"The people take food as the sky, and food is the first thing!"

Solving the problem of food safety, on the surface, is to crack down on unscrupulous businessmen and provide a basis for the development of monopoly.

Only Ferdinand himself knew that the deeper reason was to accelerate population growth. A country with a population of more than 3 million cannot become a strong country.

Although no one has counted them, Ferdinand can be sure that the Bulgarians scattered all over the world will never exceed 10 million, if combined. In the Balkans as a whole, ethnic Bulgarians are now roughly in the range of six million to eight million.

Compared with the European powers, France had a population of more than 38 million, Germany had a population of nearly 50 million, and the woolly bear had a population of about 120 million. The population of Bulgaria was only 3.5 million, less than one-tenth of that of the great powers.

Therefore, the population problem is the most serious core issue for Bulgaria to develop and grow in the future. For Ferdinand, every Bulgarian was precious.

Ferdinand thought for a long time about how to increase the population, and then conducted a field survey of Bulgaria.

Due to the stable situation, the rapid development of the domestic economy and the stability of the people's livelihood, the birth rate of the population in Bulgaria has increased significantly.

The birth rate of Bulgaria in 1885 was 4.07%, and in 1889 it had gradually increased to 4.25%; Judging from the statistics of the first half of the year, it can be optimistically estimated that the birth rate in 1890 will be between 4.36% ~ 4.39%.

The mortality rate of the population in Bulgaria: in 1885 it was 2.65%; 2.78% mortality rate in 1889 (including those executed in secret); The mortality rate for the first half of 1890 was 1.01% (excluding migrant workers).

At present, Bulgarian people are relatively conservative. The enthusiasm for having children is still very high, and as long as the economic conditions allow, everyone is still willing to raise a few more.

Ferdinand knew that there was still a lot of potential for this figure, and it was still far from the birth rate of 5.29% in Russia in 1864, and it had maintained a birth rate of about 5% for many years.

The same is true of the mortality rate, which is basically controlled by Britain and France compared to the great powers, and even lower if you do not take into account the casualties of the maintenance personnel of the colonies.

However, the survival rate of the baby, Ferdinand could hardly believe it when he saw the data of the survey (and the author Jun couldn't believe it either). Not too low, but too high.

The survival rate of infants who lived past one year of age was 85.7% in 1889; In the same period, 74.4% of Austrians were killed, 82.6% in France and 77.4% in Germany. The countries with the highest survival rates are Ireland and Norway, both exceeding 90 percent.

Before the crossing, Ferdinand did not believe that these figures were true, but after the actual statistics of Bulgaria, he had to accept this fact. (The above data are from the Palgret statistical chronology)

There is no good way to increase the population, but to encourage childbearing. Ferdinand did not study medicine in his previous life, so he couldn't open up in medical care.

Medical talents, who are still studying in school, want to improve the level of medical care in Bulgaria in the short term, Ferdinand said that the traverser is not omnipotent, he is really powerless.

Before Ferdinand's crossing, many areas had experienced negative population growth, and many people were not interested in having children. There is only one group that flocks to this.

At the palace in Sofia, the Minister of Agriculture, James Pedinov, was caught by Ferdinand and squirted: "This is the result of the work of your Ministry of Agriculture for two years??" Idiot, rice bucket ......"

James Pedinov looked at the furious Ferdinand and thought, "No problem, hasn't it always been like this!" Why is the Grand Duke so angry today, isn't it~~"

Fortunately, Ferdinand did not know what James was thinking, otherwise the consequences would have been unpredictable. Looking at the papers lying on the ground, and then at James with a dazed face, Ferdinand had just suppressed his anger and came out again.

He scolded sharply: "Hmph! James, you idiot! Let me ask you, what has been done with the money earmarked for your Ministry of Agriculture? ”

James was now in a cold sweat, and said worriedly: "Your Excellency, ~ part of it we used to promote new technologies, and most of the money was directly allocated to the local government to increase food production!" ”

Ferdinand sneered and said, "Hehe, James, you idiot, in addition to promoting new technologies, does your Ministry of Agriculture have any results?" Appropriation to the locality, and then what? Is it used to build water conservancy projects, or is it used for agricultural industrialization? ”

"Nothing! Look at what is written on it? Repair the river and strengthen the river? The Danube, the Maritsa and the Struma, don't you know the geography of these rivers? What's the matter with Montana, is the river flooding the Stara Mountains? ”

"You idiot, even if you want to clean up the river, there is a financial allocation, has there been a local report? The money for the construction of water conservancy projects was swallowed up like this, and what is even more ridiculous is that my Minister of Agriculture came out to endorse the moths below! ”

Hearing this, James was already in a cold sweat, and he didn't find such an obvious problem, so he only treated it as a routine. The following report was directly approved without verification, and the huge amount of millions of leva was wasted by himself.

James trembled and said, "Your Excellency, this ~ is my dereliction of duty ~~!" Please excuse me from my ~~ duties! After saying that, James breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Originally, he didn't have much real power as a cabinet member, and Ferdinand didn't let him be in charge of other work except the Ministry of Agriculture, and James was still a little dissatisfied. Now, all that remains is rejoicing, "So I'm really a piece of shit!" ”

Ferdinand looked at the decadent James, and also knew that what had just happened hit him a little hard, after all, he was less than thirty years old and couldn't bear such a big pressure.

He had already resigned, but Ferdinand couldn't let James resign now. He is not Emperor Chongzhen, and changing the cabinet can be like a marquee.

It has only been a few months since the removal of a cabinet, and Ferdinand does not intend to change people until the new cabinet is elected, provided that no major problems have occurred.

"Well, it seems that the Ministry of Agriculture is not for you. It just so happens that the government is going to set up a Ministry of Information, and I heard that you used to be engaged in propaganda, and you used to be a minister. Ferdinand reassured

James looked at Ferdinand gratefully, he knew that this was for his own sake, and that the main task of the Department of Information was to oversee the newspaper. He, as a minister, is dispensable, and everything is done according to the regulations, which is basically an idle position.

After thinking about it, James's bookish business exploded, and he said excitedly: "Your Excellency, I am really not suitable for politics, and the Bulgarian University is more suitable for me." It would be more meaningful to pass on my knowledge of agriculture to the next generation, or to engage in scientific research! ”

Ferdinand looked at the indignant James, who was angry, and said helplessly: "Okay! If you want to go, you can go there, and it just so happens that Bulgaria also lacks experts in agriculture. The position of the cabinet is reserved for a long time, you can't treat yourself as an ordinary scientific researcher, you have to organize scientific research teams, and you have to go deep into the countryside for field investigation and research! I hope you will contribute to the development of Bulgaria in the field of scientific research! ”

"Yes, Your Excellency, don't worry, I swear in the name of God, I will try!" James said excitedly