Time flew by, and in a flash it was the end of 1917, and the time had come to decide the costs of the various government departments for the coming year.

Unlike during the war, this time the military also had to participate in this budget battle, and Ferdinand also released rumors that a new round of state-owned enterprise restructuring would be carried out!

The military-controlled enterprises are likely to be separated from the military, and from now on all their funds will have only one way - financial allocation!

Of course, there are still dividends for running a colony, but only if the Bulgarian colonies make a profit!

As a representative of the military, the five generalissimos of Bulgaria now revolve around Ferdinand every day, and they can find out things if they have nothing to do, and the purpose is naturally for military spending.

Gone are the days when they weren't constrained by their budgets! During the war, in order to win the war, the whole of Bulgaria was revolving around the army, and the war was fought, even if the government had no money, they had to get supplies!

Now that the economy has begun to return to normalization, the army does not have the domineering spirit that it lacked before, and it directly reached out to the government!

Everything is done according to the rules, from now on, the army will have to give money for the procurement of materials, and if you don't have money, please step aside.

In terms of fiscal revenue, Bulgaria has increased significantly, and the budget figure given by the Ministry of Finance in 1918 was 5.2 billion leva (about 208 million pounds), which was estimated to be able to euthanize the cabinet if it was before the world war, and it is like that now!

The fiscal revenue has increased, the territory has increased even more, and the consequent administrative expenses have also risen, at least the Balkans should be treated as local governance, and the administrative expenses in this part of the region have increased by one-third.

Corresponding expenses for education, medical and health care, infrastructure construction, and post-war reconstruction are indispensable.

As for the war reparations, I am sorry that the amount of reparations in 1918 has been offset by Germany and Italy in kind, such as the colonies and the factories that were demolished.

The factory had long been resold by the government to enterprises, and the money obtained was almost spent in 1917, so this 5.2 billion leva was the entire revenue of the government in 1918.

Then he was slashed by Ferdinand, setting aside 8 million pounds for scientific research, and the remaining 200 million pounds is everyone's budget.

Petrov said with a hippie smile: "Your Majesty, you see that our navy has just gained a foothold in the Persian Gulf region, and the construction of this port has just begun, isn't it for ......?"

Ferdinand directly interrupted: "Yes, you are right, the navy is very much in need of investment, but you should go to the military committee to talk about this problem, they are responsible for allocating the military expenditure ratio of the three armies!" ”

As soon as Ferdinand's words fell, Petrov's face fell, and now the military expenditure of the three armed forces of Bulgaria is the worst in the navy.

The army has always been the boss, and the people in charge of the distribution of military expenses on the military committee are basically from the army, and their share is naturally the largest!

Even the rising star air force, their life is more comfortable than the navy, because their cost is cheaper than the navy, and Ferdinand specially issued an order that the proportion of military spending of any branch of the army, navy and air force must not be less than 25 percent!

Then the air force was relieved, it was enough for them to take the minimum standard, and they couldn't grab it if they wanted to, and then they watched the army and navy grab military expenses.

There is no doubt that the Navy is certainly not an opponent of the Army in the Military Council, and although the final result has not yet come out, if there is no accident, this time the Navy will be on an equal footing with the Air Force, and they are all ready to take the minimum standards!

At present, the total number of members of the Bulgarian Military Council is as high as 183, of whom 165 are from the army, three from the air force, and only 15 from the navy, including him, the marshal.

Don't be surprised, the predecessors of the Bulgarian Navy and Air Force were all carved out of the army, and he, the marshal, was still an army admiral before?

The Air Force is an all-in-one army, from officers to pilots are all selected from the army, and after becoming an independent army, they began to recruit people on their own.

Of course, in this era, the air forces of all countries were born out of the army, and there is nothing to make a fuss about! The Navy also developed from the Army, and Bulgaria is the freak!

This can't be helped, who called the Bulgarian Navy has always been unworthy of its name before? It wasn't until after the end of the First Balkan War that it started, and before that it was either the Navy or the Coast Guard!

In the world war, after Bulgaria carried out a major expansion of the army, most of the generals added were also in the army, the navy had too few opportunities to perform, and the air force started too late, and it was impossible to join the army for two or three years to become a general, right?

If you are not a general, why did you enter the Military Council? Even this military committee, which is used to provide for the pension of these veterans, must also raise the standard and grade, and it must be very righteous!

Just like now, when it comes to the allocation of military spending, it is their turn to call the shots, although Ferdinand has already allocated it, just a formality!

In this battle for military spending, the military must first unite to compete with various government departments, and after the event is over, the army, navy, and air force will have to fight for it themselves behind closed doors!

The Air Force is self-aware, and the 25 percent ratio is already very good, and anyway, a large number of aircraft with good performance were left behind during the war, and in the short term, they should not consider upgrading their weapons, and their military spending is not large.

