"Your Majesty, news has just arrived from our embassy in Vienna that the former Prime Minister, Mr. Stefan Nikolov Stambolov, is critically ill and that he hopes to return to Bulgaria once more before his death!" The squire said

"Got it, tell the Vienna embassy that Mr. Stambolov is a hero of Bulgaria, and that in Vienna he is in Vienna for medical treatment, and that he must arrange his living problems, and that he can come back at any time if he wants!" Ferdinand said in a low tone

In any case, Stamborov also contributed to the issue of supporting Ferdinand, before the two had no way to fight for power, and now he is about to die, Ferdinand naturally cannot continue to embarrass him!

In fact, apart from sending his predecessors to Vienna, Ferdinand never treated them badly in terms of material life. Continue to take the salaries issued by the Bulgarian government and "heal" over there!

With the exception of the first few years when their freedom was restricted, after the First Balkan War, Ferdinand was completely free and could go anywhere except for not being able to return to Bulgaria.

Oh, and they are not allowed to return to Bulgaria, the main reason is that they have a little too big a black cauldron, and there are too many enemies in the country, which may endanger their lives.

Now that he is about to die, if he wants to return to his hometown, there will naturally be no problem, anyway, more than 20 years have passed, and it has long been a matter of time.

Even if it was their enemy back then, it has long passed the second period of secondary school now, and the hatred has long faded over time.

After all, Ferdinand did not convict them back then, and sent them directly to Vienna on the grounds of medical treatment, and now he is returning to China in the capacity of the former prime minister. It's not so easy to seek revenge, and if you get caught by the police, the whole family will be unlucky!

Well, at this moment, Ferdinand's heart softened, and he even had the idea of overturning the case for them!

No, this can't be regarded as overturning the case, they were not convicted in the first place. At most, it can only be regarded as a recharacterization of the events of the year!

However, Ferdinand soon dismissed the idea, and now was the wrong time. The world war is imminent, so it is better not to make a fuss.

……

A small episode passed quickly, and although the Bulgarian government has been heavily indebted in recent years, the pay is always proportional to the return.

Especially in terms of population, in recent years, Bulgaria has had a nationwide baby boom, and the huge subsidies issued by the government have frightened many people, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy has repeatedly protested to Ferdinand.

In fact, Ferdinand himself was frightened by this baby boom, and if it continues, Bulgaria will soon become a baby kingdom!

In 1910, when the Family Planning Law was first implemented, there were 1,032,000 newborns in Bulgaria, in 1911 the number of newborns in Bulgaria rose rapidly to 1,293,000, and in 1912 there were 1,436,000 newborns in Bulgaria.

Fortunately, according to the statistics of the Population Department, there may have been a slight decline in 1913, otherwise Bulgaria's finances would have been overwhelmed. After all, the higher the subsidy for this birth, the greater the cost will be!

In 1910, when the Family Planning Act had just been implemented, the annual financial allowance was 52,864,200 leva (£2,114,400), and by 1911 this figure had risen rapidly to 123 million leva (£4,920,000), and in 1912 it had increased to 168 million leva (£6,720,000).

I don't know if I don't count, Ferdinand was shocked when I counted it, there are really a lot of people who have four or five children in this era, and if it weren't for the family planning law introduced by Ferdinand, they probably wouldn't dare to continue to have children.

In this era, there was no good contraception, the chance of pregnancy has always been high, and many families have to have abortions because they can't afford it.

It's different now, all worries are gone, and there are rewards to take, of course, you have to work hard to create people!

According to statistical estimates, if Ferdinand insists on implementing the "Family Planning Law" unwaveringly, the average population growth rate in Bulgaria can easily break 4%, and it is not impossible to exceed 5% in individual years!

This means that Bulgaria's population could double in sixteen or seventeen years!

It is more exaggerated than doubling the population in 20 years, but that is the natural growth rate, and Bulgaria is caused by the double stimulation of administrative and economic means!

