Chapter 34

The Bear Republic is Now Mine Chapter 34

034: The History Textbook Needs to be Rewritten / Ttandabang

A few days later, Nikolai reported the wrongdoers and their accomplices to the police without mercy.

"Can you really not have known that the number of rebars was so different? Investigate again and report back immediately!"

While he was setting the rules, various people began to arrive at the site.

"I am Dr. Kim Chul-min."

He was a well-known figure in Korean academia, whose name alone was enough to be recognized.

The archaeologist who came with him was no different.

"I am Professor Baek Sang-jin."

There were also eight young men and women who came with them.

However, the people who arrived at the site were not only Koreans.

People who were famous in the Chinese and Japanese academic circles also flocked there.

Dr. Kim introduced them, and most of them were quite old.

"These two can be said to represent China and Japan."

So, the people who came here are very famous figures representing the academic circles of Korea, China, and Japan.

'Who are they?'

To Nikolai, they only looked like people who were about to become grandfathers.

"The Russian speaks Korean really well."

"Dr. Kim speaks even better."

"...Ahem."

Experts had also come. Nikolai decided to dig in various places as they wished.

After three days of work, unusual tombs began to appear.

"Wow, the tomb is huge. Is this where some king is buried?"

"It's a bit small to be a king's tomb, isn't it?"

"Is this going to turn into a museum around the apartment complex?"

"That would be great. If many Korean tourists come, the shops here will do well."

"Be quiet! They're trying to open the door."

Not only the Unicorn Construction employees but also the Korean company employees dispatched to the industrial complex watched the tombs with wide eyes.

The scholars were trying to open the entrance of the largest tomb among them...

"Wait!"

At Nikolai's shout, Professor Baek flinched and asked.

"Why?"

"Is it okay to just open it like this? What if something dangerous comes out from inside the tomb? You see that kind of thing in Egyptian movies, right?"

"Haha, you've seen a lot of movies. It's fine."

Still, Nikolai kept his distance.

Having experienced the mysterious rebirth into a new body, he was cautious.

As the entrance opened, people shone flashlights and entered.

A while later, they came out carrying something.

"There are a lot of incredible artifacts inside."

"Is that a book?"

"Yes. It's made of parchment, and the preservation state is quite good. It's over a thousand years old. And the tomb's stone walls are covered with Chinese characters. We'll take rubbings and bring them out soon, so let's look at them together."

As Professor Baek said, about two hours later, the people who went inside came out with the rubbings.

They spread them on a wooden table, and the Chinese scholar began to read them.

But the more he read, the darker his face became.

Nikolai asked Dr. Kim, who was more engrossed than the Chinese scholar.

"What does it say?"

"To summarize the important parts, it says that Balhae is a state that succeeded Goguryeo, and this place is where the 'Solbinbu' of Balhae's five capitals and twelve provinces was established."

Solbinbu was an ancient administrative region established in today's Ussuriysk, Primorsky Krai, during the Balhae period, which existed until the Jin Dynasty.

Three counties were established here, where the Solbin tribe, a part of the Malgal people, lived.

This area, with its vast plains, was known for breeding horses for export to other countries.

"And this map shows the territories of Balhae and Goguryeo."

"The map extends deep into China's mainland?"

Nikolai noticed that this map was clearly different from the one he had seen in Korean history textbooks.

"You're right. The content recorded here is very different from what the Chinese have been claiming so far."

Dr. Kim couldn't hide his excitement as he showed another rubbing.

"Even with this, we can completely re-establish the distorted history of Balhae and Goguryeo from the beginning."

"I'm not an expert in Korean and Chinese history, but I know that China often makes unreasonable claims."

Since they were speaking in Korean, the Chinese scholar couldn't understand.

"Balhae is a state that succeeded Goguryeo, right?"

"Yes."

"Then, what if China claims and manipulates that Goguryeo was an ancient Chinese state or founded by the Chinese?"

Suddenly, Dr. Kim handed over a rubbing.

"If Goguryeo was really a state founded by China, they wouldn't have harshly criticized the Chinese emperors or recorded their scandals here, would they?"

"Ah, is there such content in the rubbing?"

"Yes. Most importantly, there are accurate records in several places that the ancient Chinese dynasties paid tribute to Goguryeo. There are other records as well, so this part is not an issue."

If there are records of tributes, there's nothing more to say.

It proves that China was cautious of Goguryeo.

That's why the Chinese scholar's face turned so pale.

"This site is extremely important for Korea."

