Mediterranean Hegemony Road

The bad things in Greece are not so easy to solve. According to Ferdinand's plan, Greece will immigrate to Syria by 1 million in the next five years. !

Anyway, as soon as the world war breaks out, the debts of the Allied countries can be paid off. In recent years, let the Greeks try to pay off the loans of Britain, France and Russia first!

Oh, mainly from the British and French, the Russians have a poor financial industry, and the Greek government owes them no money, and they are not in a hurry to pay it back!

However, the Greeks owe more than 35 million pounds in loans to Britain and France alone, plus more than 4 million pounds owed by the Russians. This is nearly 4,000 more than the debt owed to Bulgaria. £10,000 in foreign debt!

Ferdinand couldn't help calling the Greeks idiots, why did they borrow so many British and French loans? Are you not pro-German government? Why don't you borrow more German money?

Does he need to worry so much now if he borrows all the money from the Germans? As long as the interest is paid for a few years, and the world war breaks out, how good is it to directly default on the debt?

If George I knew about Ferdinand's thoughts, he would definitely be wronged! Everyone knows that Germany is a rising star, and it didn't take long for it to rise.

Although their total economic volume has surpassed that of the British mainland, they are still far behind the old powers in terms of background!

To put it simply, most of the Germans' money is invested in industry, and the financial industry is not so advanced. German bankers lack time to accumulate, and their wealth is not as strong as that of Britain and France!

After hundreds of years of accumulation, many families in Britain and France are very rich, and they have a lot of idle funds that they can use to lend.

After all, the British still have overseas dominions. In addition to domestic investment, the investment in overseas dominions also diverts some funds; while the French are fascinated by the huge profits of international loans. Although they have large colonies, they have not carried out in-depth development. Got the reputation of usury empire!

This is one of the reasons why Ferdinand joined the Allies.

The French's loans are not so easy to get, and coupled with the temptation of technology, he still hasn't blocked the temptation of sugar-coated shells!

...

In the Royal Palace of Sofia, the high-level Bulgarian government gathered together and was considering how to deal with the problem of the colony.

There is no way that the colony acquired by Bulgaria this time is really not small in terms of area! But is it worth it? From the perspective of this era, it really isn't that great!

Jordan: With an area of ​​about 9,139 square kilometers, it is located in western Asia and the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula. The country is short of water. Eighty percent of the land is desert. The area of ​​arable land is about 90,000 hectares. There are a lot of mineral resources, but unfortunately there are no Mining value! (In the 21st century none of their oil is worth extracting)

(Ferdinand's evaluation: Yes, a desert country with no value)

Palestine: an area of ​​about 27,000 square kilometers (Note: Israel is included)

Subtropical Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and warm and humid winters. There is a huge disparity in rainfall between north and south. The average precipitation in the northernmost part is 9oo mm, and the southernmost part is only about 5o mm.

The main mineral reserves are: 49.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas, 184 million barrels of oil, 18.5 billion tons of coal, 430 million tons of iron, 740 million tons of bauxite, as well as a large amount of chrome ore, marble and precious stones. (now Palestine)

Among them, the coastal plain soil is fertile and moist, suitable for agricultural production! Most of the other areas are undoubtedly desert areas, it is half to half!

(Ferdinand's evaluation: a rare treasure in the Middle East!)

Lebanon: an area of ​​1o452 square kilometers

There is a plain along the coast with plenty of rain and many rivers, suitable for agricultural production!

Mineral resources are scarce, but the Lebanese waters have oil reserves of 660-860 million barrels and natural gas reserves of 2o trillion-9o trillion cubic feet.

