by Boris Zubry
“Are you all here, comrades?” The room was full of the highest members of the government. They did not look happy but tired and preoccupied with not very pleasant thoughts. No section of the government was doing well, so, the mood of the leaders was kind of dark. Some were doing a little better than the others but not by much. Money was needed, jobs, tourism, crafts, factories, big constructions, export, and the small businesses should be more significant than a bakery, a butcher shop, or a five-tables teashop. And, no matter how you slice it, none of it was in the cards. There was no local initiative, and the foreign investments were still foreign, and far away. No expatriates were coming back from America or Western Europe and starting a successful business back home. Expatriates were coming back from America or Western Europe and going back to the steppes to lead the lazy life and drink a lot of kumis. It did not look like Mongols were business savvy or even interested in that. It did not look like they even cared. The President could see the worry and the deep disappointment in everyone’s eyes. He knew that they tried their best yet, they failed in keeping the country afloat. Mongolia was sinking and fast, and no one knew where the bottom was or how it looked. Yet, they were rushing to the bottom just to see who would get there first. Even the top government officials could not bail out in time. Some could not bail out at all. The dead weight was too heavy. An economic boost was needed urgently, now but no one knew how to create one. What do you do? What did the others do? When? How? So, the mood was gloomy, but even the light at the end of the tunnel could not help. There was no light anywhere but a very dark tunnel with no end. It was dark, empty, and depressing.
“How is the economy now? Tell me the truth, please.” The President could not be soft now; not to them and not to himself. How would that help?
“Our economy is at the lowest, Mr. President.” That was the Prime Minister taking the first blow. “We cannot meet any of the payments, and the debt becomes deeper and deeper. There is an interest, you know. Soon, it would be as big as the obligation itself. You know, the Russian payment, the World Bank payment, the International Monetary Fund, and a few others. We cannot collect taxes because half of the country is in the steppes and they don’t work. So, what taxes can we collect? It cost us more to go after these people that we could get from them. We have no tourism now, and we do not sell anything to the West. We have no hard currency, and our currency is worthless. We cannot sell any of our natural resources; we do not have the miners. We could hire some migrant workers, but we have nothing to attract them. We cannot offer good money or even decent living conditions. They do not take what we offer. It is not enough even by the lowest international standards. The Minister of Industry was working on a plan to lease out our copper mines and some other wells and mines to the Japanese and the Germans. Everyone liked the plan, but we have to provide the workers. They do not want to bring the workers from the oversees. That is too expensive for them. If they do, they will not pay us enough to like the plan. They will provide the management though, the machinery and the marketing and we have to provide the mines and the miners. Good deal for us but we failed to deliver. We need to attract migrant workers to make it work. What do we offer? We have nothing, and they make more money even in Russian not mentioning the West. Everyone wants to work in the West, legally or not. Mostly illegally… Even the illegals there make more money than we could offer.”
“What if we bring over the workers from Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kalmykia, and the other former Soviet Republics? They have a very high unemployment rate. The migrant labor there left a lot of local without work. That’s universal now. What if we bring their families too? Well, not right away but we could promise that. That could be like an extra incentive.” That was the Minister of Labor.
“We had considered that as well. The problem is that these people will cost much more, and the difference will come out of our end. Western companies are interested in us only because of the labor cost. Our natural resources are not that unique. They would not spring for anything additional. What they are saying that the expenses are too high already because of our location and, therefore, transportation and the machinery they will have to bring over and use. Think of the professionals from the west, managers, etc. Because of our location and the lack of everything, our natural resources are more expensive even before you apply the labor. If we had our own people, we would not have to pay for relocation and all additional perks. The project would be extremely profitable using our own people and almost a losing proposition if we bring the migrants in mass. Well, we can still use some. We can maintain the project profitable with up to 15 percent migrant labor but not much more. We need about five thousand miners of our own. We used to have them back then, but they all left to where the jobs were.” The Prime Minister shifted in his chair and lighted a cigarette. He was eyeing the bottle of Cognac on the side table but controlled himself. It was not the right time, but a drink or two could help. It would not solve anything but may help. It would be like a cup of tea for the British. It does not help, but they would drink it in the middle of the Plaque. The reasoning was that it would not hurt either.
