In the end, Ferdinand still didn't make up his mind, after all, it was a big gamble, and the time was not yet ripe!

Even if he wants to fight Libya, it is not something that will be done right now, and it is acceptable to drag on for two or three years and wait and see the situation!

However, the expansion of the navy is now imperative.

There is not much time left for Bulgaria, if you don't want to increase your strength now, once the First World War breaks out, if you want to get a piece of the pie at that time, you won't have the right to speak!

……

Just when the Bulgarian government was still hesitating for the bait thrown by the British, a major event occurred that shocked the history of the world's navies, and the British dreadnoughts appeared!

Displacement 17,900 tons

Speed 21 knots

Armed with 10 305 mm guns mounted in five turrets,

24 76-mm secondary guns

5 underwater torpedo launchers

The armor of the broadboards, turrets and conning towers was up to 280 mm thick

It was more than 1 times more powerful than the other largest armored ships of the time!

The birth of the dreadnought directly announced that all the battleships in the world were eliminated overnight!

The powerful shipbuilding industry of the British, having once again defended the honor of the world's number one naval power, began a new era!

Receiving this news, Ferdinand smiled, he knew that the time had come for the great reshuffle of the navy, and if the old naval powers could not keep up with the times, they would have to wait to be eliminated!

Although the British Empire led the times, Ferdinand estimated that soon the London government would not be happy, who called their former dreadnought battleships the most numerous in the world?

With the advent of the era of dreadnoughts, whoever built more ships before will naturally suffer great losses! There is no doubt that the biggest loss this time was the British Empire, followed by the French Republic!

As for the emerging Germany, people will only be happy that suddenly an opportunity to surpass Britain and become the world hegemon is just sent to the door!

Of course, according to the previous strategy of the British, they also succeeded! After this naval reshuffle, the French really fell behind, not to mention the Russians!

Unfortunately, now is not the right time! After the appearance of the dreadnoughts of the British, the great powers of the world immediately followed!

Oh, Ferdinand also followed up with the announcement of the times, anyway, Bulgaria is now a small power, and the international status of the Kingdom of Spain is about the same, and it also needs to do something to improve the morale of the people!

The appearance of the dreadnoughts of the British proved that the designers were generally feasible in designing, and since this was the case, Ferdinand approved the construction, and he was ready to turn to the allies for technical help!

Although in the era of dreadnoughts, the French Navy's head was short-circuited and one step slower, but people's technology still kept up with the times!

In addition to the construction of a dreadnought, the Bulgarian Navy also had a series of shipbuilding plans, which were approved by Ferdinand.

For example, the construction of 3 destroyers, 2 fast cruisers, and small auxiliary warships such as torpedo boats and supply ships was started.

It is finally time to complete the great slogan he shouted before, "Within ten years, the navy will be expanded tenfold", and Ferdinand has always been very trustworthy in this regard!

Of course, Bulgaria is still playing the role of soy sauce in this arms race. Ferdinand had no intention of competing with any great power!

The reason why he is in a hurry to follow up is also to announce to the world that a new regional power has been born!

This is also a means of fighting for interests, and now there is no suitable stepping stone for Bulgaria in Europe, and the six major powers are not easy to mess with except for Italy and Austria-Hungary!

It's a pity that these two soft persimmons are hugged by the thighs of the Germans and can't be pinched!

In addition to the construction of surface ships with great fanfare, Ferdinand also quietly introduced submarine technology from France!

Back then, the French got into the water and advocated the construction of small ships for coastal defense! This also includes submarines, and the accumulation of technology in this area, the French are still very good!

As for why Ferdinand didn't bring in early? No way, the French are not philanthropists either, how can it be without paying the price?

Not only submarine technology, Ferdinand also introduced a lot of French core technologies, basically the advanced technology of this era, Bulgaria has been prepared!

In this regard, Ferdinand had to thank the Germans!

Without the pressure caused by the Germans on the French, the French government would not be in a hurry to win over Bulgaria as an ally, let alone do its best to help Bulgaria strengthen itself!

Ferdinand knew that in the minds of the French, Bulgaria's army strength was already equivalent to most of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it belonged to that kind of ally with passable strength!

The stronger the Bulgarians, the greater the containment of Austria-Hungary, then the Russians could devote more force against the Germans, thereby reducing the pressure on the French on the Western Front!

Otherwise, Bulgaria will get these benefits, don't even think about it!

……

The end of the Russo-Japanese War, which also announced the golden age of Bulgarian industry and commerce, has passed!

The good days when companies could sell as many products as they could produce are now gone!

Oh, and when the post-war inventory was counted, everyone was surprised to find that in addition to the British and French, Bulgaria was actually the third winner!

The British not only accomplished their strategic goals, but also knocked on the bamboo poles of the Japanese and made a lot of war money. Although the Japanese government won the war, it was completely controlled by the British economically and became the watchdog of the Far East!

