Empire of the Ring

The reason for the delay was that Youngho wanted to make sure to move after seeing China fully get involved in the canal project.

The project intended to use Russian anti-China sentiment without directly attacking the Chinese factory.

The general command of the Krasnoyarsk operation was given to Sergeenko and Hong Sung-ki, the intelligence deputy chief, who rushed to Krasnoyarsk without looking back, saying that he was sick of sitting in his office.

They both had known each other for a long time, so they did not have any trouble working with each other.

“Mr. Sergeenko. We need to take those guys out. They’re acting too obvious. It’s like advertising that they are Evenki.”

“It’s because you already know that they are Evenki, Deputy Chief, but Russians can’t tell the difference between Asian descents at all.”

“There are only a few tens of thousands of indigenous people in a million people, can’t the police find them?”

“I’m sure they’ll believe it if we say you’re an Evenki too.”

“Are you serious? The Russians might consider me an Evenki?”

“Ask anyone walking on the street. They’ll say that you’re an Evenki. Frankly, I feel like you or the Duke of Kazakhstan are my own kind.”

“Well, you have a point.”

“The reason why I believe that the Evenki people will easily assimilate into the royal territory when they move is because there are many Koryoins living in the royal territory. If there are people who look alike, even a new settlement wouldn’t be that strange.”

“So those guys will be provoking Russians to start something?”

“Before joining the mafia, they worked for a Chinese woodworking company. Since they can speak a few words in Chinese, they are likely to misunderstand.”

“They look a little different from Chinese to me.”

“As I told you, Russians can’t tell the difference between Asians.”

It was an operation to send Evenki people to pretend to be Chinese workers in the downtown area, where Chinese workers are particularly frequented and to make trouble by picking on Russians in public. Then they would pull out after causing a scene.

It was a childish operation, but if it happened in broad daylight, it would cause resentment among the Russians. The hot-tempered Russians would use their fists before calling the police.

Although it was a shameful operation that stimulated cross-ethnic sentiment, Hong Sung-ki had no choice but to nod his head because the operation sounded quite persuasive.

“Our agents are nearby, so they can help the operation, too.”

“You don’t have to do that. Next is up to the back alley gangs. If we give them a little bit of money and they’d do anything we say. I’ll make them pretend to be ordinary Russians and punish Chinese workers for their doing.”

“There will be security cameras all over the street, so be careful not to get caught.”

“Don’t worry about that either. I’ll have it fixed a day in advance.”

It was two days later that the incident took place.

A few of the mafia members from the Evenki tribe picked on people walking by in the city, and backstreet gangsters who had been hired in advance stepped up to punish the Chinese workers so that the incident would get bigger.

However, even Chinese workers who were nearby joined them to beat up gangsters.

The unexpected attack left the gangsters helpless.

In the end, the Chinese workers were driven away by angry thugs who joined the scene later and fled to their quarters.

The gangsters, who thought that it was a simple job to punish Chinese workers, were left alone in the middle of a sudden attack, and they began to attack the Chinese in an indiscriminate manner, wandering around the streets.

The Chinese also systematically fought back against gangsters who attacked them. Since that incident, the Russians’ anti-Chinese sentiment grew bigger. The hostility between the two groups got even more serious.

Frightened by the threat of life, Chinese workers carried weapons, and on the streets were frequent incidents of wielding weapons. A gang fight between Chinese workers and thugs here and there began a spate of injuries.

The situation was expanding out of control.

***

While that was going on in Krasnoyarsk, dirty battles between the mafia moved by Yaniv and Chinese companies were going on in other regions of Russia.

Factories invested by the Chinese government were being burned down and an armed conflict between Chinese workers and the mafia was taking place everywhere.

The Russian government had no choice but to intervene.

“Sergeenko, what time is the rally scheduled for tomorrow?”

“It’s 2:00 p.m. tomorrow, and I don’t think the weather will give us much response. The temperature is dropping and it’s expected to snow a lot until tomorrow.”

“Why don’t we prepare hot coffee or vodka?”

“Vodka?”

“It’s a rally to drive out Chinese companies, so what would anyone say if there was some hot drink? It’s not an anti-government protest, and the police won’t mind.”

A civic convention was planned to be held to say that the illegal activities of Chinese companies were destroying forests.

The cause was the Chinese workers’ deviant behavior, but since that was not enough to drive out Chinese companies out of Russia, it was to be turned into a civic movement to protect Siberia.

The illegal activities committed by Chinese companies in the taiga forest had been aired on the Krasnoyarsk TV station, and citizens were outrageous.

That was why Hong Sung-ki and Sergeenko decided to hold a rally to oust Chinese companies, which was a good cause for everyone to see.

***

The rally at the general stadium, which even mobilized chartered buses had provided warm drinks and vodka, was attended by many citizens.

The city government laid hundreds of police around the rally, fearing it might escalate into a riot, but the rally ended without a single mishap.

The request from the civic rally would be sent to the city government of Krasnoyarsk and to the presidential palace in Moscow, and the rally would be continued if there were no visible measures.

The Moscow authorities would not be able to ignore the voices of thousands of citizens who gathered for the rally.

The rally ignited deep-rooted anti-Chinese sentiment among Russians.

The Russians applied a conspicuous ethnic lynch to the Chinese, and Russian daily necessity shops did not sell products or food to Chinese workers.

Chinese workers were not even able to go out at all, and Russian workers at Chinese companies were not coming to work.

Soon, reporters from Russian broadcasting stations came to cover the situation and many Russian people started protesting against Chinese companies in Russia.

-Duke. The Krasnoyarsk Operation worked. Mr. Putin has just announced that he will not stand Chinese companies’ illegal activities from now on. The mafia will soon become patriotic heroes. hahaha...

“Mr. Yaniv, I heard there were casualties in other areas. Is that okay?”

-The issue of Krasnoyarsk has covered our problem well. I’m worried that young Russians will want to join the mafia now.

“It’s probably not going to happen. There is a possibility that Putin will issue a crackdown of the mafia because he does not want relations with China to get to the worst. If he only punishes the Chinese companies, the Chinese government will be furious.”

-Then my purpose is roughly fulfilled.

Yaniv predicted that the mafia in other regions would be wiped out, but the mafia organizations will slowly build their power back.

“Mr. Yaniv, I think you’d better get your hands off this project now. Our purpose seems to have been achieved because the citizens have taken it.”

-What do you mean? We have to be persistent until Chinese companies withdraw.

“Now that Putin has moved, we have to step back. Any further armed conflict will only be a hindrance.”

More armed conflict that disregarded public authority would only make it more difficult for the Russian government.

The Chinese government would not just sit back and watch what happens in Russia either.

It could be seen as ignoring Putin’s authority if Yaniv acted out now.

Officially, Putin said he would investigate the illegal activities of Chinese companies, but if the bloodshed continued; he would think his authority was ignored and for that, he would not stand idly about it.

“Putin is a person who values authority. If he thinks his authority has been challenged, your position could falter.”

-Still, it doesn’t feel like we’ve done enough. Russia is the only enemy of the Chinese, and if we roll our tail down here, we’ll lose our face.

“It’s like the situation is already over. The Russian people won’t stand still anymore even if we don’t do anything now. The fire is already made. You can leave it alone and it will burn brightly.”