The Path to Mediterranean Supremacy/Bulgarian Empire

When he saw Ferdinand's anger, Lorun Kholman spoke up and said, "Your Highness, I can answer this question!"

"Oh, then Mr. Lorun just give me a reason!" Ferdinand said with a lack of temper.

Lorun Kholman didn't care about Ferdinand's mood and calmly said, "Your Highness, the railroad project has proceeded so far that we have actually done a lot more than the railroad itself!"

"Oh!" Ferdinand gave a somewhat surprised sigh.

Lorun Kholman continued, "We actually had to build the roads first along with the railroad. And of course there was the tendency to underestimate the difficulty of construction due to a lack of estimation of geographic conditions at the time! These conditions add up to the current labor shortage!"

Ferdinand realized it, and his face became normal as he calmly said, "I understand. What Mr. Lorun means is that in addition to the railroad project, we have added a road network to accompany it. Also isn't it true that the budget of ten million pounds will also be increased greatly?"

Lorun Kholman said bluntly, "Yes, Your Highness! It is estimated to increase by about fifty percent. Of course the cost could be lower if only temporary roads were built, but that would be rather inefficient."

Ferdinand, knowing the situation, instantly turned gloomy and said, "Hmm, well, I understand this matter. Thank you, Mr. Lorun, the Bulgarian people will not forget your painstaking efforts! The government will solve this problem as soon as possible. You can rest assured of the progress of the construction!"

"Yes, Your Highness, that's all I should do. Since there is nothing more for me to do here, I still have work to do on the construction site, so I will leave first." As if he could see that it was not appropriate for him to get involved in Ferdinand's next matter, Lorun Kholman chose to take his leave and leave.

After seeing Lorun Kholman leave, Ferdinand turned his gaze to Chekhov and Konstantin and asked, "What do you think?"

Chekhov shook his head to indicate no.

Konstantin thought about it and said, "How about we buy black slaves! Although there are some moral problems, but as long as we can ensure the smooth running of the railroad project, it is all worth it!"

Ferdinand rolled his eyes and thought: terrible idea. What era is still buying black slaves, which is too simple for Bulgaria's ethnic problems? Just look at the skin color to know that a hundred years later, there is no way they can assimilate it.

It seems that he also sensed something wrong. Konstantin said sarcastically, "Oh, this doesn't seem to work, the price of black slaves is too high!"

Ferdinand almost burst out laughing, so all he knows is money!

After half a second, Ferdinand cleared his mind and said: "Since we do not have enough labor in Bulgaria, we will target outside the country! We can bring in our neighbors. We can also go to the world's most populous countries to find them! But two principles must be ensured: firstly, no nationalists, and secondly, no zealous fanatics!"

Both Chekhov and Konstantin realized that the Bulgarian factories were springing up. The government was investing heavily in infrastructure construction, and there was a natural lack of labor in the country, and it raised workers' wages.

But other countries have, ah, the Balkan countries are not very populous, and the free labor force is estimated to be small, but there are many other regions around the world.

The distant Manchu is too far away. In addition to Ferdinand's guess, it is estimated that not many people will feel that they have the best use of workers there.

The Eastern European region alone, with the Russian and Austro-Hungarian labor force, is greatly abundant. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are deported and emigrate to America. If only half of them could come to Bulgaria, it would be enough.

At this point, Ferdinand thought of another way to increase the population and said happily, "By the way, Chekhov, your Ministry of Education has something to do again. We still need some teachers of languages."

"For foreign workers, the basic wage is set to be a little lower than the national workers. If one learns the Bulgarian language, add a part of it, and if one is willing to join Bulgaria then it is the same as the national workers."

Chekhov asked in wonder: "Your Highness, does this not increase the expenses? And if the work is completed later, if they turn back and leave Bulgaria, aren't we working in vain?"

Konstantin had the same expression, obviously not understanding Ferdinand's suggestion.

Ferdinand smiled and said, "I don't intend to let them all stay either. There are bound to be people who will leave. Now that the economy of Bulgaria, although not as good as the Western European region, it is better than our neighbors in any case!"

"Also, our construction is going to be completed in the short term. We are going to face a lack of labor for at least the next ten years. If they stay in Bulgaria for a few years, many of them will choose to stay!"

Konstantin suddenly remembered something and looked at Ferdinand with surprise and said, "Your Highness, is the plan to deal with the national problem by economic means?"

When he saw that Konstantin saw it, Ferdinand did not deny it and said with a smile, "Not bad, this is just an experiment. It is good if it succeeds, but it does not matter if it fails, it is just an additional expense. As long as one tenth of the people stay, we are not losing!"

A phrase is given from above, and the bottom runs out of legs¹The original line is "The above move the mouth, the following run off the legs." It means that a certain leader moved his mouth to issue an order, and his subordinate will work harder to achieve the target like crazy. Usually, the orders are the unrealistic target and the same kind.. Ferdinand has given a great strategy to choose from it. Even if it's done, he will continue to go and discuss life with the girls.

But the introduction of labor is definitely not as simple as one might think, and the number is still so huge. Even in those days, governments did not regulate the private sector closely enough to require a visa.

The effort required to get tens of thousands of people to travel to a foreign country alone is not small. There is also the meticulous organization of food, clothing, housing, and transportation all the way.

When Konstantin took over the task, the government ran around the matter and was so busy that it canceled many people's vacations.

Even the Ministry of Education, which has been relatively idle, has now started to go out in all directions to find teachers. The cultural level is no longer required, as long as they know a few more languages. Even so, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and it all depends on luck whether they can get enough.

Minister Metev, now in a bad mood. Since Ferdinand decided to bring in laborers, first, the government organized the recruitment of people, and at the end of the day, rogue capitalists joined in. There were all sorts of tricks and deceptions.

Austria-Hungary and Russia did not feel it yet, but the surrounding neighbors suffered first. Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, and the Ottoman embassies in Bulgaria, all sent to protest.

Fortunately, in this era, everyone does not care about the death of the poor, or diplomatic pressure alone can be enough to Ferdinand's headache.

Minister Metev had to apologize for the wrong side, plus a large amount of compensation to offer. After paying a lot of effort, it was barely settled, and now something has happened.