Mediterranean Hegemony Road

"Your Majesty, if a large number of laborers are imported into Russia, the cost will probably be huge!" said the Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy in embarrassment.

Kennedy had no objection to Ferdinand's recruitment of "mercenaries". There is a tradition of using mercenaries in Europe, and there is nothing unacceptable in this regard.

Oh, Ferdinand's idea of ​​looking for hairy bears as cannon fodder was directly understood by them as recruiting "mercenaries". Of course, there is no difference in essence. Even if it is recruited cannon fodder, Ferdinand still has to pay the army, but it has more restrictions than recruiting "mercenaries".

The only difference is probably that the mercenaries are self-contained, while the cannon fodder troops recruited by Ferdinand are Bulgarian officers who are responsible for commanding them to fight!

In Kennedy's view, if Bulgaria can use two or three million "mercenaries", then with the population base of Bulgaria, it can also have the same number of troops as the British and French powers, which will also occupy a more favorable position in the distribution of interests after the war. !

At the same time, a large number of mercenaries were used. After the outbreak of the war, Bulgaria could reduce the number of mobilizations and maintain domestic industry and food production.

...

Although from the perspective of a single person, the price of introducing labor to Russia is not expensive, the agency fee paid is only 250 lev (about 10 pounds), the average travel fee is about 50 lev, and the job placement fee is about 200 lev. All these All in all, the cost of one laborer is only 500 levs.

In any case, the Bulgarian government pays them in advance, and it will be deducted from their wages in installments later, and there will be no losses. Therefore, before Bulgaria introduced a large number of Russian laborers, there was no pressure on the Ministry of Finance.

But now it's different. Before, they were brought in because of the lack of labor force in Bulgaria. There are a lot of jobs for them, but Ferdinand can't take so many jobs now!

If there are no jobs, then there will only be artificially created jobs, and this expenditure will be huge!

And no one knows when the European war broke out. If it drags on for three or five years, wouldn't the Bulgarian government have to find a way to support them for three to five years?

Aside from that, the intermediary fee in the early stage alone costs 10 pounds, and the intermediary fee for one million people is 10 million pounds.

According to Ferdinand's request, how could there be two or three million people in the end? This alone costs 20 to 30 million pounds, and don't expect to be able to recover the cost in the short term!

Ferdinand nodded, the number of young men needed this time was too large,

And the time is too tight, which is indeed a challenge to the finances of the Bulgarian government.

"Well, let's issue another construction bond, in the name of developing the Greek peninsula, to raise funds from all over the world. The focus of this bond issuance will be on Russia!"

After thinking about it, Kennedy smiled and said, "Okay, Your Majesty, the Treasury Department will estimate the funding gap as soon as possible."

There is no doubt that Kennedy thought that Ferdinand focused on selling bonds to the Russians in order to win over the financial circles and aristocrats in Russia and create a favorable political environment for the introduction of laborers.

Ferdinand knew that he had misunderstood, but he didn't explain it. He knew some things alone, and there was no need to say them.

"Don't make an assessment, directly issue 200 million pounds of bonds, use our tariff revenue as a guarantee, and the interest will follow international standards." Ferdinand said lightly.

The figure of "200 million pounds" terrified everyone. Now all countries are preparing for war, and a lot of money has been consumed in the military, but 200 million pounds can create a British Royal Navy! (Shipbuilding only)

Constantine said hesitantly: "Your Majesty, I am afraid this number will not be sold, and countries will think that we are raising military funds, this..."

Ferdinand smiled slightly and said, "Prime Minister, you are thinking too much, what if they know about it? Now everyone is raising military funds, we just do something obvious!

However, for the sake of convenience, the bonds can also be sold separately. It is good to announce 50 million pounds for the time being. However, there is no restriction on actual sales. The more the better! "

Anyway, the world war is about to break out, and Ferdinand is now holding on to making a fortune. Of course, the money will still be repaid in the future, but the premise is that these creditors are still there!

Needless to say about the Allies, once the war breaks out, the communication between the two sides will naturally be cut off. When the world war ends, I don’t know how many financial institutions have gone bankrupt, and I don’t know how many people’s debts have been destroyed in the war!

What's more, the bonds issued in Germany are marks, and the Krona is issued in Austria-Hungary. After the end of the World War, the currencies of these countries will become waste paper, and Bulgaria can easily pay off its debts!

It is a pity that the current international situation, the bonds issued by the Bulgarian government, I am afraid that it is difficult to sell in the Allied market, Ferdinand missed the opportunity to take advantage of the fire!

Although the Allies can't do it, isn't there still the Entente?

After the end of the First World War, the franc experienced a great devaluation, from the ratio of 1 pound ≈ 25 francs before the war, to 1 pound ≈ 240 francs in 1926.

This is the main reason why Ferdinand took out a loan from the French. Now the Bulgarian government owes the French a huge foreign debt of more than 7 billion francs, but after the end of the First World War, this debt will shrink rapidly with the devaluation of the franc!

Oh, in fact, the pound has also depreciated, but the British Empire is backed by gold from South Africa, and the depreciation is not that big!

As for the Russians, not to mention, when the tsarist government collapses, the ruble will be equivalent to waste paper. It is not too simple to pay off this debt?

It can be said that now is the golden time to borrow money! Ferdinand can now rely on borrowed money to reserve strategic supplies and enhance Bulgaria's war potential.

Anyway, no matter how high the interest of international borrowing is, it cannot compare with inflation. Now the Bulgarian government is heavily in debt, but after the end of the World War, the actual value of these debts may not even be one-tenth of what it was before the war!

...

After discussing the financial issue, Foreign Minister Metev suddenly said, "Your Majesty, the conditions for annexing the Greek peninsula are now ripe!"

Ferdinand was stunned for a moment, and asked reflexively, "Why?"

Originally, he planned to wait for the outbreak of the World War before annexing the Greek peninsula. When the two sides are fighting, naturally they will not care about the Greek peninsula!

Metev said confidently: "Your Majesty, there are now 400,000 to 500,000 Greeks left on the Greek peninsula, and our number of immigrants on the peninsula has already surpassed that of the Greeks. Even if we immediately announce the annexation of Greece, the Greeks will not be able to turn it over. There's a big wave!

And diplomatically, we have also obtained the understanding of the Allied countries, and with their support we will not be alone.

The strength of the Allies in the Near East is limited, and the only one capable of interfering is Italy, but as long as the Italians are not stupid, they will not go to war for the Greeks and us! "

After pondering for a while, Ferdinand finally resisted the temptation, shook his head and said, "No, we have to wait! Now let's increase the speed of immigration in Greece, we will pack up the Greeks and send them away. More appropriate in annexing the Greek peninsula!"

Anyway, the Greek peninsula is already the meat in the Bulgarian bowl. If you eat it later, you will not run away. What if you eat it hot now?

...