Mediterranean Hegemony Road

"Food is food to safety first!"

Solving the problem of food safety, on the surface, is to crack down on unscrupulous businessmen and provide the basis for the development of monopoly.

Only Ferdinand himself knew that the deeper reason was to accelerate population growth. A country with a population of more than three million cannot become a strong country.

Although no one has counted it, Ferdinand can be sure that the Bulgarians distributed all over the world, even if they are added together, will definitely not exceed 10 million. In the entire Balkan region, the current Bulgarian population is roughly in the range of 6 million to 8 million.

Compared with the European powers, in the same period: France has a population of more than 38 million, Germany has a population of nearly 50 million, and the bear has a population of 120 million. The population of Bulgaria is only 3.5 million, which is not enough to be one tenth of that of the great powers.

Therefore, the population problem is the most serious core problem for Bulgaria to develop and grow in the future. To Ferdinand, every Bulgarian was precious.

How to increase the population, Ferdinand thought for a long time, and conducted a field investigation on Bulgaria.

Due to the stability of the situation, the rapid development of the domestic economy and the stable life of the people, Bulgaria's birth rate has greatly increased.

The birth rate of Bulgaria in 1885 was 4.07%, and in 1889 the birth rate had gradually risen to 4.25%; from the statistics of the first half of the year, it can be optimistically estimated that the birth rate in 1890 will be between 4.36% and 4.39%.

The Bulgarian population mortality rate: 2.65% in 1885; 2.78% in 1889 (including secret executions); 1.01% in the first half of 1890 (excluding migrant workers).

From the current situation, Bulgarian folk customs are relatively conservative. The enthusiasm for having children is still very high, as long as the economic conditions allow, everyone is still willing to raise a few more.

Ferdinand knew that this data still has great potential to be tapped. Compared with Russia at the same time, the birth rate of the population was 5.29% in 1864, and it has maintained a birth rate of about 5% for many years, which is far worse.

The same is true for the death rate. Compared with the great powers, Britain and France are basically controlled at about 2%. If the casualties of the maintainers of the colonies are not considered, this number is even lower.

However, the survival rate of babies, Ferdinand can hardly believe the survey data (the author can't believe it either). Not too low, but too high.

Statistics are based on the survival rate of infants who survived one year old. In 1889, the Bulgarian infant survival rate was 85.7%; while the same period: Austrian murder was 74.4%, France was 82.6%, and Germany was 77.4%. The countries with the highest survival rates are Ireland and Norway, both exceeding 90 percent.

Ferdinand before the crossing did not believe that these data were true, but after the actual statistics in Bulgaria, he had to accept this fact. (The above data comes from the Palgray Statistical Chronology)

There is no good way for traversers to increase the population, except to encourage fertility. Ferdinand didn't study medicine in his previous life, so he couldn't get involved in medical treatment.

The medical talents are still studying in school. To improve the medical level in Bulgaria in the short term, Ferdinand said that the traveler is not omnipotent, and he is really powerless.

Before Ferdinand's crossing, the population of many areas entered negative growth, and many people were not interested in having children. There is only one group that is flocking to it.

In the Royal Palace of Sofia, the Minister of Agriculture James Pedinov was caught by Ferdinand and sprayed: "This is the result of your Ministry of Agriculture, the work of the past two years?? Idiot, rice bucket..."

James Pedinov looked at the furious Ferdinand and thought: "No problem, isn't it always like this! Why is the Archduke so angry today,

not..."

Fortunately, Ferdinand did not know what James was thinking, otherwise the consequences would be unpredictable. Looking at the documents lying on the ground, and looking at James with a blank face, Ferdinand just suppressed his anger and came out again.

He scolded sharply: "Humph! James, you idiot! I ask you, what did you do with the money allocated to your Ministry of Agriculture?"

James is about to break out in a cold sweat now, and he said nervously: "Your Excellency, some of them are used to promote new technologies, and most of the funds are directly allocated to the local government to increase food production!"

Ferdinand sneered and said, "Hehe, James, you idiot, apart from promoting new technologies, does your Ministry of Agriculture have any achievements? Funding is allocated to the localities, and then? Is it for the construction of water conservancy projects, or for the transformation of agricultural industrialization? "

"None! Look at what's written on it? Repair the rivers, strengthen the rivers? The Danube, the Maritsa, and the Struma, don't you know the geographical distribution of these rivers? What about Montana? , did the river flood the Stara Mountains?"

"You idiot, even if you want to manage the river, you still have financial allocations. Has there been any report from the local government? The funds for the construction of water conservancy projects have been swallowed up like this. What's even more ridiculous is that my Minister of Agriculture came out to endorse the worms below. !"

Hearing this, James was already in a cold sweat. He didn't even notice such an obvious problem, and only treated it as a routine. The report below was approved directly without verification, and millions of levs of huge sums of money were wasted by myself.

James said tremblingly, "Your Excellency the Grand Duke, this is my dereliction of duty! Please relieve me of my duty!" After speaking, James breathed a sigh of relief.

Originally, a member of his cabinet did not have much real power. Ferdinand did not let him be responsible for other work except the Ministry of Agriculture. James was still a little dissatisfied. Now, there is only happiness left, "It turns out that I am really a waste!"

Ferdinand looked at the decadent James and knew what had happened just now, which hit him a little bit. After all, he was less than thirty years old and could not bear such a lot of pressure.

He has already decided to retire, but Ferdinand can't let James resign now. He is not Emperor Chongzhen, and changing the cabinet can be like a revolving lantern.

A cabinet has been dismissed, and it has only been a few months. As long as there are no major problems, Ferdinand does not intend to replace the new cabinet until the election of the new cabinet.

"Forget it, it seems that the Ministry of Agriculture is not suitable for you. It just so happens that the government is going to set up a Ministry of Information. I heard that you used to be a propagandist, and your professional counterpart should be a minister in the past!" Ferdinand comforted.

James looked at Ferdinand gratefully. He knew that this was to take care of his face. The main task of the News Department was to supervise newspapers. His minister is a dispensable existence, and everything is done according to the regulations, which is basically an idle job.

After thinking about it, James' book business burst into anger and said excitedly: "Your Excellency, Grand Duke, I'm really not suitable for politics, and Bulgarian University is more suitable for me. Pass on my agricultural knowledge to the next generation, or do scientific research, would make more sense!"

Ferdinand looked at the angry young James, and said helplessly: "Okay! You can go if you want. It happens that Bulgaria also lacks agricultural experts. The position of the cabinet is reserved for time, you can't put it away. Treat yourself as an ordinary scientific researcher, organize scientific research teams, and go deep into the countryside for on-the-spot investigation and research! I hope you will contribute to the development of Bulgaria in the field of scientific research!”

"Yes, Your Excellency, don't worry, I swear in the name of God, I will work hard!" James said excitedly