Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 146: 06) Strategic Planning

Ferdinand said with a rhetorical question: "We cannot calculate the account this way. We must take into account other factors besides the economic value!

Have you noticed that now Bulgaria is on the upper side of the trade with Russia?

Without the previous migration, which consumed most of the money and covered up the problem, a long-time trade surplus with Russia, even if we are allies with the Russian Empire, the problem will still occur over time, have you considered it?"

The faces of the people changed greatly. It is indeed a big problem. If not correctly handled, the future of Bulgarian-Russian relations will certainly be greatly affected!

Now Bulgaria imports industrial raw materials from the Russian Empire and sells industrial products to the Russian Empire.

Because of the trade agreements, both sides were enjoying low tariffs on Bulgarian industrial goods to be able to compete with the Great Powers under the price advantage.

However, Russia's interests and how it is so good to take advantage of the time and then good relations will also be in conflict. Can Russia not let Bulgaria always take advantage of it?

A big reason no one is bringing it up now is that the Bulgarian government pays a lot to the Russian Empire, offsetting the trade deficit because of migration.

Russian aristocratic lords, having profited from it! Plus, Bulgaria needs low-quality immigrants, and waste in the Russian Empire is more or less the same. Remaining in the country is adding to the chaos. Leaving the other way around is good for easing domestic conflicts.

In addition, the Russian Empire also hopes to influence Bulgaria's internal affairs and diplomacy through immigration and slowly assimilate Bulgaria. All these factors add up to the root cause of the Russian government giving the green light and have not raised objections!

Despite not wanting to admit it, the problem is in front of us, and we can not ignore it now the Russian Empire is too important for the development of Bulgaria!!!"

Now people think they understand why Ferdinand must insist on Bulgarization. Wasn't it to prevent Bulgaria from being annexed by the Russian Empire?

Heavy pressure overcame him, and a sense of historical responsibility arose! What to do? Immigration is short-term, and if there is no other way, then the trade conflicts between Russia and Bulgaria will, sooner or later, sharpen!

Ferdinand suddenly realized that the problem seemed too serious to scare people! He was about to say something when Chekhov suddenly spoke up and said.

"Your Highness, in the short term we can rely on immigration to balance the trade surplus, but after all, it's not a long-term solution! Is it feasible for us to give up certain industries as a balance to the trade surplus?"

Ferdinand nodded. If he did not know the future direction, he would most likely also adopt this approach to balance the trade surplus, such as stopping domestic mining, switching to imports from the Russian Empire, etc.!

"Don't worry too much. At the current rate of development in Bulgaria, there is still a great demand for manpower, and for at least five years, we will have to bring in immigrants on a large scale!

Five years is enough time for us to find new ways to solve the difficult trade balance problem!"

The crowd suddenly understood why the Knyaz wanted to start the Bulgarian-Serbian War at this time; and why he insisted on expelling the Serbs!

A trade conflict between Bulgaria and Russia will certainly cause domestic unrest and a full-blown economic crisis, which will interrupt Bulgaria's path of development.

But the Bulgarian-Serbian War, which extended this crisis by five years, added land development, boosting the Bulgarian economy for the next five years!

Ferdinand's image in the hearts of the crowd, under a series of misunderstandings, was infinitely higher!

"Your Highness, what is our next step in the strategy?" Konstantin asked, begging for advice.

If not for fear of being treated like a monster, Ferdinand would have been ready to tell the crowd that he intended to make a fortune in the Greek-Turkish War!

Now since the Prime Minister asked, of course, it can be said. But how to speak and test the skills, both to be persuasive and not to reveal the ability to foresight!

Ferdinand pondered for a moment, organized his words, stood up, and said: "Look at the map on the wall. There are now three countries bordering us, Serbia, Romania, and the Ottoman Turkish Empire!

No need to consider Serbia. It just finished fighting. All you can do is look for the rest unless Austria-Hungary decides to annex Serbia and throw those troublesome places to us, or else there is no need to think about it!

Then look at Romania, caught between the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires. Even though their land is fertile but still not developed now, you know that being neighbors with the Great Powers is not a good choice!

And the risk of expansion to Romania is too big. Austria-Hungary and Russia are two major empires eyeing him, and we are joining in the uncertainty so large that once Romania is divided, we have to bear the pressure ourselves, and now Bulgaria is not ready!

The Ottoman Turkish Empire later, what kind of goods we all know, even if the Sultan made some changes, still can not change the nature of their problems!

The ethnic conflicts within the country have torn them half to death. They are now weakened by every day that passes, and on the surface, it still looks like a big empire, but the roots have long been rotten!

And look at the map of the Balkans. The entire Balkan Peninsula, except for Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro was Ottoman territory!

Macedonia, Thrace, Constantinople, Thessaloniki, Kosovo, etc., which are close to us. If we could annex them, it could directly triple Bulgaria's territory in size!

Then the rest of the problems are solved! The shortcomings of raw materials that constrain our industrial development can all be filled up!"

Ferdinand did not retain and directly spilled out everything. As for whether it will leak out, Ferdinand said that if the cabinet members are unreliable, then Bulgaria does not have to do anything. It honestly waits for death in the fields!

After listening to Ferdinand's strategic vision, the crowd was all dumbfounded. It's not their fault that they were ill-informed. It was just too incredible!

The weakness of the Ottoman Turkish Empire had to wait for the Armenian rebellion in Constantinople before they exposed its weakness to the world!

Then the Greeks were the first to eat after the outbreak of the Crisis in Crete and were confident enough to declare war on the Turks.

It's just a pity that the Greeks saw the weakness of the Turks but didn't realize that they were even weaker in nature!

And then a war worse than rotten broke out, the Greeks were no doubt defeated, but the weakened Ottoman Empire did not have the energy to pursue the Greeks, and domestic conflicts forced it to shrink back!