Vol 2 Chapter 67: The new version of the Serbian restoration

Nicholas I knew very well that to build the United Kingdom of Hesse, Mente Negro's strength alone was not enough. He must find a strong supporter!
After Bulgaria fell to Russia in 1891, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's dominance in the Balkans ceased to exist.
Especially after the outbreak of the Balkan War, the Ottoman Empire was expelled from the Balkans, Bulgaria and Mentenegrow, both pro-Russian, gained strength, and the Pro-German Greeks were weakened!
In this context, the best way for the Austro-Hungarian Empire 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, there is a complete opportunity to persecute Bulgaria through diplomacy!
Constantinople is the biggest contradiction in the relationship between Bulgaria and Russia. As long as it has the support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is not afraid that Bulgaria will not be hooked!
The interests of the Bosphorus are too great. If it is not known that the future of Germany will develop too fast, and it will force the British to end in person and join the Allies, Ferdinand will have to be tempted. This is a naked conspiracy!
Now Nicholas I is still fighting the Ottomans regardless of the front line, and gritted his teeth to take part of the support of the Serbian Revolutionary Army from their few weapons and equipment.
The Prime Minister said in distress: "Dagong, the Serbs now need too much material, we have insufficient reserves, and there are some inadequate support for the front line. It is very difficult to continue to support them!"
Nicholas I gritted his teeth and said, "Even if it is difficult, we cannot give up. The Revolutionary Army has swept over half of Serbia. Now they are in short supply. Without our support, this uprising will soon be punished. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is extinguished!
Once this uprising fails, we 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 hope that the Serbs will make trouble and make the Vienna government feel that direct rule is not cost-effective, so that it is possible to obtain independence again!
Then merge with us and work together to survive in the Balkans! "
The Prime Minister said with a bitter smile: "Unfortunately, Mentenegrow is too weak, otherwise we can annex Albania this time and not be so passive!"
Nicholas I nodded his head in agreement, thinking about it and asking, "What is the attitude of the Russians now? Do they support our actions in Serbia?"
The Minister of Foreign Affairs said in distress: "His Grand Duke, the St. Petersburg government is now focusing on Constantinople, and they want us to exercise restraint.
Secretly supporting the Serbs can, if we send troops directly, we will bear all the consequences! "
Nicholas I sank and said firmly, "No matter how bad the situation is, we cannot give up!
What about Bulgarians? What is their attitude? We are willing to come out as a buffer zone between them and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They can't oppose it! "
The Minister of Foreign Affairs replied: "The Bulgarians have a contradictory attitude. They want us to be a buffer zone between them and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and they are worried that Serbia after independence will cause them trouble because of the contradiction.
However, the Sofia government agreed to provide us with limited support and to sell us a batch of weapons and ammunition at a low price! "
A joy in Nicholas I ’s heart. Bulgaria ’s contradictions are not important. The key is that they are willing to sell weapons, which is good news!
The Minister of War said eagerly, "Oh, what are you waiting for? The Treasury immediately raised a sum of money to buy weapons from Bulgarians! Are they selling their new artillery?"
The Minister of Foreign Affairs smiled bitterly: "This issue has not been discussed in detail. It is said that the export of their new artillery requires the personal approval of Grand Duke Ferdinand!"
Nicholas I thought about it and said, "Okay, don't think about it so much, we just buy what they sell. Now is not the time to be picky!
Our immediate priority is to provide support to the Serbian Revolutionary Army to help them stabilize the situation, and to eliminate the Ottoman remnants as soon as possible! "
...
In the Palace of Sofia, Prime Minister Constantine said in a dilemma: "Prince, if we sell arms to Mentenegrow, will it cause a rebound in the Austro-Hungarian Empire?"
Ferdinand nodded and said calmly: "Of course it will. 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 win the title of great power!
But what does this have to do with us? We sell weapons to our allies in good faith, and this diplomatic pressure can still stand up!
Tell the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it is not okay, just push on the Russians, their skins don't care about itching! "
Everyone has become accustomed to the behavior of Ferdy's Nankeng teammates. Anyway, Bulgaria is still fighting for the Russians.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy suddenly said, "Dagong, the ongoing war has severely affected the Bulgarian economy. Our maritime import and export trade has now decreased sharply to less than one-third of the same period of the previous year. Will be greatly affected!
Moreover, the newly occupied areas also need to be rebuilt after the war, which in turn requires a lot of funds. As we have underestimated the destructiveness of the war, we will face a very serious funding gap in the coming year! "
The Minister of Finance did not say anything, mainly because Ferdinand exempted a large amount of taxes, and hundreds of millions of funds were lost in one fell swoop!
In the coming year, the newly occupied area will basically have only expenditures and no income! This is equivalent to twice the land of Bulgaria, and the administrative expenses required for light alone are an astronomical figure.
Those three billion levs have already spent a lot of their war reserves, how can they not be enough in the later period!
Ferdinand's good mood was suddenly lost again. It seems that as long as the money is mentioned, it is the dead spot of the Bulgarian government!
He raised a brow, and then gritted his teeth and said, "Go borrow! Borrow from the French, borrow from the British, borrow from Belgium, or borrow from any European consortium!
Now that our plate is so large, there should be a lot of things to mortgage! "
"By the way, mineral resources cannot be mortgaged! The core interests of economic development behind us cannot be compromised!"
Ferdinand added that he could not rest assured that in case he didn't make it clear, the bureaucracy at the bottom became hot, and he signed a traitorous treaty and put all the industrial and commercial goods in Western Europe into it. It's up!
The bourgeoisie in Bulgaria is not bad now, but it has not grown!
In addition to the lack of a sufficient local market, they also face the dual oppression of state-owned assets and the royal industry. They are hardly visible in important areas related to the national economy and people's livelihood!
If international capital is reintroduced, it is estimated that they will really be completely cool!
Hearing loans ~ EbookFREE.me ~ Foreign Minister Mateev's face turned away. If he couldn't get a loan in this era, there would be no good. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs often had to act as a potbacker!
I was asked with a bitter smile: "Mr. Kennedy, how big is our funding gap?"
Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy thought for a while and said: "The exact number is still difficult to determine, mainly depending on the cost of the battle of Constantinople! However, in the current situation, our future funding gap will be no less than 500 million levs! "(1 Lev ≈ 0.29 grams of gold, about 20 million pounds)
Ferdinand's face changed, and the 20 million pounds were not a small number. After the Beiyang government borrowed a large amount after the aftermath, Yuan Datou could actually get only so many!
Ferdinand now only feels the baby! After passing through, I worked hard in Bulgaria for ten years, fiscal revenue only tripled compared to the same period in history, debt has increased four or five times, and we must continue to grow now!
It can be imagined that in a long period of time in the future, he will have a life of debt repayment!
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