(Ferdinand's evaluation: suitable for developing agriculture in the short term)

Syria: an area of ​​about 185,000 square kilometers

The coastal and northern regions have a subtropical Mediterranean climate, and the southern regions have a tropical desert climate. The Eurates basin is suitable for agriculture and is one of the five food exporters in the Arab world. (Egypt, Iran, UAE, Syria, Tunisia)

Syria is rich in mineral resources, mainly including oil, phosphate, natural gas, rock salt, asphalt, apatite, copper and iron. The proven oil reserves are 2.5 billion barrels, and the oil and its products are basically self-sufficient, and some are exported. The proven natural gas reserves are 6500 million cubic meters, the phosphate reserves are 650 million tons, and the rock salt reserves are 5500 million tons.

(Ferdinand's evaluation: rich in resources, priority to develop agriculture)

Libya: an area of ​​about 1.70 million square kilometers (after deducting the Tripoli area, Italians are only interested in the coast and have no love for sand, so the desert area is still the boundary of Bulgaria)

The famous desert country, more than 95% of the country's land area is desert, only a few oases in the coastal area, and the land suitable for agricultural production is less than 2% of the country's land area.

It is rich in oil, natural gas, iron ore and other resources, and the cause of the war is unknown.

From the perspective of the early 20th century, Tripoli accounted for 80% of Libya's value.

(Ferdinand's evaluation: there is no development value in the short term, and agriculture is barely adequate)

However, in terms of area, the total area is almost 200,000 square kilometers, and the mineral resources, oil and natural gas resources are also very rich. Unfortunately, in addition to being able to grow fields on these lands, Bulgaria basically cannot exploit the basic resources. of!

Oh no! The oil of this era is not worth much, but not necessarily when the world war breaks out!

In short, in the short term, these colonies are better to cultivate the fields, clean up by the way, and send the Ottomans back to the country.

This is the information collected by Ferdinand, with comments attached. Of course, most of the data of these resources are hidden, just showing what has been found, and then handing it over to the public for circulation.

...

Your Majesty, we lack a sufficient market. We should increase investment in the colonies and cultivate a market of our own to enhance our ability to resist risks! the new Minister of Industry, Nicholas suggested.

Ferdinand nodded, he could invest in it, but it was a problem to invest in that step. At least in Syria, where most of them would be in danger, he was not ready to invest!

This is indeed a problem. Judging from the current situation, the economic value of our colonies is extremely low, but simple farming is still possible!

Navy Minister Petrov put forward a different opinion: Your Majesty, the colony's management method is not reliable, with the development of nationalism, the maintenance cost of the colony will only increase in the future, and it is the kingly way to bring them directly into the mainland!

Now we just need to move a group of people over there, treat it as local governance, and slowly start it. Within 20 years, we will be able to integrate with Bulgaria. By then, our comprehensive national strength will be greatly enhanced!

Ferdinand nodded, Petrov said all the views he inadvertently revealed, and it has slowly begun to affect this era!

Oh, the more important thing is that such a strategy is in the interests of the navy. After all, it is impossible to incorporate these areas into the mainland without a strong navy!

After thinking about it, Ferdinand still rejected Petrov's tempting proposal for a very simple reason - the world war is about to explode!

If there is no world war and the international situation stabilizes, Ferdinand will definitely do this. Although the investment in the early stage is relatively large, the income in the later stage is also large enough!

Others don't know, he doesn't know? Except for the Jordan region, other regions are the treasure land of resources, especially the Palestinian region, the rich mineral resources are even more coveted!

Once Bulgaria is incorporated into the mainland, the resources for future exhibitions will also be available. Even in Libya, a desert country, in the mid-to-late 20th century, scientists still believed that as long as the groundwater was extracted at a cost, an oasis of hundreds of thousands of square kilometers could be transformed. !

This investment is not very big, he can be divided into multiple stages, the initial investment in the reconstruction of the oasis is much less than the investment in the South-to-North Water Transfer Project!

The technical difficulty is not too big, if you are not afraid of taking a long time, even in this age, you can do it!

But the current international environment is no longer suitable for this slow farming model. Otherwise, with Ferdinand's character, he really doesn't mind slowing down for a few more decades. By then, a country will have an area of ​​more than 2 million and a total economy. Bulgaria, which is more than Britain and France, is a world power!

