Vol 5 Chapter 8: , The power of capital

After the auction was over, Constantine in a good mood personally attended the evening banquet and had a close communication with the capitalists participating in the auction.
Of course that's all. In order to prevent collusion between officials and businessmen, the Bulgarian government prohibits in-depth exchanges between officials and capitalists. Naturally, Constantine will not really become friends with capitalists.
He personally attended the banquet, nothing more than to show his favor to the Russian capitalists, saying that the Bulgarian government would treat them equally and would not suppress foreign capital.
As for preferential treatment? I'm sorry, Bulgaria has never said that preferential treatment of capitalists, not for domestic, and naturally not for foreign countries!
The Russians are very clear about these conditions. The economic integration of Russia and Russia is not just a slogan. Before the outbreak of the world war, the economies of the two countries really became one.
Now of course it has been divided. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the World War, the Bulgarian government has taken over more than 90% of the country’s enterprises. Isn’t it easy to adjust?
More than two years have passed, and the economic ties between the two sides are naturally not so close, but the disconnection is still indispensable.
Bulgaria’s economic policy has always been the object of criticism from Russian capitalists, especially the government’s mandatory intervention in the market, and strict corporate laws and labor protection laws that they hate.
But now they want the Bulgarian laws to be stricter, because although these laws harm their interests, they also protect their interests!
It is because of too much understanding that Russian capitalists dare to invest their capital here. If there is no Ferdinand's butterfly effect, most of their people will fall under the Soviet butcher knife, and most of the rest will live in the United States, and they will basically be swallowed up.
...
Constantine said happily: "Your Majesty, this is the detailed information of our auction, which is 15% higher than the estimate of the Ministry of Finance. A total of 5.75 billion lev (about 230 million pounds) has been raised! "
Ferdinand smiled and nodded, took the file and looked at it carefully.
For the government, it does not matter whether these companies are in their own hands! Even if they are sold to capitalists, these factories still remain in Bulgaria and will not affect Bulgaria's national strength.
On the contrary, the government got rid of these burdens, and can also recover a sum of funds through auctions and invest them in new national construction.
This is the helplessness of state-owned enterprises. They have many advantages, but there is only one real fatal disadvantage-economically uneconomical!
Many companies that can make money in the hands of capitalists will lose money in the hands of the government. No matter how strict the supervision is, as long as they are not profiteering industries, they will lose money!
If it is not to ensure the government's control of the country, Ferdinand would not mind turning all state-owned enterprises into private enterprises, so that the annual taxation could increase a lot.
Of course, just think about it, if you really sell it all, it will be a big deal to keep it!
For example, if the Bulgarian Railway Company is handed over to capitalists to operate, the profit is estimated to increase three to five times. The consequence is that many unprofitable railway lines will be suspended.
However, since these economically worthless lines have been repaired, they are naturally for national defense and security. For the government, military value is often more important than economic value.
There is not a lot of information. After a cup of tea, Ferdinand read the information, then smiled and said, "Well, yes! This time the state-owned enterprise restructuring is progressing very smoothly, but you will continue to make further progress in the later period. Ensure the smooth handover and transition of enterprises!"
"Yes!" Constantine replied
After thinking about it, Ferdinand asked with concern: "How does your government plan to use the funds from the sale of the company?"
For a country, the money in its hands is not money, only when it is spent and benefits are produced, is it real money!
Constantine replied with confidence: "Your Majesty, the government plans to invest this money in infrastructure construction, which mainly includes three aspects:
First, the Balkans Round-the-Island Railroad Plan connects all the Balkans with railroads, mainly in Romania, Transylvania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Ministry of Transport expects to build 12,000 kilometers of railways before completing this plan;
Second, in the Asia Minor Peninsula development plan, we will continue to build the Baghdad Railway that the Germans did not complete, and extend it to the Persian Gulf region. If we count the branch lines along the way, the total mileage of this section of the railway will reach 42,000 kilometers;
Third, land reclamation. After the end of the world war, our government has added a lot of land. To develop them, capital investment is indispensable in the early stage! "
Sure enough, the money is still so careless! There were tens of thousands of kilometers of railways to be repaired, and hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land to be developed. This huge sum of money was quickly swallowed.
Even Ferdinand believes that even if all the claims on war indemnities are sold, the money he gets can not withstand the government's toss. There is no way he wants to develop Asia?
