Time flew by and the convoy entered St. Petersburg, which was Ferdinand's fourth time in the city.

The first few times I came to this city, it was in winter, and the ice and snow were white, and Ferdinand really didn't have the heart to observe the city!

"This is a rare opportunity, maybe this is the last time I will be in this city!" Ferdinand thought to himself

At the beginning of the 20th century, St. Petersburg was already a bustling cosmopolitan city. I can't see it in winter, but in summer, I can see the crowd of people from a distance through the car window!

Ordinary people live, Ferdinand never had the opportunity to contact again, since wearing this crown, there have been two worlds from now on!

While Ferdinand was thinking, the motorcade had already driven into the palace.

……

After several days of various banquets, Ferdinand had the opportunity to have a secret conversation with Nicholas II.

In fact, at their level, many things are straightforward, and going around corners and circles is the only thing that diplomats do!

"Nikolai, you don't really plan to fight the British for the sake of the Far East, do you?" Ferdinand half-jokingly

Nicholas II asked confidently, "Do you think this is possible?" The British have not even settled the Boers in South Africa, and they will provoke a new war?

Besides, now that there is the Triple Alliance on the European continent, how can we fight for the sake of the Japanese monkeys? ”

Ferdinand smiled slightly, thinking: "The Japanese dwarf you look down on now will soon interrupt your dream of the sea and plunge the Russian Empire into the abyss!" ”

"Of course, as long as the government of London has not made a fool, they will not provoke a new war here!

But I think it's important for you to keep in touch with each other, lest the people below you get bouncing! ”

This is not Ferdinand's nonsense, now the Russians and the British regard each other as the primary enemy, in case of Ferdinand's butterfly effect, if there is a real fight, Bulgaria will have to block the guns for the Russians!

Nicholas II smiled faintly and said: "The contradiction between us and the British is a strategic conflict, and it is very difficult to resolve it!"

But don't you think the contradictions between the British and the Germans are more troublesome? Can the capitalists in London tolerate their markets being robbed by the Germans? ”

Ferdinand was slightly stunned, yes, from the perspective of future generations, the economic contradiction is a secondary contradiction, and the strategic contradiction is the core contradiction.

That's because the productive forces have developed to a certain extent, the masses have awakened, everyone has realized the dangers of war, the strength of the capitalists has been limited, and countries will exercise restraint with each other!

But now? The capitalists don't care about the interests of the state, they only know that their interests have been lost!

Ferdinand suddenly understood why Britain, France and Russia, which were full of contradictions in history, suddenly came together, and all this was the result of the capitalists behind the scenes!

Why can't the "Franco-German contradictions" be reconciled?

Is it hatred?

You must know that the hatred between Britain, France and Russia, which is not greater and deeper than Germany and France?

In addition to the British getting in the way, the core factor was that the Germans had robbed the French of the market and harmed the interests of the capitalists!

With this in mind, Ferdinand put everything in order. The core contradiction of the First World War was the battle for the market between the capitalists, Britain and France had the most colonies and controlled the world's largest raw materials and markets.

As for the struggle for hegemony between Britain and Germany, it is undoubtedly a continuation of the struggle of interests!

"Looks like I'm thinking too much! The intensification of the contradictions between Britain and Germany is not far off, and when it breaks out depends on how long the London government can resist the pressure of the capitalists! ”

Nicholas II contemptuously said: "The government of the French is now completely controlled by the capitalists, and if it is not in their interests, it will be removed from power immediately."

How long can the British resist a constitutional monarchy? Edward wasn't Victoria's grandmother after all, and he probably wouldn't be able to suppress that group of people for long!

This is the so-called freedom, and government after government is infiltrated by the capitalists! Whether it is right or wrong, it must be in their interests, and what is the national interest? ”

Ferdinand wanted to say, you are wrong, Edward's ability is stronger than you think, and the capitalists are still firmly suppressed, but his successor is not good!

Ferdinand admits that there is some truth in the words of Nicholas II, but history is written by the victors, and the capitalists won the final victory, then their claims are the truth!

Ferdinand also found that Nicholas II was overly confident and seemed to think that everything was under control, as if he had already eaten his opponent!

And he did not understand anything about the current situation in Russia, it was not wrong to suppress the capitalists, it was not wrong to suppress the aristocracy, and even the tsarist government had the support of the peasant class, but he forgot that the working class was rising!

The working class, which has been suppressed by the capitalists for a long time, is enough to change the world once it breaks out! Even the tsarist government, which suppressed the capitalist class, would become the spokesman of the bourgeoisie under the guidance of well-intentioned people, and be pushed out to pull hatred!

Knowing what he knows, Ferdinand didn't remind him of it, after all, an overly strong Russia is not in the long-term interests of Bulgaria!

