Chapter 521 Private Subsidies
Although Brusinov has no evidence, Brusinov does not believe that the coup in Sofia has nothing to do with Germany.
In the Sofia coup, a total of four cabinet members died, including the prime minister. All four of them were pro-Russian.
The Bulgarian Army Minister Soltesky graduated from the Nikolay Cavalry School. When the coup occurred, Soltesky was a guest at the home of Archbishop August. With the help of Peterkov, Soltysky Erteski escaped to the military camp outside the city and survived.
After Demit arrived in Sofia, Soltesky commanded the Bulgarian army controlled by the pro-Russian faction, and cooperated with the Guards Cavalry to retake Sofia, and his performance was quite satisfactory.
However, this cannot cover up Soltesky's incompetence. As Minister of War, Soltesky failed to completely control Sofia, nor could he command the troops to counter the rebellion as soon as it occurred. His ability was worrying.
Brushinov did not go directly to the German Embassy to ask for someone. The most important thing at the moment is to find a qualified new prime minister.
For the Russian Empire, the new prime minister must not only have a firm stance, but also be capable enough to deal with the complex situation in the Kingdom of Bulgaria.
The Kingdom of Bulgaria is also facing internal and external troubles. Not only does it have disputes with the Kingdom of Romania, but it also has a bad relationship with the Kingdom of Serbia. It is also on the front line of defense against the Ottoman Empire.
The internal situation is more complicated. After Valdemar introduced German power, although the Russian Empire was no longer a dominant power, Sofia was completely divided.
Although Dimitrov, the current interim prime minister, was born in Sofia, he was educated in the UK and graduated from the law department of Oxford University. His wife is German and has an equally complex background.
After the Guards Cavalry took over Sofia, Dimitrov immediately approached Demit and asked the Guards Cavalry to withdraw from Sofia and not interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Bulgaria.
“This person is either a German bastard or a British spy and cannot be trusted.”
Dmit is very dissatisfied with Dimitrov and the current situation in the Kingdom of Bulgaria Very detrimental to the Russian Empire.
“Is there no one in Sofia who is worthy of our trust?”
Brusinov also had a headache. The Kingdom of Bulgaria had always been considered the sphere of influence of the Russian Empire. How come it had only been a few years, and rebels were everywhere.
There are still capable people. Edward Wemel, stationed on the border between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Bulgaria, has strict military management and outstanding abilities, but he is a German.
There are people who can be trusted, but for someone like Soltysky to serve as prime minister, it will be a huge disaster for both the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Russian Empire.
In fact, the root cause still lies with Valdemar. If Valdemar can keep his peace, then many problems will be solved.
George hopes Valdemar will understand that his throne does not come from his own ability, but from the support of the Russian Empire.
In other words, since the Russian Empire can make him the Grand Duke of Bulgaria, it can also make him abdicate in favor of someone more worthy.
On August 15, news came from Sofia that the new Bulgarian Parliament was discussing a constitutional monarchy.
Prior to this, Valdemar was preparing to upgrade his title of Grand Duke to Tsar.
If the Kingdom of Bulgaria decides to implement a constitutional monarchy, Valdemar's power will be greatly restricted.
“This is not true, this is impossible!”
Valdemar roared like crazy, unable to accept this fact.
"Nothing is impossible. The empire has promulgated the Basic Law and is preparing for the establishment of a constitution."
George is indifferent. Through Anne, George already knows Alex's attitude.
Alex really loved Valdemar's younger brother.
But Alex's love for Valdemar has not yet surpassed Alexei's.
Alexei is the imperial prince and future tsar.
If Valdemar actively moves closer to Germany, the Kingdom of Bulgaria will become a thorn in the side of Germany in the Balkan hinterland, and the influence of the Russian Empire in the Balkans will be greatly weakened.
So Alex’s support for Valdemar was not as much as the outside world imagined.
After knowing Alex’s true attitude towards Valdemar, George’s affection for Alex instantly increased to a new level.
Alex does have many shortcomings, but on this issue of principle, Alex is actually more determined than Nicholas.
George now finally knows why Emperor Ye became the emperor.
"Nikki, I must return to Sofia right away, right now!"
Valdemar didn't have much respect for Nikolai, and he didn't even call him brother-in-law.
"Joseph, Sofia is not safe now."
Nicholas refused to let Valdemar leave.
"Didn't the Guards already control Sofia? Sofia is safe now."
Valdemar was confident.
Little Nicholas winked wildly at George and told him to go.
Valdemar probably felt that since it was the Russian Guards that controlled Sofia, then whenever his safety was threatened, the responsibility lay with the Russian Guards.
That’s true.
But if you die, even if you hold the Guards responsible, can you survive?
Nicola also looked at George.
Okay!
