Prologue

On August 2, 1888, the first entrance examination for the University of Bulgaria was grandly opened, marking the beginning of the history of Bulgarian college entrance exams.

This exam lasted for three days, and the content was varied, covering knowledge from all walks of life.

However, professional grades held the primary position in admissions, accounting for eighty percent of the total score. If a candidate's professional score ranked in the top three, they would be admitted even if they scored zero in all other subjects.

Of course, the candidates did not know this yet; after three days of testing, they all looked like frost-bitten eggplants, their confidence completely shattered.

Sofia seemed to have become noisy, with complaints about the difficulty of the questions everywhere, and many were secretly regretting their lack of accumulated knowledge.

On August 15, the entrance to the University of Bulgaria was already crowded with people, all anxiously waiting for the final results.

On the other hand, they were fortunate; they did not need to worry about choosing a major, nor did they need to fear that a wrong choice would affect their future development. The school would select the most suitable major for them, and it even guaranteed job placement.

As for hobbies and interests? Can you eat them? Sorry, this is the 19th century; no one has ever heard of such a creature.

Ferdinand was very satisfied with the results of this recruitment. Although there were many shortcomings, it was the first time, after all, and overall it went smoothly; at least no one caused a scandal with cheating.

To commemorate his own school days, Ferdinand chose September 1st, that familiar date, as the start of the semester.

The opening ceremony began with a speech by Ferdinand, reviewing the history of Bulgaria... (omitting 100,000 words, you can attend your own opening ceremony).

Amidst cheers, four hundred and thirty-six students stepped into the halls of the university.

Looking at the vibrant students, Ferdinand was filled with emotion; these were his future cadres.

Thinking of the dense class schedule, Ferdinand thought gleefully: Be proud! Enjoy your release now! Tomorrow you will discover how terrifying it is to attend university!

One must know that the University of Bulgaria now adopted closed-off, militarized management, with up to twelve classes a day, plus study hall time.

From waking up at 5:30 in the morning to finishing school at 10:30 at night, except for meal times and short breaks in between, every moment was spent studying.

This was a study plan Ferdinand formulated by referencing the schedule of his high school senior year in his previous life. Since it was the first time running a university and no one had experience, they just followed it.

The management staff were hired by the Ministry of Education at high salaries from military academies in Berlin, directly copying that management style.

In this era, news did not travel easily, and the winds of democracy and freedom had not yet blown over. Bulgaria was still relatively conservative, upholding the tradition that "strict teachers produce excellent students," and so it was adopted by the highly respected educators.

Just as Ferdinand returned to the palace, he received bad news—the peasant movement had begun.

Following the previous tax increase, the Stambolov cabinet made another foolish move, passing a proposal in parliament to restore the collection of tithes in kind.

If the previous agricultural tax increase only harmed the interests of the poor and middle-class farmers, the landlord class could still compensate for their losses through land annexation.

Then, restoring the tithes from the Ottoman era severely hindered the development of agricultural capitalism.

To a large extent, it harmed the interests of the landlord class, but the most intense opposition came from small and medium-sized landlords, as this meant government officials could carry out new plunder against them.

They launched a peasant protest movement, which began to spread rapidly across Bulgaria.

What comforted Ferdinand was that they were currently mainly holding rallies and demonstrations, and it had not yet evolved into a revolution.

This also strengthened his determination to topple the cabinet, but Stambolov's cabinet had, after all, contributed greatly to his ascension and had the merit of supporting him. If Ferdinand wanted to dismiss the cabinet, he had to have a convincing reason.

Historically, it lasted until 1894, when the Stambolov cabinet had become so unpopular that the original owner finally stepped in personally to dismiss it.

Before this, Stambolov had always held great power. Although Ferdinand had used political means to a certain extent to divide Stambolov's power and strengthen the various ministries, he was unable to change the status quo of Stambolov controlling the cabinet.

Ferdinand had originally thought he would have to wait for the next parliamentary election to successfully seize power. He did not expect that due to his butterfly effect, the Bulgarian government's financial crisis had intensified.

The cabinet was obsessed with successfully completing the "Five-Year Plan." To raise funds, exorbitant taxes and levies emerged one after another.

Ferdinand knew that a police state was taking shape; in just one year, the Bulgarian police force had increased by fifty percent.

Stambolov also set up a secret police force without authorization. The intelligence organization in Ferdinand's hands had discovered more than three hundred people, and of course, he had not failed to send people to infiltrate it.

If one does not act, so be it; but once one acts, it must be earth-shattering. Ferdinand took the opportunity to plant his own goods, such as anarchists, future leaders of revolutionary parties, and radicals, among others.

He prepared to borrow a knife to kill, solving future enemies once and for all, which could be considered the final use of the Stambolov cabinet.

"Your Highness, we have set everything up, the fish has entered the net!" Hoover (head of the intelligence organization) said.

Ferdinand nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then prepare to close the net!"

Michael knocked on the Prime Minister's office impatiently and said, "Prime Minister, something terrible has happened!"

"Don't be anxious, speak slowly. God is still watching; the sky won't fall!" Stambolov said unhurriedly while drinking tea.

"Oh, damn it! My Prime Minister, the sky is about to fall. After hearing this news, I don't think you will have the mood to drink tea anymore!" Michael said anxiously.

"Oh, what could make my Minister so shocked? Let me guess, did the Ottomans attack, or are those Serbian scumbags making trouble again?" Stambolov joked easily.

"Oh, God! Prime Minister, do you not read the newspapers? Our secret treaties with the United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary have been exposed. Now public opinion is screaming for the government's blood!" Michael said angrily.

With a "bang," Stambolov's hand shook, and the teacup fell to the ground.

He exclaimed, "What? How is this possible? Doesn't only a few of us in the top leadership know about this?"

"Yes, no more than five people on our side know the content of the secret treaty! But now the secret treaty has been published in the newspapers, exactly the same, not a single punctuation mark has changed!" Michael said worriedly.

"Could it be that something went wrong on the British and Austro-Hungarian side? That shouldn't be; it's unlikely that both sides would leak it at the same time! No more than ten people on our side know about the treaty, and only those of us in the cabinet know the content. Even the Grand Duke doesn't know the specific agreement. Who could have leaked it?" Stambolov said suspiciously.