Mediterranean Hegemony Road

Nicholas I knew very well that to establish the United Kingdom of Hesse, the strength of Mente Negro alone is not enough, and he must find strong supporters!

After Bulgaria fell to Russia in 1891, the Austro-Hungarian dominance in the Balkans ceased to exist.

Especially after the outbreak of the Balkan War, the Ottoman Empire was expelled from the Balkans, the pro-Russian Bulgaria and Mentegro were strengthened, and the pro-German Greeks were weakened!

In this context, the best way for Austria-Hungary to ensure its interests in the Balkans is to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia!

The Vienna government believes that when Austria-Hungary directly borders Bulgaria, it has every opportunity to force Bulgaria to defect through diplomatic means!

Constantinople is the biggest point of contradiction in the relationship between Bulgaria and Russia. As long as there is the support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, I am not afraid that Bulgaria will not take the bait!

The interests of the Bosphorus are too great. If it wasn't for the fact that Germany was developing too fast in the future, forcing the British to end the game and join the Entente, Ferdinand would have to be tempted. This is a naked conspiracy!

Now Nicholas I is still fighting against the Ottomans regardless of the front line, and he gritted his teeth and took out a part of their few weapons and equipment to support the Serbian Revolutionary Army.

The Prime Minister said embarrassedly: Grand Duke, the Serbs need too much material now, our reserves are not enough, and the support for the front line is somewhat insufficient. It is really unsustainable to support them!

Nicholas I gritted his teeth and said: Even if it is difficult, we cannot give up. The revolutionary army has swept over half of Serbia, and now they are in desperate need of supplies. Without our support, this uprising will soon be destroyed. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is destroyed!

Once this uprising fails, we will never have another chance to prevent Austria-Hungary from annexing Serbia! In fact, even with our support, they have little chance of winning!

Now we can only hope that the Serbs will riot and make the Vienna government feel that direct rule is not cost-effective, so that it is possible to gain independence again!

Then merge with us and combine the strengths of both countries to survive in the Balkans!

The prime minister said with a wry smile: It's a pity that Mente Negro is too weak, otherwise we can annex Albania this time, and we won't be so passive!

Nicholas I nodded in agreement. After thinking about it, he asked, What is the attitude of the Russians now? Do they support our actions in Serbia?

The foreign minister said with an embarrassed look: Your Excellency,

The attention of the St. Petersburg government is now on Constantinople, and they want us to exercise restraint.

It is okay to secretly support the Serbs. If we send troops directly, all the consequences will be borne by us!

Nicholas I's face sank, and he said firmly: No matter how bad the situation is, we can't give up!

What about Bulgarians? What is their attitude? We are willing to come out as a buffer zone between them and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they can't be against it!

The Minister of Foreign Affairs replied: The attitude of the Bulgarians is very contradictory. They want us to be a buffer zone between them and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and they are worried that the post-independence Serbia will cause them trouble because of the conflict between the Bulgarians!

However, the Sofia government still agreed to provide us with limited support and can sell us a batch of weapons and ammunition at a low price!

Nicholas I was overjoyed. The conflict in Bulgaria was not important in his heart. The key was that they were willing to sell weapons, which is good news!

The Minister of War said eagerly: Oh, so what are you waiting for? The Ministry of Finance immediately raises a fund to buy weapons from the Bulgarians! Is it their new artillery to sell?

The foreign minister said with a wry smile: This issue has not been discussed in detail. It is said that the export of their new artillery requires the approval of the Archduke Ferdinand himself!

Nicholas I thought about it and said, Well, don't think too much, we will buy what they sell, now is not the time to be picky!

Our top priority is to first provide support to the Serbian Revolutionary Army to help them stabilize the situation, and also to eliminate the remnants of the Ottomans as soon as possible!

...

In the Sofia Palace, Prime Minister Constantine said in embarrassment: Grand Duke, if we sell weapons to Mente Negro, will it cause a backlash from the Austro-Hungarian Empire?

Ferdinand nodded and said calmly: Of course, these weapons will eventually flow into the hands of the Serbian Revolutionary Army. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire does not respond, they will not be able to be regarded as great powers!

But what does this have to do with us? It is only natural that we sell weapons to our allies, and this diplomatic pressure can still be resisted!

Tell the Ministry of Foreign Affairs it's not good, just push the Russians, they don't care about itching!

Everyone is used to the behavior of Ferdinand's teammates. Anyway, Bulgaria is still fighting for the Russians, and it is not a problem to let them take the blame!

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy suddenly said: Grand Duke, the ongoing war has seriously affected the Bulgarian economy. Our maritime import and export trade has now dropped sharply to less than one-third of the same period of the previous year. This year's fiscal revenue is probably will be greatly affected!

Moreover, the newly occupied areas also need to be rebuilt after the war, which in turn requires a lot of money. Due to our previous underestimation of the destructiveness of the war, we will face a very serious funding shortfall in the coming year!

The Chancellor of the Exchequer didn't say anything, mainly because Ferdinand exempted a lot of taxes, and he lost hundreds of millions of funds all of a sudden!

In the coming year, the newly occupied areas will basically only have expenditures and no income! This is equivalent to twice the amount of land in Bulgaria, and the administrative expenditure required alone is an astronomical sum.

The three billion levs of the war reserve fund has been spent a lot now, and it will not be enough in the later period!

Ferdinand's good mood suddenly disappeared again. It seems that as long as the money is raised, it is the Achilles heel of the Bulgarian government!

He furrowed his brows, then gritted his teeth and said, Go and borrow! Borrow from the French, borrow from the British, borrow from Belgium, or borrow from any consortium in Europe!

Now that our plate is so much bigger, there should be a lot to pledge!

By the way, mineral resources cannot be mortgaged! It involves the core interests of our subsequent economic development, and we cannot make concessions!

Ferdinand added that he was not at ease. If he didn't make it clear, the bureaucrats under the hood became hot and signed a betrayal treaty to let in all the industrial and commercial products of Western European countries, and the national bourgeoisie in Bulgaria would really be finished. !

Now the Bulgarian bourgeoisie has a good life, but it has not grown!

In addition to the lack of a sufficient local market, they also face the dual oppression of state-owned assets and the royal family's industry. They are almost invisible in important areas related to the national economy and people's livelihood!

If international capital is introduced again, it is estimated that they will really be completely cool!

Hearing the loan, Foreign Minister Metev's face turned pale. If there is no way to get a loan in this era, it must be a bad thing. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs often acts as a scapegoat!

I saw him ask with a wry smile, Mr. Kennedy, how big is our funding gap?

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy thought for a while and said: The exact number is still difficult to determine, mainly depends on the cost of the Battle of Constantinople! But from the current situation, our future funding gap will not be less than 500 million leva! (1 lev ≈ 0.29 grams of gold, about £20 million)

Ferdinand's expression changed. Twenty million pounds is not a small amount. The amount of money that Yuan Datou can actually get from the Beiyang government's large loan for the aftermath is almost only so much!

Ferdinand now only feels the pain in the baby's heart! After crossing the road, I worked hard in Bulgaria for ten years, and the financial income has only tripled compared to the same period in history, and the debt has increased by four or five times, and now it will continue to increase!

It can be imagined that for a long time in the future, he will have to live a hard debt repayment career!

...