But the navy can't do it, their warships are all gold-swallowing beasts, and now the total tonnage of the Bulgarian navy is as high as 410,000 tons, and there are colonies to be guarded, and the ports of the Persian Gulf must also be built, Petrov can't fight if he doesn't come out!

Not only Petrov complained, but War Minister Popov also complained: "Your Majesty, you see that our colonies are in such a mess now, and we need to use troops everywhere to ......"

Ferdinand smiled slightly and said, "You one or two, can't you figure out your own way without military spending?" The Navy is not enough to spend on the military, and the Army is also coaxing?

Anyway, the annual budget hasn't started yet, so you guys are going to take it from the cabinet yourself? Now is the time to test your abilities, if you can convince them, won't there be military spending? ”

The war is over, and military spending must be suppressed, this is the consensus of Ferdinand and the cabinet, but it is not suppressed within a year!

This is very unrealistic, it will take time for the army to adjust, and besides, the newly occupied colonies are not peaceful now, there are no big battles, but small battles are still indispensable.

But at present, only Konstantin, the prime minister, and Ferdinand know this, and the military only knows that it is necessary to reduce the proportion of military spending, which once exceeded 90 percent of financial expenditure in wartime, and will not exceed 25 percent in peacetime!

This is still the Balkans, before the world war, Bulgaria's defense pressure was very high, so there was this proportion of military spending, but now it is really looking around, there is no decent enemy!

If this is cut down with a knife, it is estimated that the life of the Bulgarian army in 1918 will really not be able to live, let alone strip the small treasury in their hands?

Popov smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, how can we be their opponents?"

I've heard that many government departments are now ready to do a big job. Do you know that during the war, they were suffocated, and now when they make a big move, the money is not like flowing water, and what is left for our army in the end? ”

Ferdinand just looked at them gloatingly, there was no doubt that this was the cabinet beating the military through the distribution of military spending, so that they would know who was the master of the country!

This is also their own doing, during the war, they are all, they are completely the boss of the king, they are second, they don't take the cabinet in their eyes at all, and now they naturally want to make them sober up.

Ferdinand was also happy to see it, if he really let the military float and suppress the cabinet, then what would it do? How can rights be balanced?

The current political system in Bulgaria is that the king controls the army and uses the parliament to check and balance the cabinet, and the cabinet to check and balance the army, and the army to check and balance the government.

Of course, in practice, it will be more complicated, the king also has the power to remove the parliament, nominate or appoint and dismiss cabinet officials, simply put, the king has the right to appoint and dismiss all high-level personnel.

It's just that the prestige of Ferdinand, the king, is a little too rebellious, and the cabinet that originally threatened the royal power has directly become a good baby, but it doesn't mean that he has to give up this balance system.

As a traverser, he knew very well that the king had to control the army, so the guards in Sofia were all under the direct command of the king, and even the military expenses were calculated separately and directly drawn from the annual treasury.

He also has to bang the military to show them who's their boss! At the same time, he wanted to prevent the cabinet from meddling in the army and weaken the king's influence in the army!

After the rise of the military aristocracy, the balance of power in Bulgaria was further perfected, the cabinet controlled the state administration, the king controlled the army, the nobility went to the local area on behalf of the king, and the future parliamentarians from the aristocratic class would be balanced with the bourgeois parliamentarians.

It was precisely in order to establish this system that Ferdinand suppressed the bourgeoisie before the rise of the aristocracy.

The problem of the balance of power is very complicated, while supporting the aristocratic class, Ferdinand personally dismantled the aristocratic class, there is no kind of big nobleman who is a word, and the number of nobles distributed to the local area is large, but the title is not high, and the influence is limited to one side.

The king became their sole leader and the spokesman of their interest class! In addition to the aristocracy, Ferdinand also created a group of kulaks, who were not yet in the status of the nobility, but economically surpassed the common people.

And because of the relationship between productivity, Bulgaria, which has a shortage of labor, will definitely develop mechanized agriculture, and they will become farmers in the future.

In the face of mechanized agriculture, it was only a matter of time before the small-scale peasant economy collapsed, and the peasants were essentially the farmers, and the future Bulgarian king was the spokesman of the peasant class and the aristocratic class.

At the same time, this king controls a large number of industries, is also the largest consortium in the country, has a huge economic power, and controls the country's economy behind the scenes.

Now Ferdinand is still in the layout, his ideal state is to control the country's army, control the country's banks, control the country's public opinion, and also hold a large number of real industries.

In this case, if he can still be overturned, Ferdinand can only say that he admires!

It would have been almost impossible to achieve this goal, but the situation in Bulgaria provided him with exactly this condition - that is, oil that has not yet been discovered!

Ferdinand could have taken these oil fields under the desert at a low price, and made more vests, and in the future, the industry exploded, and the world's economy was manipulated in the hands of the royal family!

……