Mediterranean Hegemony Road

After Ferdinand inspected the new district of Sliven, he did not stop, and went directly to the last stop of the itinerary - Plovdiv.

Ferdinand, who has been away from Sofia for almost two months, is feeling homesick now. It may be the reason for being a father for the first time. Ferdinand already misses the little guy a little, and doesn't want to miss every small step in his son's growth.

Therefore, Ferdinand's impromptu national tour this time, which is quite anticlimactic, is about to come to an end.

But Ferdinand's political purpose - telling the bureaucrats that the king values ​​industry, has now been achieved, and Plovdiv is the last stop on this tour!

Plovdiv has a unique position in Bulgaria and is also the second largest city in the country, with a long history and culture, second only to Sofia.

Plovdiv is located on the upper reaches of the Maricha River, on the north side of Rhodope Mountain. According to the history of more than a thousand years, it is one of the sources of national rejuvenation. The national heroes Potov, Levski and the great writer Vazov all lived here.

At the same time, Plovdiv is also the most prosperous agricultural area in central and southern Bulgaria, surrounded by broad plains and fertile land, rich in grain, various fruits and vegetables.

And Plovdiv is also one of the most important transportation hubs in Bulgaria, located on the Eurasian artery. The transit station from Belgrade, Sofia to Constantinople is one of the most important trade centers on the Eurasian 6.

After the Austro-Hungarian Empire occupied Serbia, Ferdinand once had the idea of ​​moving the capital to Plovdiv. It was only after seeing the poor performance of the Austro-Hungarian army and comprehensively evaluating the strength of both sides that he gave up this plan.

After all, the current Bulgaria is no longer the historical Bulgaria. Although Sofia is a little closer to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, after all, there is more Niš area as a strategic buffer. With the current military strength of Bulgaria, it can still be defended.

Moreover, since the Balkan War, the morale of the people in Bulgaria has reached its peak, and moving the capital is easy to cause criticism and demoralization.

Plovdiv is agricultural at its core,

A comprehensive city supplemented by commerce and trade. The industry it owns is also a supporting enterprise mainly exhibited by agricultural product processing enterprises, and there is almost no heavy industry.

Therefore, this stop came to an end soon. After all, it was impossible for Ferdinand to inspect the food factories in person, otherwise it would be too much of a loss.

Now Bulgaria is very different from before, and Ferdinand will not see it in person except for particularly important industries!

Time flies, Ferdinand left Sofia in golden autumn in October, and it was almost Christmas when he came back.

At this point, little Ferdinand was able to crawl everywhere on the ground. Now teaching the little guy to talk every day - called Dad, is one of Ferdinand's most important jobs.

It's a pity that no matter how hard he tried, the little guy always didn't buy it, he just said oh, oh, and he didn't know what he was talking about.

While Ferdinand was enjoying his family's pleasures, a stranger broke in and interrupted his family's pleasures.

Grand Duke, Yingde has made a compromise! said the Foreign Minister hastily.

Ferdinand's face changed slightly. He thought that his butterfly effect could make Britain and Germany colonies of South Africa. It would take some time for the two countries to compromise so quickly!

You must know that the British have just put Germany on the side of dividing up the Portuguese colonies, and William II has not had time to retaliate, and now it has calmed down.

What's the matter? Shouldn't the Germans compromise so soon? Ferdinand asked suspiciously

Metev explained: On February 22, 1898, the king of the Kingdom of Samoa died, and Britain, the United States, and Germany clashed violently over the issue of the succession to the throne.

However, the British conceded to the Germans, and the Salisbury government sought to ease Anglo-German relations. The British transferred their interests in the Kingdom of Samoa to the Germans as compensation for the former Portuguese colonial problems.

And the Germans also won the right to build the Baghdad railway, and the British agreed to Germany's free movement in Asia Minor.

The German government has accepted the British compensation and agreed not to continue supporting the Boers and the British in the war!

Ferdinand thought about it for a while and felt a bit of a headache. Now Bulgaria is still too weak, and these international diplomatic games are not eligible to participate at all.

The interest transaction between Britain and Germany made Ferdinand very worried. If Britain and Germany reach a comprehensive compromise and really form an alliance, then things will be really big!

Not to mention the Franco-Russian alliance, even if Italy, the United States, Japan, and Austria-Hungary were all brought over, it would not help. Even if all the other countries in the world are added together, they are not the opponents of the two countries!

Of course, Ferdinand knew that this situation was unlikely.

John Bull could not tolerate the unification of Europe, and neither the French nor the Germans would accept the unification of Europe.

