Mediterranean Hegemony Road

In the end, Ferdinand still did not make up his mind, after all, it was a big gamble, and the time was not ripe!

Even if he wants to attack Libya, it is not about to do it right now. It is acceptable to wait for two or three years to wait and see the situation!

However, the expansion of the navy is now imperative.

There is not much time left for Bulgaria. If there is no way to increase its strength now, once the war breaks out, if you want to get a piece of the pie, you will have no right to speak!

...

Just when the Bulgarian government was still hesitating about the bait thrown by the British, a major event that shocked the world's naval history happened, and the British dreadnought was unveiled!

Displacement 17,9oo tons

Air 21

Equipped with 1o 3o5mm main guns installed in five turrets,

24 76mm secondary guns

5 underwater torpedoes

Armour on sides, turret and conning tower is up to 28omm thick

It was more than double the firepower of the other largest armored ships at the time!

The birth of the dreadnought directly announced that all the battleships in the world were eliminated overnight!

The strong shipbuilding industry of the British has once again defended the honor of the world's first naval power and started a new era!

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Ferdinand smiled. He knew that it was time for a major naval reshuffle. If the old naval powers couldn't keep up with the times, they would be eliminated!

Although the British Empire has led the times, Ferdinand estimates that the London government will not be happy soon. Who told them that their former dreadnought battleships are the most numerous in the world?

With the advent of the era of dreadnoughts, whoever built more ships before, will naturally suffer greater losses! There is no doubt that the greatest loss this time is the British Empire, followed by the French Republic!

As for the emerging Germany, people will only be happy, and suddenly an opportunity to become a world hegemon is brought to the door!

Of course, according to the previous strategy of the British, they also succeeded! After this naval reshuffle, the French have really fallen behind, not to mention the Russians!

Unfortunately, now is not the time! After the appearance of the British dreadnoughts, the world's major powers immediately followed up!

Oh, Ferdinand also announced the follow-up in line with the times. Anyway, Bulgaria is now a smaller power, and its international status is similar to that of the Kingdom of Spain. It also needs to do something to improve the morale of the people!

The appearance of the British dreadnought proves that the designers' designs are generally feasible. Since Ferdinand has approved the construction, he is ready to ask the ally's technology for help!

Although in the era of dreadnoughts, the French Navy's head was short-circuited and one step slower, but other people's technology can still keep up with the times!

In addition to the construction of a dreadnought, the Bulgarian Navy has a series of shipbuilding plans, which were approved by Ferdinand.

For example, start the construction of 3 destroyers, 2 fast cruisers, and auxiliary small warships such as torpedo boats and supply ships.

It is finally time to complete the great slogan he called in ten years, the navy will expand tenfold. Ferdinand has always been very trustworthy in this regard!

Of course, Bulgaria is still playing the role of soy sauce in this arms race. Ferdinand has no plans to compete with which powerhouse!

The reason why he has to follow up in a hurry is also to announce to the world that a new regional power has been born!

This is also a means of striving for interests. Now there is no stepping stone suitable for Bulgaria in Europe. The six major powers except Italy and Austria-Hungary are not easy to mess with!

It's a pity that these two soft persimmons are hugged by the Germans' thighs and cannot be pinched!

In addition to the construction of surface ships with great fanfare, Ferdinand quietly introduced submarine technology from France!

At that time, the French were in the water and advocated the construction of small ships for offshore defense! This also includes submarines. The French are still very good at accumulating technology in this area!

As for why Ferdinand didn't introduce it in advance? No way, the French are not philanthropists, how is it possible not to pay the price?

Not only submarine technology, Ferdinand also introduced a lot of French core technologies. Basically, Bulgaria has all the advanced technologies of this era!

In this regard, Ferdinand has to thank the Germans!

Without the pressure caused by the Germans on the French, the French government would not be in a hurry to win over Bulgaria as an ally, nor would it do its best to help Bulgaria strengthen its strength!

Ferdinand knew that in the eyes of the French, the strength of Bulgaria's 6th Army was already equivalent to most of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it belonged to the kind of ally with decent strength!

The stronger Bulgaria is, the greater the containment of Austria-Hungary, and the more the Russians can use against the Germans, thereby reducing the pressure on the French on the western front!

Otherwise, Bulgaria will get these benefits without even thinking about it!

...

The end of the Russo-Japanese War also announced that the golden age of Bulgarian industry and commerce is over!

Gone are the days when companies could sell as many products as they could produce.

Oh, when we took stock after the war, everyone was surprised to find that, in addition to the British and the French, Bulgaria was the third victor!

The British not only accomplished their strategic goals, but also took advantage of the Japanese to make money from the war. Although the Japanese government won the war, it has been completely controlled by the British economically and has become a watchdog in the Far East!

