The Path to Mediterranean Supremacy/Bulgarian Empire

Another year has passed, and we have entered the year 1894.

This year, the world was shocked by the outbreak of the 'Sino-Japanese War' the Japanese have perfectly started the road of invasion and finally joined the ranks of the Great Powers.

This incident, which has little to do with Bulgaria, is too far away from it, beyond the whip's reach. Ferdinand can do nothing about it except for a long sigh. The traverser is not omnipotent.

Was he still busy preparing for his big wedding? A royal wedding is not a trivial matter. Whether in the East or the West, there are tedious rituals.

This big wedding will undoubtedly make Ferdinand earn a lot of money again. Although Russia's finances are not rich, but the Tsar's family is definitely wealthy, and for the face of the aristocracy, the dowry is not tiny. Referring to the mother, Princess Clémentine, Ferdinand knew roughly.

The cost of the wedding, which is a political union, has been prepared by the cabinet. It does not need Ferdinand to worry about it.

In fact, the Bulgarian government attached much more importance to this wedding than Ferdinand. Profit is always the best catalyst, and with the Russian-Bulgarian alliance, the two countries economies are almost linked together, and both sides have gained!

In order to show the importance of this wedding, Ferdinand directly sent 20,000 of his troops as a bride's honor guard. No one in the cabinet has ever objected, although it did not use Ferdinand's prepared rhetoric!

Aleksandr III, who was already on the verge of dying, was in an unusually good mood these days, and the platoon Ferdinand put up was too much in line with his status.

A direct take out 20,000 troops as a guard of honor, the cost of such a big deal is not simple. Few in Europe can take it out! It is Ferdinand's power in Bulgaria, and the two sides are political marriage, so no one opposed.

It is not surprising that no one found out about Ferdinand's hidden purpose. If you are an average person, do not think Bulgaria would dare to play Russia, it is simply a fantasy!

Mariya Fyodorovna interrupted Aleksandr III's good mood and said with a frown: "My dear, it seems that we have not prepared enough before, at least the number of honor guard is too small, which will lose our face!"

After some thought, Aleksandr III said, "Of course! Don't worry, it won't happen! Since Ferdinand can even come up with 20,000 honor guard, let's just double it, we can't let people underestimate us anyhow!"

"But what about the cost? It's not a small figure?" Mariya Fyodorovna asked worriedly.

Aleksandr III smiled and said: "This is an opportunity, isn't it? We can take this opportunity to show the world the strength of the Russian Empire! How can we miss it when little Ferdinand knows how to take advantage of it?"

"A show of strength?" asked Mariya Fyodorovna.

Aleksandr III said with certainty: "That's right! I can bet that if the Bulgarian army performs well this time, the rest of Bulgaria's voice in the Balkans will be greatly increased!"

Empress Mariya Fyodorovna thought about it and frowned: "I didn't expect that there would be so many details about a wedding, which made me unhappy!"

Aleksandr III smiled, looked at Nikolai, who was in deep thought, and asked, "By the way, what do you think, Nikolai?"

Nikolai asked suspiciously, "It's time for the Russian Empire to show our strength to the outside world, especially to our ally France, on whom Germany is now putting a lot of pressure! But if we want to show our strength, why don't we make the scene a little bigger?"

Hearing Nikolai's words, Aleksandr III laughed aloud and said, "Good, Nikolai, you've grown up, but you're not mature enough politically! At this point, Ferdinand has done a good job! Think about what our purpose is?"

Nikolai was not yet a Tsar who was high and mighty and had not yet reached the point of being rigidly selfish. After thinking about it, he said, "I understand that the main purpose of this demonstration, apart from providing a morale boost to the French, is to deter the European countries, but it does not mean that we have to help the French receive the pressure from Germany!"

"That's right, we just need to deter Germany and just take the pressure off of France! There is no need to really start a war for an ally to dump the country and take revenge for them!!! Now Britain, Germany, Austria and Italy, are leaning on each other, which is very bad for our diplomacy!" Aleksandr III said in a serious voice.

"But what do we have to do with resisting the British, Germans, Austrians and Italians by doing this?" Nikolai asked, puzzled.

Aleksandr III rubbed his head and said helplessly, "Nikolai, you're still a failure in international diplomacy! Think about it, who else is more worried than our reluctance to see an alliance of four nations?"

"It's France!!!" Nikolai said without hesitation.

"That's right, after we relieve France of the pressure on the European continent, France will have the courage and strength to break up this unformed 'Four Power Alliance'!" said Aleksandr III with a sigh.

After hearing Aleksandr III's explanation, Nikolai deeply pondered how a small event in a wedding could involve such deep international diplomatic relations.

...

Leaving aside how Aleksandr III educated his son, Ferdinand's wedding went off without a hitch.

A huge army came to borrow the road in Romania. Luckily there is no 'fake road to conquer the Guo'¹This Chinese idiom meaning refers to the practice of destroying the other side by pretending to use a road. It means to borrow a road. Guo was a small state during the Spring and Autumn Period. The meaning is to use A as a springboard to destroy B. After achieving the goal, turn around and destroy A. in Europe. Otherwise, Carol I would not be able to sleep!

If they really come in one wave, Russia and Bulgaria's most elite 60,000 troops, enough to drink a pot of Romania. Of course, Ferdinand can only be a little dry. If you dare to do so in Europe, it will not give you a chance to live.

It was a good lesson for the Bulgarian Logistics Department to learn from this joint armed drill. Fortunately, it was only a march, and supplies were still barely available, and they could purchase the shortfall locally.

Ferdinand could have gone directly back to his home if it had been a war. Shortly after leaving Bulgaria, there was difficulty resupplying supplies due to the poor transportation conditions!

In fact, the behavior of the Bulgarian army has already caught the world's attention, with a neat and uniform formation and superb marching speed, all of which have refreshed the outside world's recognition!

Putting aside combat strength, in terms of discipline and marching, they at least surpassed the Russian army and won face for Ferdinand.

For the purpose of each, this wedding has begun to turn out to be something unique, both in scale and in class. Even a century later, they can still be a source of interest.

When he looks at the bill, Ferdinand's heart bleeds deeply. The wedding alone costs as much as two million Leva, and if this is counted in the armed training, it could not be done without five or six million Leva, which can make two dreadnoughts.

It would probably be harder to bear if the harvest were not equally impressive words to mend Ferdinand's wounded heart.

In politics, this marriage consolidated the Russian-Bulgarian alliance, and at the same time, it was a deterrent to the Balkan countries. At least Romania was hurt!!!

In economic terms, it deepened the civil exchange between the two countries, and Ferdinand personally profited a lot. In addition to a pile of valuable gifts, the dowry of Grand Duchess Xenia is the biggest. Despite the lack of real powers, the mineral resources of the Grand Duchess's fiefdom alone are beyond measure!

...