Before the Spanish-American War began, the end was already doomed, and the declining Kingdom of Spain was no longer the world empire it used to be.

The old empire is rotten inside and out, and the newborn America is going to step on its shoulders and join the ranks of the great powers!

Just like in 1895, Japan defeated the Manchus; In 1897, Bulgaria defeated the Ottoman Empire; 1898 will be the year in which the United States of America defeated the Kingdom of Spain.

At the end of the 19th century, in this era of alternating between the old and the new, three old powers were eliminated one after another, and three new kingdoms were replaced.

Of course, now Japan and Bulgaria are not yet great powers, they can only be regarded as substitutes!

It was not until after the "Russo-Japanese War" that the Japanese, stepping on the prestige of the Russians, joined the ranks of the great powers; As for Bulgaria, the future Ferdinand already has an eyebrow, and it is indeed difficult to make up his mind!

Time flew by, and soon entered 1898, the "Maine" incident broke out as scheduled, and Ferdinand's butterfly effect did not affect the Americas.

Ten days after the outbreak of the "Maine" incident, the United States issued an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Spain, and the Spanish-American War was on the verge of breaking out.

On 6 April, the envoys of Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Italy to the United States handed over a "note from six countries" to the United States, calling on the two countries to resolve the dispute over the Cuban issue through negotiations.

There is no doubt that this note failed, and although the note was sent together, the positions of the six great powers were different, and the controversy was too great to reach an agreement.

Not to mention that the British were inclined towards the Americans; Italy is for soy sauce to brush up on its presence, and the Americas region does not have much influence; The influence of Germany, Austria, and Russia in the Americas was too weak for them to interfere even if they were inclined to Spain; The remaining French, while also supporting Spain, did not take substantive action.

Nominally, the Kingdom of Spain had the support of the five great European powers, but in essence this support was limited to words.

The Kingdom of Spain was in an awkward situation of being isolated, and on April 10 the Kingdom of Spain gave in to the United States Government and agreed to all the demands of the Americans.

But the Americans, who have long coveted the legacy of the Kingdom of Spain, are so likely to stop now?

On April 28, the U.S. government declared war on the Kingdom of Spain, and the "Spanish-American War" officially began!

Ferdinand watched all this happen, and did nothing but block the Americans in public opinion. No, now newspapers all over Europe are scolding Americans for breaking the rules, including the London Daily.

But it didn't work, and the Americans did it anyway. European countries have declared their neutrality and banned arms sales to the United States.

Ferdinand knew that this was a fig leaf, mainly because the Americans would not buy weapons at all, so governments would so decisively impose a ban on sales to the United States. There is not a dime to do with the support of the Kingdom of Spain.

It's a pity that the Kingdom of Spain is rotten in the end, and I don't know how to take advantage of such a good opportunity, if it is Ferdinand, even if it is to smash the pot and sell iron, I will have to put together another fleet, and the Americans will PK a good one.

After all, the current US Navy is not strong enough to be invincible in the world, and if the Kingdom of Spain urgently scrapes together money to buy ships from other countries, European countries will not mind taking the opportunity to make a profit, after all, except for the British government, Europeans do not want the Americans to win the war!

The Spanish-American War was in full swing, and Bulgaria's multi-day preparations were about to begin, although the "Spanish-American War" stole part of the limelight, Ferdinand still didn't care.

At this time, Sofia was already putting up the lights, and in order to celebrate this ceremony, the Bulgarian people did not wait for the government to organize, but had already taken spontaneous action and came to clean up the whole city.

On May 6, Ferdinand and Queen Xenia took the stage together, and Ferdinand was officially crowned King of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, known as the "Third Kingdom of Bulgaria".

That's right, it's the king, the title of "Tsar" is still forgotten, Ferdinand didn't die to go with the title of Nicholas II.

You must know that "Tsar" is transformed from "Caesar" in ancient Rome, translated as "supreme ruler", and the current Ferdinand does not have the strength to grab this title of hatred!

