After dismissing the cabinet, Ferdinand shouted to the outside: “Butler Karl, notify our people to come for a meeting.”
“Very well, Your Highness!” the old butler Karl replied in a booming voice.
Half an hour later, Ferdinand gathered everyone and said, “Gentlemen, please sit.
Everyone here came with me from Austria-Hungary to Bulgaria, and you are all basically clear on the current situation.”
“Bulgaria is just a small country; it is not easy to develop and grow strong.
Now, I need everyone’s help,” Ferdinand said, looking down at them.
“Respected Your Highness, it is our honor to serve you!” Franz and the others said in unison.
Ferdinand was very satisfied with their reaction and said with a smile, “Alright, enough small talk.
Let’s first expand our industries here.
Although Bulgaria’s market is still very small right now, the competition is also small!”
“But Your Highness, given Bulgaria’s terrible traffic conditions, our products will have a hard time being competitive internationally!” Wilian Schubert said gloomily.
“Oh, Mr.
Wilian Schubert, I know this is difficult, but don’t I still have you all?
You can consider focusing on the Balkans market; the domestic market, Greece, and Serbia, as well as Turkey, are all good choices!” Ferdinand, knowing Wilian Schubert’s concerns, suggested.
“Very well, Your Highness, then I understand.
If it’s just that, there shouldn’t be much of a problem, but they are all poor devils, so the profit margins won’t be too high!” Wilian Schubert reminded him.
“Of course, I know that.
For the international market, don’t we still have the factories in Austria-Hungary?
Your focus is still there for now; the main competitors for the flour mills here are family workshops and the transportation system!” Ferdinand said somewhat gloomily.
After speaking, Ferdinand scanned the others and said, “You all won’t have any issues, will you?”
Looking at the silent crowd, Ferdinand said gloomily, “It seems we still have to build roads first!
I will find the Government to formulate a railway plan as soon as possible and issue Government bonds.”
Although he had long been prepared, Ferdinand was still very depressed; he was still suffering from a headache over how Bulgaria’s future should proceed.
He calculated in his heart: “The high-end route, how should one take the high-end route?
Internal combustion engines, cars, airplanes, tanks, and such are still quite far off; these things are not something Bulgaria can produce.”
“Even if we did produce them, we might be able to sell them internally, but once we go outside, we’d be beaten to a pulp by enterprises from other places.
Our industrial foundation is just too lacking!”
“For now, let’s just slowly ‘farm’.
There’s really no way around the industrial foundation; it needs to be slowly supplemented and requires state support.”
“I should first convince that group of naive Cabinet members.
Forget it, I’ll just use ‘big data’ directly.
Young people don’t have much patience; I can implement a Five-Year Plan and adopt a planned economy, which suits their tastes, and there are no Capitalists in Bulgaria coming out to oppose it right now.” Find the original chapter at novelping . com.
The spring breeze of 1887 blew through the Sofia Royal Palace.
The grass that had slept through the winter had now awakened, stubbornly poking its head out from the ground; although only a speck of tender green could be seen, it was full of vitality.
After five months of investigation, the Government concluded that Bulgaria was poor in natural resources, and the previously submitted industrial plan had long been thrown into the Mediterranean Sea.
“Alright, everyone, cheer up!
Just because natural resources are scarce doesn’t mean there’s no way to compensate for it,” Ferdinand consoled.
“Your Highness, are you planning to launch a war?” Stambolov said, his eyes lighting up.
Ferdinand thought to himself: “The Bulgarians are truly worthy of being the Prussia of the Balkans; they are indeed bellicose.
Just look at this Cabinet, and you’ll know.
No wonder in history, with a population of over four million, they mobilized over 1.2 million troops!”
He rolled his eyes and said, “No, we don’t have the strength to launch a war right now!
Although Bulgaria lacks mineral resources, the geographical conditions are still favorable, and the citizens are very supportive of the Government.
I intend to implement a planned economy to reduce unnecessary resource waste.”
“Planned economy?” The crowd was bewildered and cast their gazes over.