After all, the future Soviet Union is very far away, and there is still a gap of twenty years before the rise of the Soviet Union, which is enough time for Bulgaria to grow and develop. As long as it was strong enough, what could the Soviet Union do?

Ferdinand nodded, smiled and said, "It seems that the future international situation will definitely be interesting!" ”

Nicholas II sneered and said: "It depends on the performance of that guy William, if he can't wake up and continue to be led by the nose by the British, the good days of the Second German Empire will come to an end!" ”

Ferdinand shook his head and said: "Let's observe a moment of silence for William Jr., he underestimated the impact of capital on a country, and now he probably still hopes for an alliance between Britain and Germany!" ”

……

After in-depth exchanges with Nicholas II, Ferdinand found that the tsarist government was not as unbearable as the history books say, at least in terms of judging the international situation, it was clearer than the Germans!

If Ferdinand had been replaced by Wilhelm II, he would definitely have gone all out to support the Russians' eastward advance, even if Russia occupied East Asia.

Will they have enough time to digest? If it can't be digested, then such a huge territory can only be a burden, and in the end it will empty every ruble of the Russian treasury!

Moreover, the biggest loss is still the British, after the Russians gain East Asia, the Anglo-Russian contradictions will never be eased again!

In the meantime, simply let Austria-Hungary collapse and unify Greater Germany to strengthen itself! What the final result will be, although it is difficult to predict, at least the German-Russian PK British, French, and American will have a much higher chance of winning than the German-Austrian PK British, French, Russian, and American ones!

More than a month later, Ferdinand's trip to St. Petersburg finally came to an end, and the result was still very satisfying to him, and the Russians still had to continue to fight in the Far East!

At the same time, Bulgaria and Russia have opened more in-depth cooperation, and the most important thing is that the Russian government does not restrict technical exchanges and cooperation between enterprises of the two countries!

Isn't it clear about the feces and urine of the capitalists? There's nothing you can't sell, and if there is, it must be that you're not paying high enough!

No matter how reluctant Xenia was, Ferdinand still dragged her to the next stop - Vienna, after all, this was a visit to all of Europe, and Ferdinand did not have much time to waste.

Vienna Ferdinand is still familiar, and despite being away for more than a decade, the city has become more prosperous. There are still memories of his childhood, and even though they belong to the former master, he still thinks it is very beautiful!

Oh, and a bunch of friends and family. This should be said to be inherited from his ancestors, many aristocratic families are world friends, interspersed with marriages, and on the premise that there is no conflict of interest, everyone is still friends!

In order to reduce the number of people going out to socialize, Ferdinand simply took the initiative to invite them all, and he still had a good hand at the castle in Vienna anyway.

……

Compared with St. Petersburg, Ferdinand's gains in Vienna were very limited, and Bulgaria could not give what Austria-Hungary wanted; In the same way, what Bulgaria wanted, Austria-Hungary refused to give!

There has been no noticeable improvement in relations between the two countries. On the contrary, the relationship between their relatives was much better, especially when Ferdinand the younger carried on their tradition and became a Catholic, much to the satisfaction of his uncle Joseph I!

Seeing that he could not achieve the results he wanted in Vienna, Ferdinand did not have the luxury. There is nothing perfect in this world, and he quickly ended his trip to Austria-Hungary.

Not to mention the rest of the trip to Berlin, he did not have a good relationship with the nephew of Wilhelm II, especially after Bulgaria privately divided the Balkans with Austria-Hungary!

On the contrary, in the three Nordic countries, Ferdinand achieved everything he wanted and signed a series of cooperation agreements.

Especially in the military cooperation with Sweden, the unscrupulous Ferdinand directly took out the fruits of his copycats from various countries to trade with the Swedes.

And the two sides have also reached an agreement on the research and development of warships. Well, this time Bulgaria is paying tuition again! However, Ferdinand is still very satisfied, it would be good if people were willing to take you to play.

Ferdinand can now cooperate with others to mount battleships, and the Japanese military industry that started at the same time is miserable, except for digging the corners of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, he can only buy the technology of the British independent research and development!

Of course, the technology is about to be eliminated, but it is the shipwrights and technicians they have dug up from the Manchu Qing Dynasty that have helped their shipbuilding industry even more!

Well, Ferdinand admits that in fact, learning the technology of warships is just a front! The real purpose is to steal and build the supporting technology behind the battleship!

After all, warships are the industrial crystallization of a country, which includes precision machinery, engine technology, advanced welding technology, fluid mechanics, metallurgy and other fields.

If you go to public relations one field at a time, then the cost will be too great, and it is better to package and learn together!

Anyway, as long as the cooperation begins, these areas must be touched, and it is always possible to find a way. Even in the afterlife, money can open the way, not to mention in this era of loose technological blockade, it is even simpler!

This is the real reason why Ferdinand is patient and wants to run country by country.