Of course, the financial cost of this is also indispensable, and with the growth of the population, the subsidy will naturally rise, and the future is estimated to be an astronomical amount.

However, after thinking about the demographic dividend, Ferdinand still chose to continue to implement it, until one day the finances really can't bear it!

By the end of 1912, the total population of Bulgaria had exceeded 25,626,000, and after deducting 386,000 immigrants in the past three years, the rest was the gospel brought by the Family Planning Law.

Well, the population of 30 million that Ferdinand was expecting, it seems that there was no hope before the world war. It can only be said that the situation has stabilized, and it is not easy for immigrants to fool!

Oh, the main thing is that there are too many restrictions in the Bulgarian Immigration Law, and of course it is difficult for those who meet the immigration conditions to get it!

Otherwise, Nicholas II would not mind packing up that group of political prisoners and sending them to Ferdinand, including the workers and their families who participated in the riots, and it would not be a problem to have a random number of eight million people!

It's a pity that these people Ferdinand really don't dare to ask for it! He bet that if he got all these people to Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Civil War would break out after the outbreak of the world war, and the tsarist government would have escaped!

For the "unstable elements" who mixed in, the officials of the Immigration Department have found out a lot, and those that were discovered in advance were of course returned to Russia intact!

There are also a few who are exposed in the later stage, then I'm sorry, the mine is their ultimate destination! Theoretically, there is no entry and exit, anyway, Bulgaria has not yet found that there are people who have been released after completing their sentences!

For the sake of safety, now immigrants, unless they are technical and scientific research talents can be directly naturalized, the rest are migrant workers, not only require language and culture, but also have a five-to-ten-year observation period, all qualified to be eligible for naturalization!

……

Although the population of Bulgaria is growing rapidly, it is far from quenching its thirst! When these newborn babies grow up, it is estimated that the daylilies will be cold!

According to Ferdinand's strategic plan, while defending against the Austro-Hungarian attack, he also took the initiative to attack the Ottoman Empire, and if conditions permitted, he also took out the Kingdom of Montenegro and Romania by the way.

To complete this plan, Bulgaria's troops will be insufficient, and it can't really burst its liver and kidney at the beginning of the war, right?

To defend against the Austro-Hungarian offensive, if Belgrade had been captured at the beginning of the war, then seven or eight hundred thousand troops would have been enough! If the first step of the plan is not completed, then 1.23 million troops will be insured!

With the reckless personality of Nicholas I and the support of the allies, Ferdinand estimated that the Kingdom of Montenegro is likely to burst out with 150,000~200,000 troops, taking into account the sneak attack of the Italians, so even if it is to defend the Albanian region 200,000 troops are still deployed.

With a population of more than 6 million in Romania, Carol I could still mobilize 780,000 troops, even if he started with the Russians, how could he have 300,000 or 400,000 troops, right?

50,000 troops on the Greek Peninsula are indispensable, why do the Aegean islands also need 30,000 or 40,000 troops?

On the front line of the Black Sea Fleet, to defend against the sneak attack of the Ottomans, there are still 200,000 troops, and the domestic reserves cannot be less than 500,000, right?

After a crackling calculation, the two million troops were divided up like this, and this is not counting the troops on the colony, of course, Ferdinand was ready to give up the colony in the short term.

As for the defenders? Of course, they have guarded the Suez Canal with the British in the past, and I believe that John Bull will definitely welcome it with both hands, after all, as soon as the war starts, their troops will be insufficient.

If he wanted to attack the Ottoman Empire, without an army of 1.8 million, Ferdinand didn't think he could achieve much success, but in any case, this war still had to be fought.

The reason is simple, as soon as the Asian Minor Peninsula starts, Bulgaria's eastern front will be safe, and there is no need to worry about the Ottomans sneak attack!

