I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 184 The Grand Duke with Difficult Childbirth

Vladivostok's starting capital actually didn't have much money. The largest part of the expenditure was hiring workers from the Qing Empire.

This part of the expenditure does not exist in Bulgaria. In 1886, Bulgaria had a population of 300 million and did not need the import of foreign labor at all. The domestic population was completely sufficient.

But in other aspects, Bulgaria is far behind Vladivostok.

The same cannot be said for Bulgaria.

There are few places in the world that are richer in resources than Vladivostok.

Vladivostok needs forests, aquatic products, mines, land, strategic depth, and room for development. There are no surrounding countries that can threaten Vladivostok, and even population is not a problem for Vladivostok.

Although Vladivostok has a small population, the surrounding areas are densely populated countries. Even Korea has a population of more than 1100 million.

So Vladivostok stole some people from Korea and Japan, and the Korean and Japanese governments didn't care at all.

At the beginning of the year, the Japanese government protested to Vladivostok about illegal employment of labor from Japan and requested an explanation from Vladivostok.

George's reply was so violent that Mikhail simply did not respond, and the Japanese government did not continue to ask questions.

Strangely, the Japanese government did not prohibit Vladivostok from hiring workers from Japan, which surprised George.

Probably because Japanese people are not very valuable in the eyes of the Japanese government.

At least it's not worth it to have no contact with Vladivostok until death just because there are thousands of Japanese.

There were many things that surprised George.

Japan not only imports coal and wood from Vladivostok, but also imports various industrial products through Vladivostok, among which cosmetics are the largest.

After Ekaterina brought the car to France, the Japanese ambassador to France even ordered a car from Dolgorukov Company, without knowing who it was for.

It's definitely not him anyway.

In George's eyes, there is no need for Bulgaria to develop industry at all. It can just train its troops in various fields. The Russian Empire can provide the required industrial products, which are not only of good quality but also low in price, which is much more cost-effective than Bulgaria's own production.

So why did the Russian Empire give up such a good source of troops and a place for product dumping?
  I can't figure it out. I can't figure it out.

If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. George will definitely not make such a mistake.

Milyutin reorganized the Bulgarian Parliament at the same time.

George reorganized the Bulgarian army.

The Bulgarian army was formed with the help of the Russian Empire and consisted of only two divisions with a total strength of only 20,000 men.

The entire country of Bulgaria has only 300 million people. If there are too many troops, it will indeed not be able to support them.

What makes George angry is that the Russian Empire is actually responsible for the military expenditures of these two Bulgarian divisions.

It is known that Bulgaria gained its independent status with the help of Russia.

Even the army is supported by the Russian Empire.

Therefore, Bulgarian politicians actually want to break away from the Russian Empire and seek other international protection.

George didn't even know how to evaluate it.

The two Bulgarian divisions actually had some officers from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

George immediately terminated the employment contracts with these foreign officers and expelled them from the army.

In this day and age, there are no liquidated damages, which is great.

After expelling the foreign officers, George smoothly transferred all the officers from the Russian Empire back to Russia, handed over all the officers who had become Bulgarian citizens to the Bulgarian Parliament for separate arrangements, and then transferred some officers and non-commissioned officers from the Oak Regiment to supplement them, and all the officers Replace it with one of your own.

After completing these tasks, George began to reorganize the two divisions, merging the two divisions into one division, reducing the strength to 1.5 people, and in accordance with the custom of the Russian Empire, named this division the Sophia Division.

George did not waste the remaining 5000 people. He organized them into three border defense regiments and asked them to guard the border.

After completing these tasks, the time has come to September. According to the practice of previous years, the Rivne exercise will begin again.

This year, due to the heavy responsibilities of the Oak Regiment, the Tsar specifically approved the Oak Regiment to no longer participate in the Rivno exercises. The generals of the Guards were very happy, especially Brusinov.

After years of training, Brusinov has become a representative of the new generation of generals in the Russian Empire.

George is not counted. He is now the commander-in-chief of the Amur Military District and has surpassed the category of general.

The division commander of the Sophia Division is temporarily held by George himself.

The Bulgarian Parliament therefore awarded George the rank of general, and Clement even intended to appoint George as Minister of War.

General is okay.

Forget it, Minister of War, George does not want to stay in Bulgaria for the rest of his life.

During this time, Clemont was busy looking for a new Grand Duke for Bulgaria.

George was not satisfied with Clemont's work because the Bulgarian government had not yet dealt with the Liberals.

The key is not knowing how to deal with it.

Alexander's deposedness aroused widespread international attention, especially the reaction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the strongest. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had previously reached an agreement with Bulgaria. As long as Bulgaria declared complete independence from the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would completely annex Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Now that Alexander was deposed, the agreement between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bulgaria was naturally abolished, which made the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I very angry.

