Mediterranean Hegemony Road

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St. Petersburg

Nicholas II was already a dying old man. Born in 1868, he was seven years younger than Ferdinand, but on the surface, he seemed to be twenty years older.

God seemed to have made a joke for him. His life was colorful in the first half of his life, but only tragedy remained in the second half of his life.

The mighty Russian Empire was in decline in his hands, and all the foreign wars he launched ended in failure. The domestic reform had just seen results, and his only son left him again.

The only good news is that little Aklesei left him a grandson who did not inherit his father's hemophilia and is still healthy at present, and this is his only spiritual support.

This is also what he envied Ferdinand the most. Since Boris gave birth to his first eldest grandson in 1930, Ferdinand's wife is now about to become a golden pot.

The next four sons also got married one after another. No matter how you look at it, future generations will be indispensable.

For the royal family, the more heirs, the better. As long as there is a choice, they will not let women inherit the family business, which means that the family is about to die out.

Unlike the prosperity of the Gotha dynasty, the Romanov dynasty is already thinly populated, women are not counted, and the only son of Nicholas II died.

Although he still has a younger brother, he can marry a widow who behaved badly because of his rebellion when he was young, and his next generation has lost his inheritance rights.

In this era, there is no DNA certification. As long as there is a suspicion of blood, it will be difficult to gain everyone's approval.

Unless Grand Duke Mikhail is divorced and takes a well-matched wife to give birth, he should not think about inheritance rights.

Not to mention the throne of the tsar, even the throne of Belarus, I don't know who will be cheaper in the future.

Grand Duke Mikhail himself succeeded to the throne, but he was resisted by the people. What kind of inheritance rights are his descendants talking about?

No matter how far away the offshoots are, they have already established themselves in Central Asia. Unless Nicholas II is crazy, they will not be considered.

There is no harm if there is no comparison. It is a pity that Nicholas II met Ferdinand. The two parties are not only relatives, but also neighbors, and they are brought out for comparison every now and then.

One is a positive example, and the other is a negative teaching material. The pressure on Nicholas II can be imagined.

He hasn't collapsed until now, which is already very difficult!

It has to be said that Nicholas II is considered a good man, and he did not reject Queen Alexandra Feodorovna because of hereditary hemophilia. Their relationship has always been very good.

"My dear, are you still sorry about little Alexei?" Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna asked softly.

"No, we have already expected this day, and it is also a good thing for little Akelesie to return to the embrace of the Lord as soon as possible.

Seeing him persist in living and suffering every day, I would rather he leave sooner! ’ said Nicholas II with a sigh.

"My dear, you must be strong. Little Alexei entrusted Alexander to us, and we will raise him!" Empress Alexandra Feodorovna said firmly

"I know all this, let's talk about some happy things! You know, Ferdinand is about to abdicate, and it seems that he is old too!" Nicholas II said sourly

If possible, he would rather be himself who abdicates now, provided that he has a qualified heir.

"Does this have anything to do with us? Even if Ferdinand abdicates, Bulgaria is in a position to do so!" Queen Alexandra Feodorovna asked suspiciously

"It doesn't matter. To be honest, he is really powerful. Even Alexander the Great cannot compare with him. It is a tragedy for us to be born in the same era as him!" Nicholas II sighed.

"Really, why don't I think? Do you men have to compare? Everyone is an ally or a relative. No matter how powerful Bulgaria is, it will not be harmful to Russia?" Empress Alexandra Feodorovna wondered explain

Is there really no harm? You must know that the development and growth of Bulgaria grew up by absorbing the blood of the Russian Empire all the way, but Ferdinand did a good job of saving face.

Everyone regards them as allies, and they all appear as allies of the Russian Empire from the beginning to the end, even if they are sucking blood from the Russian Empire.

It was also the Russians who took the initiative to run over to serve. The Russians affectionately call Bulgaria: the second motherland, and they have no sense of belonging to the enemy.

Understand that people do exist, but no one dares to tear this layer of window paper, because the consequences are too serious. Maybe if the window paper is broken, the two countries will really become one family.