After all, the Black Sea Strait is too narrow, and it is theoretically feasible to cross the sea to fight, after all, Ferdinand has also seen the liberation of Hainan Island, and he doesn't think that the Ottomans will dare to fight hard!

It's better to fight anyway, of course, it's much better to fight outside the country! If the Ottomans had landed in the Balkans, Bulgaria would have suffered heavy losses, and Ferdinand would probably have to cry quietly!

Ferdinand, however, was well aware of the brutality of the world war, and for whatever reason, he did not intend to break out at the beginning of the war with all its might, which was not in Bulgaria's interest.

Britain and France had colonies to pull cannon fodder, and the French armed more than 1.4 million colonial troops into the battlefield in history; The British Empire has even formed four or five million cannon fodder troops, and there is a great deal of Indians who will not die, and they will not lack people!

With so many successful examples, Ferdinand was ready to follow suit. Anyway, the cannon fodder unit has always been a cheap endorsement, and even the post-war pension can be saved!

Of course, don't look forward to the colony of Bulgaria, although it covers an area of more than 2 million square kilometers, but the current population?

Most of them were returned to the Ottoman Empire by Ferdinand, and it is estimated that there are not even enough people for a million now, let alone arming the colonial army!

In fact, there were not many people in the colonies of Bulgaria before, and with their backward productive forces, they simply could not support the redundant population!

But it doesn't matter, you can't form a colonial army, but Ferdinand has a better option! Isn't the hairy next door the best choice?

Strong and strong, as long as they are armed and trained a little, they have not weak combat effectiveness, and it is not too much to bully the Ottomans, right?

Anyway, the two of them have been fighting for hundreds of years, and the hatred has long been deep in their bones. As long as they are put on the peninsula of Asia Minor, both sides can only live and die, and even the problem of prisoners will be solved by the way!

Of course, the most important thing now is to deceive, find a way to deceive a group of young and strong laborers from Russia first, and then arm them and send them to the battlefield as soon as the war breaks out.

If it is troublesome to wait for the outbreak of war and then go to pull people, the tsarist government will definitely open its mouth, and if it does not pay enough benefits, how can Nicholas II release people?

……

"Prime Minister, how many Russian laborers are there in Bulgaria now?" Ferdinand asked

"Your Majesty, the number of migrant workers changes frequently, and it is difficult for the government to calculate an accurate number, but now there are about 800,000 people!" Konstantin thought for a moment and said

Ferdinand shook his head and said, "Not enough! Now the government has to find a way to pull as many people as possible from Russia, and the more the merrier!

Our business with the Russian aristocracy can be restarted, and this time, as long as we are young, we can tell the Russians that we are developing the Greek peninsula and that there is a shortage of labor! ”

Konstantin asked suspiciously: "Your Majesty, it's no problem to bring in laborers, but why do we need so many people?"

The 'Third Five-Year Plan' is coming to an end, and even the government wants to take the lead in the job placement of this batch of migrant workers in China? ”

Ferdinand smiled slightly, and said lightly: "Don't you think the smell of gunpowder in Europe is already very strong?" In the event of a fight between the two major alliances, do you think this will be able to determine the winner in the short term? ”

Konstantin thought about it and nodded his head to show that he understood. The two tacitly decided the fate of these laborers!

As for whether he can get enough young people, Ferdinand said that the Russian nobles will do it well, and the price offered by Bulgaria is not low, and it is the right way to exchange these useless gray cattle for rubles!

Anyway, this business has been going on for more than ten years, and it is an open secret in Russia, and every year hundreds of thousands, or tens of thousands, of Russians enter Bulgaria through this channel.

In the past dealings, the tsarist government also found that as long as the population of a certain place decreased, the local law and order would also improve, and over time no one cared about it.

After all, it was the lowest level of civilians who traded, and most of them were ethnic minorities, which helped to increase the proportion of the main ethnic groups in Russia and increase the stability of the country.

What's more, it also helps the nobles to annex land, which makes it easier for them to plunder wealth!

……