Education

The cabinet meeting concluded smoothly, and Ferdinand was quite satisfied with the division of labor; he had secured oversight of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Education.

Compared to other sectors, the cabinet clearly lacked sufficient regard for agriculture, and the plans they formulated involved very little regarding agricultural development, which gave Ferdinand his opening.

The Ministry of Education was even simpler: the Bulgarian treasury was empty. Aside from the opposition parties, the most vocal critics of the government were currently those in the education sector, as teachers' salaries had been suspended for several months.

Since Ferdinand, the King, was willing to take on this hot potato, they naturally didn't mind tossing away a mess, especially since the education budget was already in arrears.

Ferdinand accepted these two thorny issues, yet he felt quite pleased.

Bulgaria was an agricultural nation with poor mineral resources; in the short term, the easiest area to achieve results in was agriculture.

Compared to the land utilization rates in China, Bulgaria—like many European nations—lagged far behind. If it were in the East, Bulgaria's arable land could potentially be doubled.

Of course, Ferdinand did not intend to do that; there was no need. With an area comparable to Jiangsu Province and a population of only three million, it was less than one-tenth of the population of Jiangsu during the same period.

Ferdinand planned to vigorously build water conservancy projects, promote advanced agricultural technology, and increase grain yields, which would be sufficient. (Agricultural development in the Balkans was backward, and the grain yield per mu during this period was less than two-thirds of that in Western Europe.)

As long as he accomplished these things and secured the support of the peasant class, which made up ninety percent of the population, he would be invincible. For this, Ferdinand would not hesitate, even if it meant spending hundreds of thousands of pounds.

As for the education sector, that was even easier to handle. History had taught him that whoever controlled the schools controlled public opinion. Whoever mastered the next generation of the nation mastered the future of that country.

The most urgent task was to establish a university. Historically, the first university in Bulgaria—Sofia University—was established in 1888.

It was also this very university that gave birth to the earliest form of socialism in Bulgaria—the Science Society—laying the foundation for the rise of the proletarian revolution.

Ferdinand's efficiency was enough to make the cabinet feel ashamed. Knowing the treasury was empty, he did not go to the Stambolov cabinet for funds.

On January 10, 1888, just as the cabinet had finalized the division of labor, Ferdinand issued his second decree in his capacity as the Prince of Bulgaria: Issuance of 5 Million Lev Education Bonds (Note: 1 Lev = 1 Franc = 0.2903225 grams of gold).

The entire nation was shocked; one had to realize that due to the civil war, Bulgaria's fiscal revenue in 1887 was less than 40 million Lev.

This move quickly received strong support from figures in the education sector and the enlightened bourgeoisie. Although the interest rate was only slightly higher than bank deposits and the term was as long as ten years, everyone still generously opened their purses, and half were sold within just one month.

The shrewd Ferdinand naturally knew how to maximize benefits; not only did he high-profile subscribe to 300,000 Lev worth of bonds, but he also publicly invited the media to supervise the use of these funds, which caused his prestige to soar overnight.

In any case, he had no intention of embezzling education funds; no matter how strictly the media supervised, only those beneath him would suffer if things went wrong. If he could catch a few corrupt officials, he wouldn't mind at all.

Having obtained the money, he first paid off the teachers' salaries that had been in arrears for years, then allocated funds to build Bulgaria's first university—University of Bulgaria.

The remaining money had not yet been touched; the cabinet tried to get their hands on it several times, but Ferdinand blocked them every time with the phrase "earmarked funds for specific purposes."

Stambolov, driven to desperation by poverty, followed Ferdinand's lead and issued bonds. However, his appetite was not as small as Ferdinand's; the funds required for the Five-Year Plan were an astronomical figure for the government.

He immediately launched 50 million Lev in railway bonds, followed by 30 million Lev in industrial bonds.

The Bulgarian people were not that wealthy, nor did the government have such high credibility. For a few million in education bonds, they could exercise their patriotism and grit their teeth to buy them.

But for the industrial and railway bonds issued by the government, they were powerless, and after selling a mere few hundred thousand, the effort ended in embarrassment.

Ferdinand did not worry about the cabinet's troubles. He was still fretting over the candidate for the university's first president; it had to be someone of high prestige who could convince the education sector.

Among the figures in the Bulgarian education sector, there was precisely no candidate who enjoyed universal support. Just like the country itself, most of the students capable enough were still too young and lacked the necessary credentials. The older generation was conservative in thought and lacked an international perspective, unable to keep up with the pace of the times.

Unable to find a candidate, Ferdinand turned his gaze toward the Ministry of Education.

"Minister Chekhov, what are your thoughts on the president of the University of Bulgaria from the Ministry of Education?" Ferdinand asked.

"Your Highness, the education sector is currently in an uproar. There are three people qualified for nomination, but their abilities are hard to find convincing!" the Minister of Education, Chekhov, said with a headache.

Ferdinand understood that lack of ability was a minor issue; the key was that all three were opponents of the Stambolov cabinet. As veteran educators, they belonged to the pro-Russian faction, and the cabinet would absolutely block them from taking office.

"Then what about others? We must find a suitable candidate; we cannot drag this out. The school is still an empty shell! What will we do when the time comes? You had better go back and think about it slowly!" Ferdinand shifted the pressure onto Chekhov.

This put Chekhov in a difficult position. If he chose from those three, how could he answer to the cabinet? If he chose someone else, how could he convince the education sector?

The headache-stricken Chekhov suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of a suitable candidate: why not let the King hold the position concurrently? Once this idea emerged, it could no longer be suppressed.

First, the cabinet would not object, as it could suppress the opposition; second, he could explain it to the education sector—at the very least, they wouldn't have to worry about education funding in the future. This reason alone was enough to make those three old stubborn men withdraw on their own.

On the way back, the more Chekhov thought about it, the better it seemed. If Ferdinand became the university president, the Ministry of Education's presence would certainly be greatly strengthened, and he could let the King take the heat when asking for funds, without having to bear the cabinet's pressure himself.

No, such a big matter could not be decided by him alone; he would simply contact the education sector and let them take the lead. Whoever opposed it could be made responsible for solving the education funding!

It was no surprise to Chekhov that after the news was released, the endless debates in the education sector stopped immediately.

For the sake of everyone's interests, or perhaps for their own rice bowls and the ability to receive their salaries on time, almost all the teachers publicly expressed their support for Ferdinand to serve as president.

Ferdinand was dumbfounded; it turned out he was the one enjoying universal support. He immediately thought it impossible; he was an outsider who had only been on the throne for half a year and hadn't accomplished anything major, yet he could gain everyone's support.

Even though Chekhov insisted, Ferdinand remained unconvinced; he didn't want to become president only to be cursed at by those educators.

"Karl, send someone to investigate what is going on," Ferdinand decided he had to get to the bottom of the situation.

"Your Highness, this is actually very simple," Karl said calmly.

"Oh? Tell me about it," Ferdinand replied.