Judging from the current situation, the economic development of Germany in recent years has been surprising. Ferdinand also knew that after entering the 2o century, the Germans were crazy!

Unless John Bull is willing to give up his position as world leader, the conflict between England and Germany cannot be eased. Regardless of interests, when the Germans became strong, they naturally threatened the status of the British.

As for Americans with faster economic growth, they have been ignored. In addition to the United States being far away from the European Big 6, there is also a weak military strength.

The core problem is that the United States does not have a major ethnic group. If the war breaks out in the United States, their staying power will be the worst. Once at a disadvantage, it is easy to split!

Of course, this was what the European powers generally believed at the end of the 19th century. As for whether it is true, no one knows until it is played! But it cannot be denied that the ethnic conflicts in the United States at that time were indeed very fierce!

Ferdinand can only pay attention to these things at any time, so that he can stand in line in the international diplomatic game. In principle, he is on the winner's side!

...

At this time, an undercurrent has begun to spread in Russia. Yes, Jewish bankers feel that the harvest time has come, and they are ready to cut a wave of wool in the Russian stock market. Of course, other consortia also have a share, and the Russian financial crisis is imminent.

But now, no one has thought that the harvest in the stock market will induce the Russian financial crisis, and then brew a more serious economic crisis, which will spread to the whole world.

The money of the bear is not so easy to get, the Jewish bankers made a lot of money, and then the ordinary Jewish people suffered for them, and then the anti-Semitic movement was born in Russia!

Of course, even if they knew that there would be such serious consequences, the capitalists would not be merciful, and the lives of compatriots are worthless!

Otherwise, there would not be so many anti-Semitic movements in the world. It can only be said that Jewish capitalists are too mortal, and ordinary people can only be regarded as incidental!

Of course, none of this is known yet. Even Ferdinand can only remember that at the end of 1899, Russia had a financial crisis, which led to an economic crisis that spread to the world.

As for the specific cause, it was only after the economic crisis broke out that Ferdinand figured out the cause and effect. Now he is still busy with loans!

Mr. Kennedy, how is the loan work going? Ferdinand asked with concern

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy said with a wry smile: Your Majesty, the first loan has been received. But do we really need to borrow so much?

If the previous loans are added, so far, the Bulgarian government has owed 1.5 billion international loans to Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Belgium and other countries; it also owed the three major domestic banks, a total of 380 million Vladimir's commercial loans; and various types of government bonds, a total of 220 million leva!

These add up to 2.1 billion levs, which is four times our financial income. If you add the 500 million levs to be loaned later, it is 2.6 billion levs, and the annual interest payment alone is as high as 200 million levs. Is this ratio too high?

After Ferdinand's accession to the throne, Bulgaria's development has been very fast. Compared with 1887, its fiscal revenue has increased tenfold, and its comprehensive national strength has also increased tenfold compared with 1887!

As fast as the Bulgarian exhibition, there are also debts. From the initial foreign debt of less than 200 million levs, it has snowballed to 2.1 billion levs, and there is a trend of continued expansion!

Debt and national power growth have always been proportional, this is the status quo in Bulgaria! It doesn't matter if Ferdinand is there, there is the pressure of the world war, in his heart everything is centered on the growth of national strength, and other things are trivial, but other people can't stand it anymore!

Constantine said worriedly: Yes, Your Majesty! Our debt is growing too fast. If we don't limit it, the interest alone will be able to drag us down!

Ferdinand was suddenly shocked. Before he knew it, Bulgaria had already owed an astronomical sum of money. In case of any accident, the Bulgarian government might follow in the footsteps of the Greeks!

Well, our current economic aggregate has been greatly improved compared to before, but our currency volume has never been able to keep up with the economic growth. Otherwise, we should find a way to print an additional batch of currency to relieve the financial pressure! Dinan thought about it

The Minister of Finance said with a wry smile: Your Majesty, we have also thought about this issue, but Bulgaria's gold standard is implemented, and our gold reserves are insufficient. If we increase the currency rashly, it will easily cause the currency to depreciate!

Ferdinand pretended to be surprised and said: Isn't there a way to solve the gold problem? The Balkans are also the main gold producing area in Europe, and now the main gold mines are in our territory, so there is still not enough gold. ?

That's right, Bulgaria's debt is increasing, and the economy is increasing, but there is not enough currency. Everyone knows that printing money is the most profitable.

It is a pity that now is the age of the gold standard. To print money, you must have a certain amount of gold as a reserve. Otherwise, in the foreign trade settlement, other countries will not

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