"It's a strange feeling that such important materials are found on Unicorn Construction's land. Congratulations."

"Haha. This is something all Korean citizens should celebrate. But..."

After laughing at the Chinese scholar for a while, Dr. Kim said with a bashful expression.

"Due to the discovery of the site near the construction site, Unicorn Construction is in a difficult position."

"How do you handle such cases in Korea?"

"According to the law on the protection and investigation of buried cultural properties, the landowner must bear the costs of the cultural property investigation and excavation. Construction must also be halted. What about Russia...?"

"Unfortunately... there's no such law."

"Unfortunately... what?"

There's no such law here.

"As you can see, the construction site for the apartment complex is quite far from here. It's almost at the end of where the multi-story buildings will be, so there shouldn't be any problem."

"That's true."

"Before you arrived, the workers carefully dug for a few days, and there were no relics around the construction site. So, it seems to extend from there to the north."

Following Nikolai's finger, people's gazes moved.

It was a stroke of luck.

As Nikolai said, the Balhae site starts from there, so it won't cause any delays in the construction.

"Dr. Kim, but..."

"...?"

"This is also Unicorn Construction's land."

"Is that so?"

"While buying that area, I also bought a lot of land around here. But if we start a full-scale investigation and excavation, it will be difficult to use this land."

"There's no such law in Russia...?"

"The things found here are not Russian cultural properties, right?"

If they were Russian cultural properties, they would need to be preserved, but if not, they could just...

"I thought about just burying everything for the company, but that wouldn't be right. So, I made a big decision..."

"...?"

"I decided to sell the land."

"To whom?"

"Who else? The Korean government or academic circles."

Seeing this, Sasha shook her head.

It seemed like Nikolai's aggressive sales tactics were starting again.

"When we bought this land, it was just a wasteland, so the price wasn't that high. But as you know, with the industrial complex and the apartment complex being built, the price has risen quite a bit."

"..."

"If you pay the market price, I'll transfer it to you immediately."

"..."

Dr. Kim and his colleagues' expressions became perplexed upon hearing this.

"Or should we just bulldoze it?"

Nikolai's gaze turned to the bulldozer, and Dr. Kim quickly waved his hands.

"No, no. It's not that. We also need to report this. Even at a glance, the area is quite large, so the price won't be cheap, right?"

"Maybe a bit."

"Once the excavation starts, it will take at least two years. In that case, it might be better to buy the land, as you said. I agree, so I'll contact the government and get back to you with an answer."

Would the Korean government be willing to spend money on such a place?

From what Nikolai knew, it was out of the question.

When they make the landowner pay for the investigation and excavation costs, what more can they say?

"To start the excavation, a lot of time and people will be needed, right?"

"Yes, with such a wide distribution, we'll need 15 to 20 specialists."

"Then, we'll need accommodations, right?"

"Yes, but why...?"

"The apartment complex will start moving in from March 1996. We poured a lot of resources and manpower to drastically reduce the construction period."

"What about it?"

Dr. Kim looked at his colleagues, wondering why this person was acting this way, but they also shook their heads, not knowing the reason.

"I'm offering you a few units."

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you so surprised? In Korea, they put up red flags on empty land and start selling units. The complex is already up to the second floor. It's a bit slow in December due to the cold, but it will rise quickly once it gets warmer. Many of the technicians here are from Korea. Oh, right. Sasha, go to the office and bring the floor plans."

Nikolai's efforts to attract foreigners began in earnest.

Since the apartment complex had 5,000 units, it was uncertain how many would be sold initially.

While there were workers and people from the two cities and outside, the price was not cheap, so he was a bit anxious.

Unlike in Korea, here, people only buy after the buildings are completed, so the initial costs were enormous.

To sell even a few units in advance, he was giving a killer briefing, sweating profusely.

Nikolai spread out the floor plans that Sasha brought.

"Look at this. Do you see any apartments in Korea with a distance of over 100 meters between buildings? And they all face south. The balcony service area is a whopping 2 meters wide. Also, this is the first time in Russia that floor heating is being installed."

"..."

"There's a gym and a swimming pool. Isn't it more beautiful than the best apartments in Gangnam, Dr. Kim?"

"..."

"35 square meters might be a bit small, so how about a few 45 square meter units?"

"..."

Dr. Kim laughed awkwardly.

His colleagues also had the expression of "What kind of person is this?"

However,

The Japanese scholar, who was listening through an interpreter, poked his head out.

"How much is a 45 square meter unit?"

"Huh? The Japanese scholar?"

