Chapter 552: Stand in line ahead of time
In order to go to Rivne as soon as possible, Brusinov must complete his work as soon as possible.
The so-called "little temple demons are big" refers to a country like the Kingdom of Bulgaria, with a mere 4.4 million people and 165 members of Congress, which perfectly explains what Chi Qian bastards are.
After Augustus returned to Sofia, he immediately began to reform the national parliament.
The Bulgarian Parliament was established earlier than the Kingdom of Bulgaria. Other countries have a country first and then a parliament. The Kingdom of Bulgaria has a parliament first and then a country. Therefore, the power of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Bulgaria is greater than that of the king. Much bigger.
The archbishop was not very good at politics and could not customize an electoral plan for the Kingdom of Bulgaria, so he copied it entirely from the Russian Empire and formed a new parliament according to the electoral method of the Russian State Duma.
The reason for re-election is because the Kingdom of Bulgaria lost Southern Dobroga, annexed Western Thrace, and the population increased from 4.4 million to 6.5 million. Re-election is necessary.
Referring to Russian election law, in the Kingdom of Bulgaria only adult males have the right to vote, and there are property requirements. Employees, day laborers, women, soldiers, students, and people under the age of 25 do not have the right to vote.
All voters were divided into four electoral groups, namely: landowners, citizens, farmers, and workers.
The standard for selecting members is: every two thousand landowners, four thousand citizens, thirty thousand farmers, or ninety thousand workers.
The MPs elected through this standard are provincial MPs. After each provincial assembly is elected, national MPs will be elected again on this basis.
August’s idea is a good one.
But the situation in the Russian Empire does not apply to the Kingdom of Bulgaria.
If this standard is strictly followed, the Kingdom of Bulgaria can only produce a maximum of 21 national parliamentarians.
This is normal.
The fourth Russian State Duma, which was launched this year, has only 465 people in total.
This is based on the premise that Stolypin's agricultural reforms were very effective and the number of rich farmers in Russia increased significantly.
The land annexation situation in the Kingdom of Bulgaria is very serious. More than 80% of the country's land is concentrated in the hands of the six most powerful families. The former King Valdemar holds the largest amount of land.
What made August angry was that although Valdemar was deposed, he did not give up his property in the Kingdom of Bulgaria and still insisted on ownership of these lands.
With the support of Polis, August forcibly purchased the land from Valdemar at the price of 20 leva per acre, and then distributed the land equally to those who had no land. civilian.
This distribution is not free and requires civilians to purchase it at the same price.
Even so, after the news came out, the Bulgarians' gratitude to the new king Polis instantly reached the point where thousands of families were born Buddha.
Auguste not only attacked the former king, but also implemented a graded system for land taxation. Families with land under 1 dessiatine were taxed according to the minimum standard, and a progressive system was implemented on this basis.
If this standard is strictly implemented, the annual taxes of those families who own large amounts of land in the Kingdom of Bulgaria will reach an unbearable level.
This decision aroused collective opposition from all the big families. In Burgas, three families who owned a large amount of land united to resist the tax. They not only refused to pay the tax, but also beat the tax official to death.
George was not surprised at all by this result.
Every change of power is always accompanied by a new round of wealth distribution.
The Kingdom of Bulgaria was founded in 1878. It was not an independent country at that time and was managed by the Russian Empire. It can be said that the wealth owned by the so-called families in the Kingdom of Bulgaria basically inherited it from the Ottoman Empire.
If these families could understand the situation and comply with August's reforms, George would not mind sharing power with them.
It would be great if you dare to resist. The Kingdom of Bulgaria now needs to spend money on many places and is in urgent need of supplements.
George sent a telegram to Brusinov, asking Brusinov to mobilize troops and impose military control on Burgas. Those who should be arrested and whose houses should be searched were all ready-made. The members of the Bulgarian Parliament ransacked their houses one by one. There may be people who are unjustly accused, but if every other person is copied, there will definitely be people who slip through the net.
George is in Rivne at the moment.
In August, the annual Rivne exercise continued. George had been absent from the Rivne exercise for many years. This time he brought not only the Marine Corps, but also the Balkan coalition forces.
After the Balkan War, the Balkan countries gradually disarmed, and the Kingdom of Romania, which retained the largest number of troops, only had a total of 150,000 troops.
The Kingdom of Romania has a population of more than 7.5 million, and this army ratio is very reasonable.
Leading the Romanian army to participate in the Rivno exercise was George's old friend Crown Prince Ferdinand.
Through the Treaty of St. Petersburg, the Kingdom of Romania finally got the South Dobroga that it longed for. Ferdinand was grateful to George, so after George sent an invitation to the Kingdom of Romania, Ferdinand personally led Troops came to Rivne.
Ferdinand brought not many troops, only one infantry regiment.
