“In the future, the royal family will set up an example for all. The royal territory is the place where it has its own tax system, so it can’t be involved, but some of my earnings from overseas royal-owned businesses have not been properly reported, so I’ll pay it to this opportunity.”

“Your Highness! What are you saying? Kazakhstan had been growing only because of your investment and the royal funds made from your small and large businesses around the world. Why do you say such a silly thing when the government owes the royal debt? Please take your word now. We will correct the absurdities immediately.”

This was exactly what Youngho was after.

As soon as the royal family took the initiative, the entire nation would be in a hive.

If so, no one, whether business or self-employed, could be an exception. It would be a stormy affair for the whole nation.

“Of course, tax reform should be carried out slowly, or there will be a lot of resistance. But if you’re afraid of it, you can’t fix it forever. If you’ve benefited from the state as a citizen, of course, you have to pay your taxes.”

“We understand what you’re saying. I will try to persuade people to get it right. So please withdraw your offer to pay the taxes. The royal authority will fall to the ground.”

“I told you before, didn’t I? Where there’s income, there must be taxes. The money that the royal family has provided for Kazakhstan was also intended to ensure the royal family’s stability. But taxes have to be dealt with separately. If the royal family agrees to pay taxes, no one should be given preferential treatment.”

Finally, he spoke his last words and left the conference room.

The reason why Youngho visited Almaty was to stop the previous administration’s wrongful practice of selling resources and distributing them to the public in a wasteful and reckless manner.

The previous regime’s approval rating had exceeded 90 percent only because the former president managed the country without even collecting taxes properly as part of his pork barrel policy.

No matter how much money Youngho invested into the nation, what good would it be if it failed to correct the moral laxity of the people? Now that the new administration had stabilized, there would be no major backlash even if the government wielded knives for reform.