At this time, Xenia was more than eight months pregnant, and she was already pregnant. For the sake of the child's safety, Ferdinand once planned to postpone the ceremony, but Xenia tried his best to stop it.

If the founding ceremony is postponed because she is pregnant, what will happen to her reputation after it spreads? Besides, if he was born a prince, with this stain, how can he serve the people in the future, and why should he gain a foothold in Bulgaria?

Then, in fear, Ferdinand hastily completed the most important coronation ceremony.

Then, Ferdinand forcefully interrupted Xenia's desire to see the excitement and sent her back to rest.

After all, it is a ceremony for the establishment of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, and it cannot be too hasty, and after the coronation ceremony is completed, there are many things that need to be presided over by Ferdinand himself.

The first thing that started was the military parade, and the infantry and artillery phalanxes appeared neatly in front of Ferdinand, waiting for him to review.

After the review, Ferdinand personally conferred the titles on the officers who had been promoted to generals, after all, the ceremony also included a celebration ceremony.

Under the attention of thousands of people, awarding titles to meritorious men is also an indispensable job for Ferdinand.

Bulgaria is a monarchy, and in addition to the title, there is also the awarding of knighthood. Even for the vast majority of people, the latter is the key!

Compared with the Baosai War, Ferdinand was much more generous this time, and with a wave of his hand, he sealed out seven counts, eighteen viscounts, more than a hundred barons, and thousands of knights.

In addition to members of the military, the knights included government officials, as well as scientists and engineers who had made a great contribution to the development of Bulgaria.

Of course, it is the military that takes the lion's share, and military merit is always the easiest to be knighted, and Bulgaria is no exception.

Of the seven counts, the military accounts for five, which is now the five giants of the military. The cabinet accounted for two people, Prime Minister Konstantin and Chekov.

There is nothing controversial about this, in terms of ability and contribution, these two people meet the requirements.

The eighteen viscounts, who also accounted for the majority of the military, but also included the palace minister Karl and the intelligence chief Fuhu, as well as the chief engineer of the arsenal and the chief engineer of the railway company.

The rest of the titles, not much to say. Ferdinand had to sigh, the 19th century knighthood was a fucking good thing!

In order to win over several external engineers and scientific researchers, Ferdinand tried to find a way, but it didn't have much effect.

When Ferdinand wanted to confer knighthood on those who had made great contributions, these people did not hesitate to join the Bulgarian family. Of course, the title can't be low, and people who aren't hereditary can't look down on it.

Ferdinand also knew that now that Bulgaria had been upgraded to a kingdom, its strength had been recognized by everyone. Otherwise, like the Montenegrin Kingdom next door, the knighthood of Nicholas I is much less popular.

Titles are not all tempting in all countries, such as African chieftains, even if they are crowned princes, few people will take it to heart.

After the conferment was completed, there was another commendation ceremony, this time for the martyrs who died in the Balkan Wars. Needless to say, the dead man, with Ferdinand's discipline, it is an infinite elevation, anyway, say a few good words, and don't want money.

……

After the ceremony is completed, it does not mean that Ferdinand's work is over, and the trouble has just begun.

Guests, relatives and friends from all over the world, many people need Ferdinand to receive them personally, and there is no way to call the Bulgarian royal family, there is no more important male in the Bulgarian royal family?

Now that the queen is pregnant, it is reasonable for the queen mother to come forward to receive the female dependents, but the main task is to be Ferdinand himself.

The aristocracy pays the most attention to face, and this time everyone gave Ferdinand enough face, and the major nobles in Europe sent weighty figures to participate. In line with the principle of reciprocity, Ferdinand was surprised to find that Bulgaria was the only one he was satisfied with.

There are no old nobles in Bulgaria at all, so you can't use the new counts to receive dukes and princes, right?

That's not a reception anymore, it's complete indifference, and of course if these counts are from old nobles, then all this is not a problem.

Therefore, Ferdinand had to go into battle in person at the dinner and greet them separately as a courtesy.