It doesn’t matter. Having more soldiers and fewer soldiers is not a problem. The key is attitude.
The Kingdom of Romania is also an agricultural country, and the quality of its army is quite good. In the ninth and tenth Russo-Turkish wars, the Kingdom of Romania fought side by side with the Russian Empire, and was the most loyal ally of the Russian Empire in the Balkans. .
Although the king of the Kingdom of Bulgaria has been replaced by Polis, the Kingdom of Romania is still George's most important ally. In addition to cheering for the Russian Empire this time, Ferdinand also made a request to George, hoping that the Russian Empire could assist the Kingdom of Romania with some armored combat vehicles.
In his early years, Ferdinand was also ambitious and hoped to establish a military-industrial system in the Kingdom of Romania and no longer rely on the Russian Empire.
This is also understandable. No matter how ally the Russian Empire is, some things still have to be in its own hands.
Through these years of hard work, the military industry of the Kingdom of Romania has improved slightly. It can not only manufacture bullets and cannonballs, but also produce guns.
Then the problem comes.
Limited by resources, the weapons, ammunition and raw materials produced by the Kingdom of Romania need to be imported from the Russian Empire, which the Kingdom of Romania itself cannot provide.
So after calculating the costs, Ferdinand and King Carol I of Romania were helpless to find that purchasing guns and ammunition directly from the Russian Empire was actually cheaper than those produced by the Kingdom of Romania itself.
After the appearance of armored fighting vehicles and aircraft, Ferdinand gave up completely.
Even Germany has to purchase parts from the Russian Empire and assemble them itself. Even if the Kingdom of Romania sells iron and steel, it will not be able to assemble a complete industrial chain.
There is no shortage of oil in the Kingdom of Romania. South Dobroga, which the Kingdom of Bulgaria ceded to the Kingdom of Romania, has rich oil reserves underground.
Speaking of oil, after the signing of the Treaty of St. Petersburg, Anne complained about George and Nicholas because of Nandobro and did not give Polis enough support.
George was helpless. He did not expect that the Kingdom of Bulgaria would actually invite Polis to be king, otherwise the Second Balkan War would not have been fought at all.
In the past, George would not hesitate to help Ferdinand.
The current situation is different from the past. The king of Bulgaria has been replaced by Polis. If the Kingdom of Romania has too much strength, it will not be a good thing for the Kingdom of Bulgaria.
But you can't refuse directly, as that will hurt your old friend's heart.
So George asked Ferdinand to wait, at least until the formation of the armored forces of the Russian Empire was completed.
Of course, now that Ferdinand has spoken, George must express something.
So George personally gave Ferdinand 10 armored vehicles for security work of the Romanian royal family.
The assassination of George I once again sounded the alarm for everyone. The enemies of the Russian Empire really have no bottom line in order to cause trouble to the Russian Empire.
As the most important ally of the Russian Empire in the Balkans, the Kingdom of Romania, the heirs of Carol I and Ferdinand, were crucial. If there was any problem with their safety, George would have no place to cry.
“Has the investigation in the Kingdom of Greece produced any results?”
Ferdinand was also frightened by the assassination of George I.
The timing of George I’s assassination was too coincidental. Either earlier or later, it would not have triggered the second Balkan War.
But at the most critical moment, he died in the most sensitive Thessaloniki. Everyone knew that there must be something fishy here.
"It doesn't matter what the reason is now."
George is becoming more careful now. The more tense the situation is, the crazier the enemy will be.
With the Rivno exercise, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also began to mobilize its troops on a large scale. Now, near the border between the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, both sides have assembled hundreds of thousands of troops, and the situation can be said to be on the verge of breaking out.
Fortunately, the commanders on both sides are sensible and have been restraining the troops during this period. The border patrol team does not even carry bullets when patrolling to minimize the possibility of conflict.
The border patrols of the Russian Empire and the border patrols of the Austro-Hungarian Empire have conflicts from time to time. This kind of thing cannot be stopped at all.
If you bring bullets, if some fool gets anxious and shoots, it will probably trigger a world war immediately.
After Constantine I succeeded to the throne, the position of the Kingdom of Greece also began to change. Just before the start of the Rivno exercise, William II awarded Constantine I the honor of Marshal of the German Empire, which was very important to the Russian Empire. Said it was more disgusting than eating a fly.
The idea of counting on the honor of a marshal and trying to win over a country's position is really a bit naive.
But this is indeed what William II can do.
Since Constantine did not refuse, it means that Constantine is not smart enough.
Constantine is the brother-in-law of William II. The Kingdom of Greece and Germany are so far away. What is going on? Germany cannot provide any substantial support to the Kingdom of Greece.
In a conflict between big countries, small countries are most afraid of taking sides in advance.
(End of this chapter)