“Yes, a planned economy.
You might not understand it very well, so I’ll put it simply.”
“Let me give you an example.
For instance, railways: we plan to build 1,000 kilometers of railways within five years to improve Bulgaria’s transportation.
If private capital is insufficient, the Government will issue Government bonds to build them.”
“1,000 kilometers of railways, built in Bulgaria within five years?” the Minister of Transport Clinton asked in disbelief.
“That’s correct,” the Grand Duke said with a smile.
“Then I support it,” Clinton stated directly.
“This is just one of them; Bulgaria’s main industries will all be involved.” Ferdinand said confidently, and seeing everyone’s reaction, he already knew the outcome.
“Alright, quiet, wait until I finish before discussing!” Ferdinand waved his hand to signal.
“This is my initial concept; you can take a look.” After speaking, Ferdinand handed a copy of the “Bulgaria Five-Year Plan” to everyone.
Article 1: Focus on developing agriculture, hire agricultural experts, and vigorously promote advanced agricultural production technology; achieve a 30% increase in total agricultural product output within five years and increase farmers’ income.
Article 2: Railway plan; build 1,000 kilometers of railways nationwide in five years to improve traffic conditions.
The required funds will be resolved by the Government issuing railway bonds.
Article 3: Military; 1.
Establish a basic arsenal to basically realize the localization of light weapons and equipment within five years.
Complete the reorganization of the national army within five years and implement a reserve system and compulsory military service.
3.
Establish a National Defense University.
Article 4: Industry; encourage the development of heavy industry.
Considering Bulgaria’s lack of resources, provide support to key industries such as steel plants, machinery factories, and military enterprises, exempt them from taxes, and prioritize the use of domestic products under equal conditions.
Article 5: Education; 1.
Establish literacy classes in factories and rural areas; encourage young students to teach the public during holidays, with content mainly focused on legal education; control the illiteracy rate within 15% within five years.
2.
Establish a public comprehensive university; given that this is a special period, only science and engineering subjects will be offered for the time being.
3.
Build 3 new normal colleges to train teachers and lay the foundation for future compulsory education.
“The above five points are the core of this Five-Year Plan, which can also be called the ‘Five-Five Plan.’ If you have any suggestions to add or any opinions, feel free to raise them.” Ferdinand said, looking confident.
“Respected Your Highness, can I complete this?
This clearly violates market laws!” Minister of Economy Michael asked unconfidently.
“Of course you can!
Don’t worry about those bullshit market laws; they are nothing more than theories concocted after taking money from Capitalists, all used to fool people!
Be more confident.
You are all the elites of Bulgaria; you will definitely be able to complete it, and perhaps even exceed it!” the Grand Duke encouraged.
“Respected Your Highness, how will the funding be resolved?
With Bulgaria’s fiscal revenue, I’m afraid it will be very difficult to complete?” Prime Minister Stambolov asked.
“In this, the main expense is the railway plan.
Issue railway bonds, set the interest rate a bit higher, and absorb private capital; if that’s not enough, we can sell them abroad.
We can pay back the debt later using the revenue from railway operations; at most, the Government will subsidize a little.”
“As for the arsenal, I can invest, which saves the Government a sum of expenses.”
“The subsequent funding gap is not large anymore; with Bulgaria’s fiscal revenue, it should be barely achievable, at most we can issue some education bonds.
Any other questions?” Ferdinand said straightforwardly.
“Respected Your Highness, why are there no targets for steel and coal?
These are essential for a strong nation!” Michael asked in confusion.
“It’s very simple; Bulgaria’s coal reserves are too small, and we cannot violate the laws of nature to conjure them up!
And the iron mines are all in the Balkan Mountains; before the railway is built, all raw materials for building a steel plant would need to be imported, so it’s better to just import steel!” Ferdinand explained.
“If everyone has no questions, then we will decide it this way.
I will leave the specific details for you to perfect, and then we will submit it to the National Assembly for resolution!” Seeing that no one spoke further, Ferdinand announced the decision.