"I work in Tokyo. I've never seen such an apartment before. I'd like to buy two."

One bite.

Foreigners were not allowed to buy real estate in Russia.

They could only rent long-term.

This was common in socialist countries, but Nikolai had relaxed this rule when building the apartments.

It was done through Yury Yuspov, the administrative director, but now foreigners could buy apartments.

However, knowing the drawbacks of this system, Nikolai planned to revert it once the apartments were well-established in Russia.

Putting aside his thoughts, Nikolai asked with a bright smile.

"Juice or tea? What do you like?"

"Black tea, I like it."

"That's not possible! It's..."

"..."

"No, let's go to a warm and cozy office together."

* * *

"How much did you sell it for?"

Holding two contracts and looking around the site, Nikolai smiled.

"1.5 times the selling price."

"Did you really get that much? What if it's discovered later?"

"Originally, if apartments don't sell, you sell them cheaply, and if they sell well, you raise the price. And what's wrong with getting a bit more from the Japanese?"

"Why do you foam at the mouth when it comes to Japanese people?"

"They keep asking for our land back. Don't you feel bad about it?"

"Ah, right. They are bad people."

Sasha probably thought of the Kuril Islands, but Nikolai had something else in mind.

No matter what, he was Korean at heart.

* * *

A week later.

The Russian news was reported on the 9 o'clock news of the three major Korean TV stations.

"As you can see, a large number of artifacts from Balhae and Goguryeo have been found at the Balhae site in Ussuriysk, Russia. Due to the extensive area of the site, the landowner, Unicorn Construction, is asking the Korean government to buy the land. This is an opportunity to completely re-establish the history of Goguryeo and Balhae..."

The screen not only showed the site but also the industrial complex and the apartment complex being built by Unicorn Construction, which looked impressive.

Nikolai had distributed materials to Korean TV stations and newspapers.

He wanted the government to be forced to buy the land due to public pressure.

When the special correspondent came to the site, Nikolai asked them to take good pictures of the industrial complex and the apartment complex.

"Mr. Nikolai, how did you know that the first discoveries here were related to Korea?"

"I learned it through a Russian scholar. He is the most famous in Russia."

The Russian scholar.

He just recognized it and contacted them.

"I see. You did a great thing for Korea. Do you have anything else to say?"

"Yes. Hmm. This apartment complex has 5,000 units, 35 and 45 square meters. It's 'ultra' beautiful, so if you invest in the 'royal floor,' the 'profit' will at least double in two years..."

Thanks to the good editing by the TV station, Nikolai looked quite good.

As a result, he became a celebrity even though he didn't want to.

-Can a Russian speak Korean that well? And he's so handsome. He looks like a manga character.

-What? 'Ultra'? It's a Busan dialect. How can a Russian use such words?

-Royal floor? At least 'profit' will double? A Russian using ttandabang terms?

Unexpectedly, Nikolai became famous, and the content of the broadcast was deeply etched in people's minds.

This led to public opinion.

The public opinion that the government should buy the land of the Balhae site in Ussuriysk.

In the end, Dr. Kim came to Nikolai with a bright face and his colleagues.

"We've decided to buy the land included in the site and five 45 square meter apartments."

"Really? Please come this way. No, it's cold through the door. Come here. Sasha, the contracts!"

Nikolai spread out the contracts that Sasha brought, stated the price, and continued explaining the interior decoration options.

'Don't be too greedy with the land price. Just inflate it five times. After all, the government is buying it. The price has risen due to the industrial complex and the apartment complex, so it's fine.'

After all the contracts were completed and as Dr. Kim was leaving, he met the Japanese scholar.

"You bought five? I bought two. Huh? The price...?"

The Japanese person's eyes widened when he saw the price.

"What does this person think of me!"

Angry, he rushed to the office and confronted Nikolai.

"Why is the price different?"

"Oh, if you buy five, the price is naturally cheaper. If you buy one more, I'll give you a discount."

"Really?"

"Of course."

The Japanese scholar, who had come to argue, ended up buying one more 45 square meter unit due to Nikolai's persuasion.

"Double the price later! It's guaranteed, right?"

"Of course. You must thank me later. A gift would be nice too."

Luck often comes in unexpected ways.

Ussuriysk.

This place will become a legend of the apartment complex.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Korean government and academic circles officially released the materials found at the Balhae site in Ussuriysk to the media.

This led to China getting angry and pressuring the Blue House.

China asked President Yeltsin to take their side, but Yeltsin's response was simple