It’s hard to persuade the damn devil with good words. George is not the evil person.
Valdemar couldn't wait and took a train to Germany that night, probably to seek help from Wilhelm II.
George is very worried about the Kingdom of Bulgaria. With such a grand duke, the Bulgarians' suffering has just begun.
But George has no right to worry about the Bulgarians, and the Russian Empire is not much better. This spring, the Russian Empire recruited 200,000 new soldiers according to George's plan.
After the disarmament last winter, nearly 200,000 Russian troops retired this autumn.
Instead of retiring, he became an engineer and went to Siberia to continue building houses.
This summer, 150 new towns were built in Siberia, which can accommodate approximately 150,000 people.
Stolypin makes full use of the transportation capacity of the Siberian Railway, and various material resources from the Amur and Russian-European regions continue to arrive in Siberia, providing strong logistical support for the development of Siberia.
In order to resettle these retired soldiers, the Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs used the Siberian Railway east of Lake Baikal as collateral and borrowed 250 million rubles from the Bank of Siberia.
This loan was contacted by George on the condition that the Ministry of Interior agreed to the new version of the naval reform plan proposed by George.
Alexey's naval reconstruction plan is flashy and completely inconsistent with George's requirements.
Based on the actual situation of the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet, George significantly modified Alexei's plan, and proposed a new version of the plan based on the destroyer fleet and submarine force, supplemented by naval aviation and the Marine Corps.
Alexei's plan is still to attack, so he has to spend huge sums of money to build a full-heavy artillery battleship.
The core of George is actually offense, but the focus is on land, and the fleet is only used for defense.
Battleships cannot go ashore, but naval aviation and marines can.
If not for Nikolai's strong opposition, George even wanted to sell the two battleships that Japan had lost to the Russian Empire to see if there was anyone willing to take over.
The Marine Corps is easy to say, and there are as many Cossacks as you want.
The cost of establishing a naval aviation force is not much less than that of a fully heavy artillery battleship.
George is the Minister of the Navy. It is definitely much cheaper for the Navy Department to purchase aircraft than to sell them to Americans.
The price quoted by the Vladivostok Aviation Manufacturing Company to the Navy is 150,000 for fighter jets and 350,000 for transport aircraft.
George requested to order 100 fighter jets and 25 transport aircraft from Vladivostok, with a total investment of 35 million rubles including airport construction.
Stolypin disagreed, believing that the price offered by Vladivostok Aviation Manufacturing Company was too high.
The Vladivostok Aviation Manufacturing Company belongs to George, and George knows very well whether the price is high or not.
The lawsuit eventually reached Nikolai.
“150,000, is it so cheap?”
Nicholas almost pissed Stolypin to death.
Nikola's cost of aircraft is still at the stage when he and George developed the aircraft.
When Nikolai and George developed the aircraft, they had nothing. The cost of making it by hand would not go directly up to the sky.
Now that aircraft have been industrialized, the cost will become lower and lower in the future.
"The price quoted by Vladivostok Aviation Manufacturing Company to the Americans is 1.5 million rubles——"
George did not exaggerate, it was indeed 1.5 million.
After Captain Schenkov piloted the "Eagle" fighter jet to successfully land on the "Victory" seaplane carrier, a U.S. Navy pilot also piloted a plane to successfully land on the warship. The Navy has officially entered the 3D era.
Although Americans have no R&D capabilities, they are still very capable of copycats. The aircraft sold to Americans are all one-time purchases. Vladivostok Aviation Manufacturing Company not only offers a price of 1.5 million, but also orders at least 50 aircraft at a time, otherwise No discussion.
"Only an upstart like the United States will accept your blackmail!"
Storypin now looks at George's face, which is unprecedentedly ugly.
"Then do you want to accept it?"
George does not think this is blackmail. The United States bought Alaska for $7.2 million, which is also taking advantage of the situation.
There is an American in the first grade of junior high school, and there is a fifteenth grade in the Russian Empire.
"Your Majesty, I now have reasonable suspicion that Grand Duke Yuriev is using his power for personal gain——"
Stolypin was furious.
“Your suspicion is not reasonable at all!”
George shouted loudly, I just use power for personal gain, what can you do.
"George——"
Nicholas was afraid that George would piss Stolypin to death. It was hard to find such a capable and loyal person.
"Peter, I saw George's plan. It's not excessive. It's very reasonable. The empire really needs to build a naval aviation force."
Nicholas didn't care at all whether George was using his power for personal gain.
When Vladimir and Alexei were ministers of the navy, they went even further than George.
Nikolai could even tolerate Vladimir and Alexei, and George was a saint compared to those two.
"I know that the empire's finances are tight - how about I pay half of the money?"
The level of Nikolai and Xini has reached a new level.
(End of this chapter)