Ferdinand shook his head and said: No, the current international situation no longer allows us to implement this strategy. The smell of gunpowder in the European Big 6 is getting stronger and stronger, or we will fight with the allies in a few years. !

Against this background, our top priority is to improve our military strength in the shortest possible time, which is why we implemented the 'Third Five-Year Plan'!

Of course, it needs to be revised on a small scale now, and the Aegean Islands and the Greek Peninsula must be taken into account! At least the defense plan must be drastically revised!

The main reason for this situation is that the Bulgarian government has no money, and the domestic capitalists have no money!

The financial resources of the Bulgarian government are not enough to maintain a large navy on the premise of maintaining a large 6th army!

Don't look at the speed of the Bulgarian exhibition. In this context, everyone should make money, but the leap-forward industrial exhibition is based on the premise of large investment!

Everyone's money has been invested in expanding production, and they also owe a lot of debt to the bank. This is the core reason for maintaining the rapid economic growth of Bulgaria!

This is also a process that every emerging country must go through, and it requires primitive accumulation! And Bulgaria's original accumulation degree was obviously artificially slowed down!

This is mainly to ease domestic contradictions and not allow the capitalists to exploit the country alone. At the same time, it also strengthens Ferdinand's control over the capitalists and limits the development of capitalism!

Of course, this is also because Bulgaria is a country with a nationalist economy as its main body, so it can do this!

If in the world of free capitalism, capitalists are discouraged from investing, they will either directly change their careers to play finance, or they are conspiring to stage a coup to overthrow the government!

After listening to Ferdinand's words, everyone fell into contemplation.

If someone else said it, everyone would think that person is a lunatic, but Ferdinand is different. Over the years, there has never been a big mistake in judging the international situation, so everyone can't believe it!

After thinking about it, Constantine asked uncertainly: Your Majesty, although the situation in the European Big Six is ​​tense, the possibility of a war breaking out in a short period of time should not be too big, right?

Ferdinand shook his head and said, The British will find a way to make this war explode! The German Navy's plan has stimulated their sensitive nerves!

And have you noticed that the total industrial volume of the Germans has exceeded the sum of Russia and France. Even if we add us, the three countries of Russia, France, and France can only be equal to them!

If nothing else, the high economic growth of the Germans continues. Although our expansion is faster, the gap in size is still irreparable!

If the British did not add the Allies, the balance of the European Big 6 has now been broken! Most of us have surrendered to the Germans too, and even the French will now surrender to the Germans!

The Germans dominate the European Big 6. Can John Bull hold back?

They haven't done it yet, because they are not ready, or there are people in the UK who are ready to pass the arms race and bring down the Germans!

Everyone's faces changed again. Once the European University 6 had a war, Bulgaria would inevitably be involved. This war is not easy to fight!

The 6th Army Minister Popov asked suspiciously: Your Majesty, why didn't the Germans do it first? In the previous Russo-Japanese War, if the Germans took the lead, the Russians were pinned down in the Far East with a large number of troops, and it was difficult to provide France. How much support!

Especially after the explosion of the Russian revolution, Italy and Austria-Hungary are enough to hold us and the Russians back. The Germans can completely defeat the French again and force the French to compromise!

At that time, it was too late for the British to do anything! After all, the Royal Navy can't go ashore, and the British 6th Army is limited by its strength and cannot stop the Germans' actions!

Ferdinand smiled lightly and said, If I tell you, it's because the German government's top officials suddenly got into the water and were fooled by the British, would you believe it?

Popov shook his head, expressing disbelief!

If the German government is so easy to fool? It is impossible to become the enemy of the Allies!

But the fact is sometimes such a coincidence. This time, it was really the German government that made a foolish move and missed the best chance to convince the French!

This can be seen from the memoirs of Wilhelm II. He listed five core strategic mistakes that caused the defeat of the German government. Among them, the Germans did not preempt the French in the Russo-Japanese War and wasted a time to dominate Europe. The chance to be a big 6 is the biggest regret in his life!

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