Chapter 555 The King’s Three Axes
Prince George has a somewhat unfair reputation.
Polis became King of Bulgaria, and the Yuriev family finally officially became a royal family like the Romanov family.
The kiss of another generation is particularly obvious in Ekaterina. Although on the surface Ekaterina’s favorite child is Alexandra, in fact, Ekaterina really What matters most is Polis, the eldest grandson.
No matter how outstanding Alexandra is, she will eventually get married.
Even if Polis is not the king, he is the first heir to the Grand Duke Yuriev.
They are both supportive, but Anne and Ekaterina have different levels of support.
In addition to giving Polis, Anne's love also needs to be distributed to other children.
Boris became the king of Bulgaria, and Catherine gave all the private money she had saved for so many years to Polis, which even made Anne a little bit jealous.
When Anne gave birth to Alexandra and Polis, Catherine promised Anne that her money would belong to Anne in the future.
Now Catherine gave all her money to Polis.
Anne instantly felt that this mother-in-law was no longer kissable.
With the support of the Queen Mother and the Queen Mother, Polis is now very wealthy, but he did not spend the money on building the new capital of Adrianople, but on upgrading the infrastructure of the Kingdom of Bulgaria. superior.
The royal palace being built in Adrianople does not use the natural stone commonly used by European royal families, but uses cheaper reinforced concrete.
Natural stone is not unavailable. Marmara Island is the largest marble producing area in Europe, and there are as many as you want.
Compared with steel and cement, mining marble is still a bit troublesome. The cost is high, the cycle is long, and the results are slow. It is expensive and has no merit.
The cost of steel and concrete is low, and the construction speed is very different. The palace in Constantinople has just started construction, while the palace in Adrianople is almost completed.
Only the main structure is nearly completed, but the official move-in is still far away.
In addition to building a new capital, the Kingdom of Bulgaria is upgrading the railway system, upgrading the previous single-track railway to a double-track railway, and upgrading the port facilities in Varna and Kavala, making these two places as The main port of the Kingdom of Bulgaria on the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea.
In addition to railways and ports, Polis also plans to build a road network throughout the country, as well as build airports in Sofia and Adrianople, and hire Russian pilots to prepare for these two airports.
In order to make the pilots stay willingly, Polis drew a big pie for them.
The newly planned Adrianople is built on a mountain. Each community has independent hospitals and schools, as well as parks and churches, to fully meet the daily needs of citizens.
In addition to generous salaries, Polis will also provide pilots with independent homes in Adrianople, and the benefits are basically the same as those of officials.
Taking into account the habits of pilots, Polis will also promote Russian language teaching in schools in Adrianople. Russian itself is one of the official languages of the Kingdom of Bulgaria. Many Bulgarians can speak Russian, especially the elite. , Russian is the lingua franca.
Although Bulgarian and Russian both belong to the Slavic language family and have certain similarities, they still have differences in details.
I have to say that this pie is still very attractive to Russian pilots, and many pilots immediately decided to become Bulgarian citizens.
This is also normal. After the independence of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, Russia has been stationing troops in Bulgaria. Many soldiers stationed in Bulgaria settled in Bulgaria after retiring. They are the base of Polis.
In addition to infrastructure, Polis also built Invalides across Bulgaria to take care of orphans and elderly people, as well as disabled soldiers who have no ability to live.
You may not believe it, but in the 19th century, even in Britain, the most economically developed country, about 30% of adult women were single.
Being single does not mean being childless. Many women have children of their own but are not married.
It is very difficult for single women to raise children, so there are many abandoned children, and there are even more elderly people without children to take care of. This is an important reason why the average life expectancy has not increased significantly even though the industrial revolution has begun hundreds of years ago and the economy has developed greatly.
The adoption of orphans was mostly done by churches in the past.
Almost no one pays attention to the elderly group.
This kind of thing, where the old are provided for and the young are supported, only exists in Utopia in Europe.
It is really difficult for individuals.
If we start from the national level, it is actually not that difficult.
The Kingdom of Bulgaria has a small population, with a total population of only 6.5 million. The total number of orphans under 12 years old and elderly people over 60 years old is less than 20,000. The average annual cost per person is about 50 rubles. Calculated, less than 1 million.
50 rubles is the annual expenditure of a soldier after the Russian Imperial Military Reform.
This expenditure does not include salary, which is enough for children and the elderly.
Although one million rubles is not much, the effect achieved is extremely significant.
The land reform was superimposed on the Invalides. Although Polis had not yet been crowned, he had gained unprecedented support in the Kingdom of Bulgaria.
What Polis gained was support, and what Brusinov gained was the nickname "The Butcher".