“The cost of labor, in our case, would offset all the profits, and then some. Considering all that, in the end, our natural resources could be about 25% less expensive than, let us say, in America. We will get 10 – 15% and they would take a tidy profit of about 10%. This is nice. These 10% - 15% of our share could be enough to jump-start and support our economy. Also, some business people would be coming over for meetings, negotiations, discussions, etc. We would get a nice chunk of the revenue and pull the country up by the boot-straps, but we need the workers first. How to attract them with what we have? That’s where we need the ideas.”
“What can we do to facilitate that, Prime Minister? Short of money, of course. What else we can do?” The labor Minister was full of anticipation. He was a good, honest man with a clean record of taking orders and following them but, he was not the idea of generating giant. He was not even the idea generation dwarf. Actually, the Minister had never done anything if that was not proposed and approved by the others. He had no thoughts or was afraid to present them, and that was about the same. He was a man no one would notice even in the company of one. No matter how you slice it, the result was the same – no ideas. But, he was a good man and bribes were not his game. He never had much to share, but he would have if he had anything to share. He could’ve been honest, and that was rare.
“We have to have thousands of workers ready to work here for less than $200 per month. That was all we could afford now. With time, we would improve the production and cut the number of people may be by 25% paying about $500 per month to the remaining ones. That would be good. Yes, in China and in the former Soviet Republics we could find people ready to work for that, but then, we would have to bring them over and to house them. Also, we would have to feed them at least once a day at the mine. In addition to that, we have to provide them with at least two weeks’ vacation and a round trip ticket home or wherever they were going. If we do that, they will cost us additionally more than $200 per month each. If we don’t do that, the workers will not come (not in the right numbers and of the proper qualification). We need people that know something of mining. The Ministry of Industry had calculated all that plus the medical and the social services for them while they are here at about $60 per person a month. And, if you multiply it by about five thousand people, it becomes enormous. This would eat up our profits from the operation, making it useless. We do not want to waste our natural resources for nothing. We had been robbed before by the Chinese and the Russians. We have to sell our natural resources at the best possible price but not to give it away for nothing. We simply could not afford it, my friends. We may get some good people but not nearly enough. Yes, we could raid the prisons and use the military, but that would not solve the problem. It could make it worse. Or, it would improve it just a little. How many good people can we find that way? In prisons… A few hundred or more likely,
a few dozen. Then, you need to guard the prisoners. There should be something, but I can’t put my figure on it. Do you have any better ideas?”
“Mr. Prime Minister! Do you remember a while back we had a discussion right here, right in this room? All of us were present. We discussed the discovery of the Batu Khan and Subutai’s burial chambers below the Mamai's Kurgan if I remember correctly. Was it on River Don?” The President was talking, and he was all business. He had to be all business. What else was there at present? It was a terrible time to fool around, and he did not, not lately. Even the chambermaid was moved to the Ministry of Education, and he barely saw her. He could lose everything, including the nation, and that was not a good idea.
“Yes, I remember, Mr. President. Of course, I remember. The research is not completed yet, but we have him, I mean Batu’s, notes translated to the modern language. A large part of these notes, memoirs if you will, is missing but whatever is available, makes it quite interesting. I am reading it for a few days now. You see, the part of the parchment it was written on, was badly damaged or just disintegrated. But, the modern techniques would allow us to pull some of the text out even from the damaged pages. Fascinating stuff. They can actually do that. Can you imagine that? If you like, I can send you a copy. It does a fascinating reading. But we have not traced the bloodline as of yet. Our scientists are up to fifteen or sixteen-century already. After that, it should be somewhat easier, but it will take more time. We do not have too many scientists capable of doing this work, and the foreigners come at the price we can hardly afford.”
“Yes, send me a copy. And, please, let me know how the bloodline research goes. This is all so interesting. With regards to the mines: start the recruiting process. See how many people you can recruit here in Mongolia and all these places we discussed before. Don’t try to go after all mines at once. Try to figure out what would give us the most benefits and outfit only that for now. Then, offer that for the lease to the Japanese or whoever else could be interested. Don’t give anything to the Russians. They will ruin the mines as they did it in Russia. They don’t know the business, and they are dishonest. Stay away from them. Try to work with the Japanese, Germans, or better yet, Americans.
Well, I am not sure that the Americans will come but talk to them anyway. What do we have to lose? See if you can spark their interest somehow. Instead of trying to get everything going, let’s try to get something going. Something is better than nothing. Am I right? What do they want more? Copper? Also, see if you can get some other industries going using the same approach. Maybe leather goods? If we cannot get our people to work in our factories, we have to find a cheap source of labor somewhere else. The former Soviet Republics should be a good place.