How can this cost be so low that the colony is treated as a local business? A traffic problem alone is enough to cause a breakdown!
Fortunately, Bulgaria is also a big business now. Unlike in the past, when building thousands of kilometers of railways, you have to raise funds everywhere. Now it is tens of thousands of kilometers of railways. If you left it before, you would not even dare to think!
Ferdinand nodded and said: "Well! The government's development thinking is correct. Transportation is indeed a big problem. Let the Ministry of Transportation organize experts to conduct on-site exploration and determine the railway line as soon as possible, and strive to start construction before the end of 1918!"
Railroad exploration in the Balkans is still easy to complete. After all, the previous Austro-Hungarian Empire had an internal railway plan and had already built some railways. What Bulgaria needs now is to connect these branches in series.
Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf are in great trouble. The poor railway left by the Ottoman Empire is almost negligible, even if Ferdinand is demolished.
If Bulgaria can repair the main railway line to the Persian Gulf within five years, Ferdinand will issue a medal to the Ministry of Communications, and within ten years can penetrate the Arabian Peninsula, then this century will be the century of Bulgaria!
At present, Ferdinand is not sure whether it can be completed. Now it depends on how strong the Bulgarian bureaucracy is. If they can still maintain the fighting spirit they had when they built the homeland, then this problem will not be a problem!
Constantine immediately replied: "Yes! Your Majesty, please rest assured, we will definitely implement it as soon as possible and strive to start construction before the end of the year!"
Ferdinand thought about it again and added: "The government must prepare a new five-year plan. If nothing happens, we can sell our claims within the year!"
How much money is done, is the status quo of the Bulgarian government! It's not that Ferdinand doesn't want to make the Great Leap Forward, but he really doesn't dare to make it!
Blindly developing industry, other domestic industries did not keep up. When the economic crisis broke out, the company suddenly lost the overseas market, the domestic market did not grow up, and the government owed huge foreign debts. The consequences were simply unimaginable!
According to Bulgaria's national conditions, once such a fatal economic crisis occurs, prepare for war!
Ferdinand is not afraid to fight, but the question is who will he fight? What are the benefits of winning?
Ferdinand can be sure that he can't fight Britain and France!
First, the two parties do not have enough conflicts of interest; secondly, no one can do anything to others.
This is determined by geopolitics. Bulgaria cannot reach the mainland of England and France, nor can Britain and France have the strength to reach the mainland of Bulgaria. The two sides will not have any substantive benefits except adding an enemy!
Perhaps the Suez Canal looks delicious, but referring to the naval power values ​​of both sides, Ferdinand does not think that Bulgaria can break through the blockade of the Royal Navy.
This is troublesome. I finally grabbed the canal, and finally found that there was no way to navigate freely. Then I might as well dig another canal by myself. Why go to start a war?
Since there is not enough interest ~EbookFREE.me~ and there is no way to win each other, this kind of war is naturally impossible to fight!
The rest is left with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire. If the Russian Empire continues to have civil wars, then there will be no fighting between Russia and Russia. Ferdinand will not be so kind and give them a chance for reconciliation. .
The Austro-Hungarian Empire had no offensive value at all, and it defeated the Vienna government. Apart from facilitating the rise of the Germans, Ferdinand found no benefit!
This is embarrassing, what should I do if I can't find the enemy?
If the contradiction cannot be transferred, there is only the last way to digest the contradiction internally!
Considering the risk of this operation, Ferdinand decisively chose sustainable development. After all, it's easy to provoke a class struggle, but it's hard to get rid of the aftermath. Once the game collapses, you have to take off your skin if you don't die!
To put it simply, it means rationally arranging the country's infrastructure construction and doing infrastructure construction within the scope of one's own capabilities. You can't blindly start projects, you have to do it step by step.
Then when the economic crisis breaks out, Bulgaria can continue to engage in infrastructure construction to ease the pressure. If it doesn't work, Ferdinand can still develop Africa, and if it doesn't work, it can still play afforestation and protect employment!
The prerequisite is that the government cannot owe huge debts, be kidnapped by capital, and then put on a chariot!
For details, you can refer to the Germans in World War II. Whether with Hitler or not, they will start a war. The capital behind them is forcing them to enter the battlefield. This cannot be changed by individuals.
In World War I, Bulgaria was also pulled aboard by capital, but because the benefits were large enough, Ferdinand pushed it halfway and joined it.
Let's do it again!
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