Brushinov’s way of dealing with his enemies has only one word: kill!
The definition of "enemy" is slightly broader for Brusinov.
In the normal legal system, even if people commit crimes, it is an internal conflict among the people, and they must be punished according to the severity of the crime.
In order to enrich Siberia's population, the Russian Empire sent criminals to Siberia. There are no penal colonies in Bulgaria; prisons and the gallows are where criminals end up.
In troubled times, heavy laws are used. The Kingdom of Bulgaria has only been independent for more than thirty years, and has already deposed two kings. The serious social contradictions can be seen.
After Brusinov carried out a massacre in Burgas, August arrived in Burgas, appeased the Burgas people, and announced Polis's amnesty order.
The amnesty order means that bygones are bygones.
But if you dare to defy the king's order in the future, you will be punished with several crimes.
Polisi’s third order was to cut taxes.
Considering that the war broke out in the Kingdom of Bulgaria last year, Polis decided to exempt people with land under 1 dessiatm from taxes.
One dessiatine is equivalent to 16.35 municipal acres. In the Russian Empire, it was basically the standard of the poor, but in Bulgaria it was the threshold of the middle class.
After all, the benefits generated by growing grapes and potatoes are different.
The tax-free policy truly benefited the vast majority of the Bulgarian people. Only then did Polis gain the trust of all Bulgarians and become an irreplaceable tsar in their minds.
"It sounds like Polis did a great job."
Anne is very satisfied with Polis's performance. If there is a monarch satisfaction survey at this time, Polis will definitely be on the list. Top of the list.
"Of course, you don't look at how many resources he has."
George is also satisfied. Polis, who has George's full support, will be damned if he doesn't do well.
Anne and Ekaterina can only provide a certain level of financial support to Polis, and the money will be spent sooner or later.
Although George did not give money, ships from the Russian Empire and the Far East arrived in Varna and Kava every day.
George not only contracted the military of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, but also mobilized various supplies from the Russian Empire and the Far East to be sent to Bulgaria. Nearly 1 million tons of grain alone were sent.
Bulgaria has a total population of only 6.5 million. The food sent by George is equivalent to 150 kilograms per person on average. The food not only includes grains, but also meat and fish. This is what the Bulgarians need most.
The main crop grown in Bulgaria is grapes, and a large amount of grain needs to be imported every year to meet the needs of the Bulgarians.
The meat that George sent was real meat, not hot pot balls made of starch, let alone seafood filled with kelp.
If you have food in your hands, don’t panic. Let the Bulgarians eat first so that you can have the strength to build the country.
“When will we go home?”
Anne misses Vladivostok a little.
Although St. Petersburg is nice, it is not Anne and George’s home, Vladivostok is.
The Far East was not peaceful during this period, mainly due to the turmoil in the Qing Empire.
Last year, the Qing Empire finally complied with the demands of the government and the opposition and launched the so-called "responsible cabinet."
There are 13 people in the cabinet, including 7 members of the royal family. Han Chinese, who account for the vast majority of the total population, only have 4 seats. When the news was announced, the whole country was in an uproar.
At the end of last year, a revolution broke out in the Qing Empire. In just a few months, the Qing Empire, which had existed for 295 years, fell.
The funny thing is that just before the demise of the Qing Empire, the Qing Empire signed the "Manzhouli Boundary Treaty" with the Russian Empire, ceding 1,400 square kilometers to the Russian Empire.
George had to admire the Russian Empire's ability to take advantage of the situation and take a bite before dying. This is really very Russian.
The biggest benefit that the fall of the Qing Empire brought to Vladivostok was that there were a lot more ownerless deposits in the Bank of Siberia, and there were also many new immigrants from the Qing Empire in Amur.
Long before the demise of the Qing Empire, many powerful people from the Qing Empire came to Vladivostok to purchase land, which directly caused the housing prices in Vladivostok to double.
This is really not taking advantage of the situation. Even without this incident, housing prices in Vladivostok have been rising.
“Let’s wait, at least wait until the situation in Polis stabilizes.”
George is not in a hurry, Europe is about to start a world war, and George will definitely not be able to leave in the next two years.
Of course, life still has to go on.
With the arrival of winter, George will take his family to the Aegean Sea for vacation this year.
George prepared a gift for Anne, which is a beautiful island. The island is not only lined with green trees, but also has white sand beaches and crystal waves.
The most important thing is that the Aegean Sea has warm sunshine, which is too important for Russians.
Anne has no interest in being the island owner. Although she is in St. Petersburg, her heart has already flown to Bulgaria.
This is the first time that Polis has been away from Anne for such a long time since he was born.
(End of this chapter)