Everyone understands that the British are the biggest winners of this war! The second is the French, who have mastered a lot of Russian creditor's rights, controlled the Russian financial market, and pulled the strategic focus of the woolly bear back to the European continent from the Far East!

Again, it is Bulgaria, and in terms of money and strategy alone, Bulgaria's benefits are not as good as those of Britain and France! But in the long run, between the Russo-Japanese War, Bulgaria's comprehensive national strength increased by at least half!

Before the Russo-Japanese War, Bulgaria owed the Russians a loan of 20 million pounds; After the end of the war, the Russians' loans were gone, and by the way, even the 60 million pounds loan from the French was repaid!

After paying off these two foreign debts, the Bulgarian government also increased its foreign exchange reserves by 800 million francs and 200 million rubles!

Crucially, Bulgaria's industry grew explosively, capturing most of the market for daily necessities in the Russian Empire.

And several Bulgarian military enterprises have also become one of the most important suppliers of weapons to the Russian army in the Russo-Japanese War!

By the end of 1907, Bulgaria's total steel production had crossed the threshold of one million tons, leaving only Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, and the United States, and also had the ability to produce warship armor!

At the same time, the new territories after the Balkan Wars, after Ferdinand's ten years of hard work, have now been completely digested and transformed into Bulgaria's national strength!

Naturally, the government's fiscal revenue has also been greatly increased. In 1907, the total fiscal revenue of the Bulgarian government reached 1.86 billion leva (about 77.4 million pounds), and the total support was 1.68 billion leva (about 67.2 million pounds), which was the first time since Fiji succeeded to the throne that it achieved a fiscal surplus!

Oh, all the previous financial revenue is used to pay off debts, of course, there is nothing left! It was only in 1907 that the Bulgarian government had already paid off its foreign debts, and for the first time there was a surplus!

From 1904 to 1907, Bulgaria's exports to Russia reached new highs in recent years, and in 1907 they reached a staggering 3.26 billion leva (about 130 million pounds)!

Of course, this is inseparable from the treasure contributed by Ah San, without that batch of gold as reserves, even if the Bulgarian economy grows sharply, there is not enough currency circulation, and the government is even more unlikely to obtain a large amount of coinage income!

In fact, more than a quarter of the Bulgarian government's revenue is now contributed by printing money, and sometimes even close to a third!

(In general, when there are enough gold reserves, the faster the economy grows, the bigger the plate, and the more money needs to be printed, the higher the minting income!) ）

However, Ferdinand knew that such good times could not last! In 1907, Bulgaria's GDP reached a staggering 510 million pounds, but with the end of the Russo-Japanese War, there was bound to be a significant decline!

At least the annual purchase orders for weapons and equipment amounting to tens of millions of pounds are gone, and the Bulgarian military-industrial complex will have to wait again!

In addition to these gains, the most surprising thing for Ferdinand was the population growth!

Since Ferdinand liberalized the conditions for naturalization, Bulgaria's population has skyrocketed, and due to the long-term chaos in the country, many people have chosen to leave their homeland and come to Bulgaria to earn a living.

Of course, that's the credit of the volunteer propagandists! After all, it is to visit relatives in their hometowns, and many people still have to ask for daughters-in-law, so everyone naturally has to choose a good one, as if Bulgaria is a paradise on earth!

Seeing the chaotic situation in their hometowns, many people simply moved their families to Bulgaria to seek a living. In this way, it is even more proof that Bulgaria is a paradise on earth!

The more people listen, the more people who believe, and the more people who want to go out and beg for a living. Of course, most people are forced by life to leave!

The situation in Russia is chaotic, and of course there are more people who are having a hard time! In the end, the Immigration Department had to raise the threshold for immigration and limit the number of immigrants!

Even so, that number exceeded the advance estimate. After all, everyone has a bunch of relatives and friends, and it's a lot of them!

To put it simply, it is a person who returns to his hometown and marries a daughter-in-law, these are two people, plus the parents, brothers and sisters of both sides, the number of direct family members alone is huge enough!

If the Immigration Department had not detected the problem in time and decisively imposed restrictions, Bulgaria would have been overcrowded by now!

Even so, by the end of 1907, Bulgaria had increased by 2.36 million Russian immigrants, and the total population of Bulgaria officially exceeded 20 million, reaching 20,387,500, completing the small population target set by Ferdinand ahead of schedule!

Oh, this immigration number is estimated to continue to grow in the next few years, after all, people who return to their hometowns to visit relatives are only part of it, and it is impossible not to take care of their families!

Of course, as the domestic situation in Russia stabilizes, the number of immigrants will slowly fall back and gradually return to normal levels!

In order to resettle this group of immigrants, the Bulgarian government also had to activate emergency measures, adding several large-scale projects and artificially increasing some jobs!