Don’t go to the big ones like Russia, Ukraine, and Belorussia. We cannot afford that. Go to Buryatia, Mordovia, Bashkiria, Kyrgyzia, etc. The smaller the republic is the bigger problems they have and the more receptive to our proposals they would be. There are our little money could look like a huge sum. They live on a few dollars a month, and we can pay a hundred and give them a place to live and some food. And, more would come later. I am sure of that. Promise the raises, every year. The enterprise would grow to offer more to those who were there at the beginning. They would get raises first. Think about that. It could be sold well, but you have to package it right. The concept is there, and it’s workable. Prisons? You may find a few good people in prisons. Offer them a workable deal, and they may go for it. If the deal is right and they want to reinstate themselves in society, we would not need to guard them. They would be on parole, conditionally released from the prison with a chance to go free if they honor the promise. If they fail, we would add a few more years to the sentence. It was done before and worked almost every time. Even Columbus used the prisoners for sailors. Military? We can use some military expertise and the talent for some technical stuff like guarding, construction, mechanics, driving, warehousing, computers, logistics, and supplies. They know all that well, and we are paying them already. We would not need to pay them anything else but some extra expenses while they are working in the field.
So, between all these sources, you may get a few hundred good people if not more. And, if we dig deeper, we may find more, enough for one or a few mines. Then, when it’s going, and we are making some money, you can start shopping overseas. That would be like an investment to widen up the operation. We brink more people, we open more mines, we make more money and jump-start the rest of the country. It looks more like a good plan, does not it. Work on it. There should be more, and you may find it. Be innovative. I know, we have never done anything like that before, but now is the time.”
The President got up and slowly left the room. He thought that his answer was the right one. Why did he feel so? The logic of it was right there, right in front of him. Somehow, he could see it all so clearly. Why these Ministers, well-known professionals, could not see it? Did they see it but did not speak? Did they understand it? What good did they do if they could not see the options like that? He could see the necessity of his participation with the question like that if there were a few options on the table already and no one could decide which one was the best one. Then, he could be called to make that decision. What was wrong with all these politicians? Why were they afraid to make a decision? What did they be afraid? Did they become so political that lost the professional edge? Were they ever professionals? Don’t you think, comrades Ministers, that you should be professionals first and politicians second? He was a politician, and he was not afraid to make a decision. He made them every day. Oh, this was different. He was the President after all. It was his right to make the decisions.
MONGOLS ON THE MOVE
Batu Khan
“Autumn. October. Rain, wind, and cold. Misery. Hard on the people. Hard on animals. Hard on life. Still, they need to move forward. That’s where we must go. No rest for now. There is no time for that. Soon the snow will start, and everything will freeze. We would have to stop for winter. We need to be in a better place to camp. This would not do. I must think of the horses. People can take it better than animals. A Mongol without a horse was not a Mongol any longer. The horse is everything. The horse is your lifeline. You can go hungry, thirsty, for a very long time but not without a horse. You’ll die without a horse much sooner, almost right away. Here a man without a horse is a walking dead. It would happen rather sooner than later. I’ll give my orders tonight. We must bring more hay closer to the horde and move the bulk of the horses farther south. There would be no war in the winter, so, we do not need so many horses here. There would be some skirmishes, of course, and the raiding parties but no real war, not for five or six months. No movements of the thousands but only the dozens. As always, we will break the Golden Horde into many small ones moving horses and people around for the winter. I want the soldiers to report back to the Golden Horde in early March while the snow is still seen here and there. The soldiers come in and get in shape. Train. Families that want to follow us will come over in two weeks after the soldiers. The snow would be almost gone by then. They would rest here and then, trail the army; their husbands, sons and the brothers. We always come together. Families can help and especially, with the wounded and children have to learn everything as early as possible. This is good for children. He was in the saddle already when only the third winter passed. The family made sure of that. That was the time to learn, and he learned. The horse and the saddle should be your second nature if you want to be a true Mongol. This was our way of life - the life of the Mongols and the Tatars. The way of the Nomad. I think, no, I know that all nomads are like that. We live on the move, and we move to live. This is how we like it, and this is how we thrive. We are the rulers of the steppes and soon, the rulers of the world. We are the world.