Now the people at the bottom have recognized Bulgaria. There are too many Russian immigrants to Bulgaria. The two have been linked together by blood ties.

Now the biggest population flow between the two countries is visiting relatives. From the perspective of living standards, Bulgaria is much higher than Russia, and millions of people go to Bulgaria to work every year.

Whoever dares to destroy the relationship between the two countries is their enemy. This situation is not limited to the lower stratum, but the upper stratum is no exception.

The mine bosses are pointing at Bulgaria to make a fortune. Whoever dares to cut off their fortunes will die forever!

The cultural world is even more tragic. Who can tell them why the origin of Russian is Sofia? Why is there a lot of evidence that the cultures of the two countries come from the same source?

If Bulgaria lags behind, the Russians may still look down on that poor relative, but the current situation is just the opposite, and it is impossible not to face up to this problem!

Some media have conducted surveys, and if Russia conducts a referendum, the number of people in favor of merging with Bulgaria will already exceed six levels.

Of course, this is not universal. The media does not have the energy to do a nationwide survey. It is nothing more than a random check of a few points and calculated data.

This is the greatest pressure on the tsarist government. Today is different from the past. If the two countries merge now and the people vote with their toes, they will also support Ferdinand as emperor.

This is not only the result of Ferdinand's painstaking efforts, but also the result of Nicholas II being the tsar for so many years and the deteriorating reality of the Russian Empire.

...

"Your Majesty, the Bulgarian government is urging money again!" said the Minister of Finance in embarrassment

There is no way, the international debt can not be repaid, and the creditor can't eat them, but Bulgaria's loan is different, it has collateral.

Refusal to repay is fine, but the collateral will be confiscated. It is only natural to repay the debt. Now that the debt cannot be repaid, everyone knows that there is nothing wrong with taking away the collateral!

"How much money do we have financially?" Nicholas II asked with concern

"There are still 180 million new rubles, but none of this money can be used, and it must be used to maintain the normal operation of the government!" The Minister of Finance replied

Nicholas II frowned. Before the economic crisis broke out, their biggest income was the export of raw materials, and the second was the export of some agricultural products from the Baltic Sea to Germany.

After the outbreak of the economic crisis, all agricultural products exported to Germany were unsalable, and Bulgaria also reduced its imports of mineral resources from Russia.

The sharp drop in export trade was immediately fed back to the domestic economy. Fortunately, the mine owners were at risk of reducing production, and the farmers were miserable. They lost all their money.

Grain cannot be sold overseas, and it hits the domestic market, making life difficult for farmers.

Today's Russian peasants are no longer ordinary peasants, they no longer belong to the exploited class.

They are basically military nobles now, and they are also the largest support group of Nicholas II. Their interests must be guaranteed.

So the tsarist government exempted them from taxes, the government's fiscal revenue plummeted, and the government had no money to pay off its debts.

"Can you think of a way to raise a sum of money to repay Bulgaria's debt first?" Nicholas II asked expectantly

"Your Majesty, Bulgaria's debt is not a small amount. Even if it was repaid last year, this year's debt will soon be due again. This has exceeded our financial capacity!" The Minister of Finance explained

The meaning behind the words is to sell the land as soon as possible. As long as Ukraine is sold, everything will be easy to talk about. Not to mention Bulgaria's debts, even international debts can be repaid in sevens and eighties.

The benefits are touching. Now that the economic crisis has broken out, the life of the major mine owners is not easy. Not only the purchase volume has dropped, but the transaction price has also plummeted.

These ministers of Nicholas II also suffered heavy losses. At this time, they did not hesitate to accept the goodwill of the Bulgarian government for their own benefit.

Of course, receiving gifts does not exist. Now that Nicholas II is catching economic crimes, he is also very strict. Of course, these ministers have also evolved to a higher level.

For example: there is a Bulgarian company that is willing to underwrite their mined mineral resources, and the price is very favorable.

This profit is much better than the gifts given by the gods, and it is much more hidden. They are already full in secret, and they have become unselfish and honest officials on the surface.