German Emperor William I was also very angry. He believed that the coup in Bulgaria destroyed the agreement reached by various countries at the Berlin Conference, so Germany and Austria-Hungary joined forces to put pressure on the Russian Empire and demanded that the Russian Empire withdraw its troops stationed in Bulgaria. Interfere in Bulgaria’s internal affairs again.

Yasan, who had already secured his position as tsar, finally became tougher. He decisively rejected the demands of Germany and Austria-Hungary and attributed the coup in Bulgaria to a spontaneous act of the Bulgarian army and had nothing to do with the Russian Empire.

This explanation was unacceptable to William I and Franz Joseph I.

Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Bulgaria all have diplomatic relations. There are officials from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Sofia. They know very well who initiated the coup.

The turnaround came from a statement from the Bulgarian Parliament.

The Bulgarian Parliament stated that the coup in Sofia was initiated by the Liberals. The Russian Empire's military garrison in Bulgaria not only did not participate, but instead quelled the military coup and safeguarded Bulgaria's interests.

The death of Grand Duke Alexander was naturally caused by the Liberals.

The Bulgarian government is interrogating the arrested Liberals and will release the facts once they are sorted out.

This explanation was also unacceptable to William I and Franz Joseph I.

But even the victim has said this, so what if he doesn’t accept it?

Did he declare war on Russia because of the dead Grand Duke Alexander?

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

Archduke Alexander was not that important to Germany and Austria-Hungary, and was not irreplaceable.

Not only is it unimportant, Germany and Austria-Hungary must also actively participate in the next election of the Bulgarian Parliament.

Grand Duke Alexander is dead.

People cannot be resurrected from the dead.

The country cannot be left without a master for a day, so the Bulgarian Parliament must choose a new Grand Duke for Bulgaria.

If they fall out with Bulgaria at this time, then Bulgaria's next Grand Duke will have nothing to do with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Although I said this, what happened next was also very troublesome.

The last Grand Duke of Bulgaria died in a coup, and his death was unclear.

Now it is obvious that Bulgaria is a big trap. Those idle European grand dukes who may be selected are in panic all the time. They do not want to go to Bulgaria to become grand dukes.

If you go to Bulgaria to become a Grand Duke, not only will you not enjoy the glory that a Grand Duke deserves, but your life may be in danger. Who the hell would dare to go?

Not to mention being a Grand Duke, even if it were to become a Tsar directly, no one would be willing to go.

Clemont was also a wonderful person. The first candidate for the Bulgarian Parliament was actually Archduke Otto Franz, the grandson of Archduke Carl Ludwig, the younger brother of Franz Joseph I.

Archduke Otto Franz said to you, "I still want to live for a few more years, and I don't want to go to Bulgaria to be the Grand Duke."

So the Bulgarian Parliament proposed again, hoping to make Prince Heinrich, the grandson of William I, the Grand Duke of Bulgaria.

Heinrich said that I should stay in Germany and be an idle prince, and I have no interest in the Grand Duke of Bulgaria.

In early September, the Bulgarian Parliament proposed that it would allow the Russian Empire’s Super Duke Yurievsky to come to Bulgaria to become the Grand Duke.

Before George could refuse, Germany and Austria-Hungary refused for George.

The Russian Empire promised at the Berlin Conference that it would not interfere in the election of a Grand Duke in Bulgaria, nor would it allow nobles from the Russian Empire to become Grand Dukes in Bulgaria.

Otherwise, Alexander would have never had a chance.

This will be troublesome.

The candidates proposed by the Bulgarian Parliament were either not agreed by the parties concerned or by Germany and Austria-Hungary.

What should I do?
  We can't let the Emperor of Germany and the Emperor of Austria-Hungary come to Bulgaria to become Grand Dukes.

William I and Franz Joseph I knew exactly what the Bulgarian Parliament meant.

The three candidates proposed by the Bulgarian Parliament have no possibility of serving as the Grand Duke of Bulgaria. There are so many idle princes in Europe. If the Bulgarian Parliament really wants to find someone, it will not be unable to find a suitable candidate.

After all, Joseph I was still not as calm as William I. At the end of September, Joseph I proposed that Prince Ferdinand of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Kohari family could serve as the Grand Duke of Bulgaria.

This time it was finally the turn of the Russian Empire to object.

Why, the Russian Empire can’t interfere in Bulgaria’s internal affairs, but your Austro-Hungarian Empire can?

For the same reason, William I was not qualified to make any suggestions to the Bulgarian Parliament on the selection of the Bulgarian Grand Duke.

Not only did the Tsar disagree with letting Ferdinand become the Grand Duke of Bulgaria, but the European grandmother in England also disagreed.

Grandmother's assessment of Ferdinand was that he was completely unsuitable - fragile, eccentric and effeminate - and should be stopped immediately.

　Brothers, I am positive again~~~
  　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)