Everyone knows that the British are the biggest winners in this war! The second is the French, who have mastered a lot of Russian creditor's rights, controlled the Russian financial market, and also pulled Mao Xiong's strategic focus from the Far East back to the European Big 6!

It is Bulgaria again. In terms of money and strategy, Bulgaria's benefits are not as good as those of Britain and France! But in the long run, between before and after the Russo-Japanese War, Bulgaria's comprehensive national strength has increased by at least half!

Before the Russo-Japanese War, Bulgaria still owed the Russians £2ooo in loans; after the war, the Russians' loans disappeared, and by the way, even the previous French loans of £6ooo were repaid!

After paying off these two foreign debts, the Bulgarian government also increased its foreign exchange reserves by 800 million francs and 200 million rubles!

Most importantly, Bulgaria's industry has achieved explosive growth, occupying most of the daily necessities market in the Russian Empire in one fell swoop.

And several military enterprises in Bulgaria have also become one of the most important weapon suppliers of the Russian army in the Russo-Japanese War!

By the end of 19o7, Bulgaria's total steel production has crossed the threshold of one million tons, leaving only Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, and the United States, and also has the ability to produce warship armor!

At the same time, the newly added territories after the Balkan Wars, after ten years of hard work by Ferdinand, have now been completely digested and transformed into Bulgaria's national strength!

The government's fiscal revenue has naturally also been greatly improved. In 19o7, the total fiscal revenue of the Bulgarian government reached 1.86 billion leva (about 7.74 million pounds), and the total support was 1.68 billion leva (about 6.72 million pounds). This is the first time since Fei succeeded to the throne. Financial surplus!

Oh, the previous fiscal revenue is used to repay the debt, of course there will be no more left! By 19o7, the Bulgarian government had paid off its foreign debt, and it was the first time it had a surplus!

From 19o4 to 19o7, Bulgaria's exports to Russia have repeatedly hit new highs in the past few years, and in 19o7 it reached an astonishing 3.26 billion lev (about 130 million pounds)!

Of course, this is inseparable from the treasure contributed by Asan. Without that batch of gold as a reserve, even with the rapid growth of the Bulgarian economy, there is not enough currency in circulation, and it is even more impossible for the government to obtain a large amount of coinage income. !

In fact, more than a quarter of the Bulgarian government's fiscal revenue is contributed by printing money, and sometimes it is even approaching one-third!

(In general, when the gold reserves are sufficient, the faster the economy develops, the larger the plate, the more money that needs to be printed, and the higher the coinage income!)

However, Ferdinand knew that such good times could not last! In 19o7, Bulgaria's gross national product reached a staggering 510 million pounds, but with the end of the Russo-Japanese War, there will definitely be a sharp decline!

At least the purchase orders for weapons and equipment that are as high as tens of millions of pounds every year are gone, and the Bulgarian military enterprises have to wait again!

In addition to these gains, what surprised Ferdinand the most was the population growth!

Since Ferdinand liberalized the conditions for naturalization, the population of Bulgaria has begun to soar. Due to the long-term chaos in the country, many people have chosen to leave their homes and come to Bulgaria to seek a living.

Of course, this is the credit of those volunteer propagandists! After all, they are going back to their hometown to visit relatives, and many people have to ask for wives. Naturally, everyone has to choose well, as if Bulgaria is a paradise on earth!

Even many people saw the chaotic situation in their hometowns and simply went to Bulgaria to seek life with their families. In this way, it further proves that Bulgaria is a paradise on earth!

The more people who listen to it, the more people who believe it, and the more people who want to go out and make a living. Of course, most people are forced by life and have to go!

The situation in Russia is chaotic, and of course there are many people who have a hard time! In the end, the Immigration Office had to raise the threshold for immigration and limit the number of immigrants!

Even so, that number is still out of pre-estimation. After all, everyone has a bunch of relatives and friends, a lot!

To put it simply, if you go back to your hometown alone and marry a daughter-in-law, that's two people, plus the parents, brothers and sisters of both parties, the number of direct family members alone is huge!

If the immigration office did not find out the problem in time and decided to impose restrictions, Bulgaria is now estimated to be overcrowded!

Even so, by the end of 19o7, Bulgaria had an increase of 2.36 million Russian immigrants, and the total population of Bulgaria officially exceeded 20 million, reaching 10,000, completing the small population target set by Ferdinand ahead of schedule!

Oh, this number of immigrants is expected to continue to grow in the next few years. After all, people who return to their hometowns to visit relatives are only a part of them, and it is impossible not to take care of their families!

Of course, with the stabilization of the domestic situation in Russia, the number of immigrants will also slowly decline and gradually return to normal levels!

In order to resettle these migrants, the Bulgarian government also had to initiate emergency measures, adding several large-scale projects and artificially adding some jobs!

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