Therefore, Nicholas II's hijab anti-corruption storm has achieved remarkable results. The high-level nobles have cooperated one after another, as if their moral cultivation has suddenly improved by N levels at this moment!

The problem of bureaucracy that had plagued the tsarist government for hundreds of years was finally effectively curbed by the generation of Nicholas II.

It is impossible to eradicate it naturally. Corrupt officials exist in any country. After all, not everyone has a mine at home, and they have already made enough money from the outside.

"Your Majesty, Cappus is right, with our current financial capacity, there is really no way to bear such a high debt.

You know, now our annual payment to Bulgaria alone has exceeded 1.8 billion new rubles, accounting for 42% of our fiscal revenue! "The Prime Minister hastily echoed

(Remarks: New Ruble and Lev are equivalent, 1 New Ruble ≈ 0.29 grams of gold)

"What are you going to do? Do you want to renege on your debts, or do you want to give up Ukraine?" Nicholas II asked with a frown

He is still satisfied with the current cabinet. After being a tsar for so many years, this cabinet is the most reliable, free from corruption and bribery, and governing the country in a decent manner.

The only thing that bothers him is that these guys are all overseas students returning from Bulgaria. In short, they are the so-called pro-protectionists.

Despite some dissatisfaction, Nicholas II had to admit it, because the overseas students who came back from Bulgaria were more reliable, and most of them had learned their skills.

It is much easier to use than the international students who came back from France. French international students may not have learned knowledge, but they must have learned to demonstrate!

Compared with those who may evolve into a revolutionary party at any time, Nicholas II finally made the right choice. The pro-protectors should be the pro-protectors. Reliability is the first.

Bulgarian schools will hand over everything, except how these people rebelled against the king. This can stand the test, and unless it is a small group that specializes in exporting revolution, it will not be accessible.

Although all kinds of messy ideological propaganda programs appeared in bookstores in a grand manner, except for the foreign students who were surprised, most of the local people would not care.

This is the self-confidence of Ferdinand, as well as the self-confidence of the Bulgarian people. They think that the current model is the best, and dismiss other theoretical ideas.

"Okay then, send someone to negotiate with Bulgaria and see if you can give it a little more time. If it doesn't work, then sell the Ukrainian region!" Nicholas II said wearily

He is really old. Perhaps judging from his age, he is still young and is in the golden stage of a politician.

The problem is that his heart is old, and he has lost the original fighting spirit. Now his goal is to raise his grandson and pass on the Russian Empire to him.

For this reason, he does not mind making a series of compromises. Anyway, only Russia belonging to the Romanov dynasty is his Russia.

"Yes, Your Majesty! We will try our best to fight for the best interests of Russia!" The Prime Minister replied

Over time, the power of Nicholas II was inevitably weakened, and the power of the cabinet became more and more powerful.

But it does not affect in any way the confidence he has in this cabinet government, which they have all built up over time.

These people are all staunch constitutional monarchists. Their political philosophy is to learn from the Bulgarian model and copy the Bulgarian political system.

This is all within the acceptable range of Nicholas II. If he dies early, then the young tsar still needs the cabinet to assist him?

You must know that because of his health, little Akelesi naturally couldn't find a wife who was well-matched, and the aristocrats also have the arrogance of the great aristocrats, and they would not report to the Tsar's thigh.

Of course, the most crucial few years ago was that the tsarist government had a hard time, and it was possible to play around at any time. Such a political marriage was of no value at all.

Therefore, little Alexander's biological mother's status was a few grades lower, and she was just from an ordinary noble family in the Russian Empire.

These backgrounds made it impossible for her to assist the government as the Queen Mother. Nicholas II must ensure that the members of the cabinet must be reliable.

Under this premise, everything else is negotiable. But the current cabinet is performing very well, with good ability, good personal conduct, and good moral cultivation.

This is very rare. You must know that Nicholas II has changed so many cabinets in his life, and the current one is the most moral one. It doesn't look like he is bullying the young master.

Well, Nicholas II's eyesight has never been very good, and now he has made great progress. This cabinet government is not bad, at least he knows how to pay attention to his appearance!

...