Bulgarian Empire

Nicholas I knew very well that if he wanted to establish the United Kingdom of Hesse, it was not enough to rely on the strength of Mente Negro, and he had to find strong supporters!

After Bulgaria fell to Russia in 1891, the advantages of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkans no longer existed.

Especially after the outbreak of the Balkan War, the Ottoman Empire was expelled from the Balkans, the pro-Russian Bulgaria and Monte Negro both gained strength, and the pro-German and Austrian Greeks were weakened instead!

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

The Vienna government believes that when the Austro-Hungarian Empire directly borders Bulgaria, it has every opportunity to use diplomatic means to force Bulgaria to defect!

Constantinople is the biggest contradiction 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 Strait are too great. If it is not known that Germany will develop too fast in the future, forcing the British to end the game and join the Allied Powers, Ferdinand would have to be tempted. This is a blatant conspiracy!

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

The prime minister said in embarrassment: "Grand Duke, the Serbs need too much supplies now, our reserves are not enough, and the support to the frontline is somewhat insufficient. It is really unsustainable to support them any longer!"

Nicholas I gritted his teeth and said: "No matter how difficult it is, we can't give up. The revolutionary army has swept over half of Serbia. Now they are in desperate need of supplies. Without our support, this uprising will soon be overthrown." The Austro-Hungarian Empire is destroyed!

Once this uprising fails, we will have no chance to stop Austria-Hungary from annexing Serbia! In fact, even with our support, they have little chance of winning!

Now we can only expect the Serbs to make a fuss and make the Vienna government feel that it is not worthwhile to rule directly, so that it is possible to gain independence again!

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

The prime minister smiled wryly and said: "It's a pity that Monte Negro is too weak, otherwise we can annex Albania this time, and we won't be so passive!"

Nicholas I nodded in agreement, and after thinking for a while, he asked, "What is the attitude of the Russians now? Do they support our actions in Serbia?"

The foreign minister said with a look of embarrassment: "Your Excellency, the attention of the St. Petersburg government is now on Constantinople, and they hope that we will exercise restraint.

It is okay to secretly support the Serbs, but if we send troops directly, all the consequences will be borne by ourselves! "

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

What about the Bulgarians? What is their attitude? We are willing to come out as a buffer zone between them and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is impossible for them to object! "

The foreign minister replied: "The attitude of the Bulgarians is very contradictory. They hope that we will become a buffer zone between them and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but they are also worried that because of the contradiction between Bulgaria and Serbia, independent Serbia will cause trouble for them!

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 to him, the key was that they were willing to sell weapons, which is good news!

The Minister of War said eagerly: "Oh, what are you waiting for? The Ministry of Finance immediately raised a sum of money to buy weapons from the Bulgarians! Are they selling their new artillery?"

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 Grand Duke Ferdinand himself!"

Nicholas I thought for a while and said: "Okay, don't think so much, we will buy whatever they sell, now is not the time to be picky!

Our immediate priority is to provide support to the Serbian Revolutionary Army first,

Help them stabilize the situation, and eliminate the remnants of the Ottomans as soon as possible! "

...

Inside the Royal Palace of Sofia, Prime Minister Constantine said in a dilemma: "Grand Duke, will our sale of weapons to Monte Negro cause a reaction 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 called great powers!

But what does this have to do with us? It is only natural for us to sell weapons to our allies, and we can still resist this bit of diplomatic pressure!

Tell the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it is not enough, just push it on the Russians, they don't care about itching because of their thick skin! "

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

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy suddenly said: "My lord, the ongoing war has seriously affected Bulgaria's economy. Our maritime import and export trade has now dropped sharply to less than one-third of the same period last year. I am afraid that this year's fiscal revenue will Will be greatly affected!

Moreover, the newly occupied areas also need post-war reconstruction, which in turn requires a lot of funds. Due to our previous underestimation of the devastation of the war, we will face a very serious funding gap in the coming year! "

The Chancellor of the Exchequer didn't say anything, mainly because Ferdinand exempted a large amount of taxes, and he lost hundreds of millions of funds at once!

In the next year, the newly occupied area will basically only have expenditures and no income! This is equivalent to twice the land of Bulgaria, and the administrative expenses required are an astronomical sum.

Those three billion leva war reserves have already been spent a lot, and they will never be enough in the future!

Ferdinand's good mood was suddenly wiped out. It seems that as long as money is mentioned now, it is the Achilles' heel of the Bulgarian government!

He frowned, then gritted his teeth and said, "Go borrow! You can borrow from the French, from the British, from Belgium, or from any consortium in Europe!

Now that our plate is so much bigger, there should be a lot of things that can be mortgaged! "

"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 worried. If he didn’t make it clear, the bureaucrats under the bureaucracy would heat up and sign a traitorous treaty, which would bring in all the industrial and commercial products from Western European countries, and the Bulgarian national bourgeoisie would really be finished. up!

The small days of the Bulgarian bourgeoisie are not bad, but they have not grown!

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

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

Hearing the loan, Foreign Minister Megev's expression changed. 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 the backer!

He asked with a wry smile: "Mr. Kennedy, how big is our funding gap?"

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

Ferdinand's face changed. Twenty million pounds is not a small amount. The Beiyang government's large aftermath loan, the amount that Yuan Datou can actually get is almost only this much!

Ferdinand now only feels that the baby is suffering! After time travelling, I worked hard to farm in Bulgaria for ten years, and my fiscal revenue has only tripled compared to the same period in history, and my debts have already increased by four or five times, and now I will continue to grow!

It is conceivable that for a long time to come, he will have to live a life of hard debt repayment!

...