Police Government

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, it doesn't matter anymore how the leak happened. The key now is how to deal with the aftermath," Michael said urgently.

"Let me think!" Stam-Bolov paced a few steps, then said calmly.

A moment later, there was another knock at the office door. This time, Jonas, Sowell, and Wilson arrived together.

Stam-Bolov gave the three men a cold, searching look, as if trying to pick out the one who had leaked the information. Then he looked away and asked, "You all know?"

The three men nodded, tacitly confirming it.

"Your Excellency, this is a thorny matter. Our mortgage deal has been exposed, and public opinion at home is turning against us," Jonas said in a low voice.

As Minister of the Interior, Jonas was responsible for overseeing public opinion at home. Now, trouble had come knocking.

"That's not all. Many people within the government are unhappy about this, too. I ran into Chekhov on the way here. He wants our Cabinet to issue a clarification," Wilson added.

"I know! Our Cabinet bypassed Parliament and decided on the mortgage, tariffs, and railway rights on its own. If this hadn't been exposed, we could have waited until the railway was built and running, making it a fait accompli. Then we might have weathered the storm by pointing to our achievements. But now, I'm afraid many people in the party will oppose us!" Stam-Bolov said gloomily.

"Exactly, Your Excellency. That was our original plan. It's no longer possible. The British and the Austro-Hungarian Empire won't let us back out. Shouldn't we activate the emergency plan?" Sowell said menacingly.

"Good God! Sowell, have you gone mad? The emergency plan was meant for a crisis. We haven't reached that point yet!" Wilson protested loudly.

"Mr. Wilson, we're already in a crisis. If this continues, it will undermine the government's authority. The opposition has caught us with our hands in the cookie jar. They could move to topple the Cabinet at any moment!" Jonas said.

"Shouldn't we wait a little longer? The stakes are simply too high. Once we set this in motion, the earth will shake and mountains will crumble! It'll also inflame tensions. After that, it'll be kill or be killed, with no chance of reconciliation," Michael said hesitantly.

Two votes against, two in favor—the decision now rested with Stam-Bolov.

"Fine. Activate it! The situation has already slipped beyond our control. We can't let this go on. Mr. Jonas, I'll leave what comes next to your Ministry of the Interior!" Stam-Bolov said firmly.

"Rest assured, Your Excellency. We have everything under control!" Jonas said confidently.

"The army will remain neutral during this operation. If necessary, it can also step in to suppress a rebellion," Sowell vowed with confidence.

Stam-Bolov nodded with satisfaction. He had already tuned out the second half of Sowell's promise.

As if! If the army really had to be deployed, it would mean civil war had broken out again. Win or lose, the Cabinet would be the loser. The Liberal Party was now in power; a coup was no longer a toy for them to play with.

The opposition waited in vain for the government to come out and clarify things. Instead, the police came knocking. Its leaders were thrown into prison one after another, dealing the party a devastating blow.

Many newspapers were shut down as well, and countless scholars were dragged into the affair. The bustling streets of Sofia fell silent overnight.

A literary inquisition began. White terror spread from Sofia across all of Bulgaria.

The prisons overflowed. In just half a month, more than ten thousand people in Bulgaria had been arrested.

Among them were intellectuals, feudal landlords, workers, farmers, government officials, and even some members of Parliament. The Stam Cabinet had raised its butcher's knife high.

The Constitution was trampled underfoot, and the law had lost all authority. On September 15, the Stam Cabinet declared the Conservative Party illegal and ordered it to disband.

In truth, the Conservative Party was already in disarray, with nearly all its key members behind bars. Though everyone seethed with anger, they were powerless against tyranny.

From that moment on, Bulgaria's days of freedom were over. Everyone had to watch their words. One careless slip, and the secret police might set their sights on you—and the prison gates would swing open just for you.

Ferdinand fanned the flames from the sidelines. A chance to carry out such a purge didn't come along often. Besides, the Stam Cabinet had volunteered to take the blame, drawing all the hatred onto itself.

How could he let the Cabinet's selfless sacrifice go to waste? Ferdinand admitted that Stam-Bolov was a true patriot, willing to do anything to see Bulgaria rise.

But politics was cruel. It had nothing to do with justice; all that mattered was achieving the goal. The Cabinet's methods were somewhat extreme, but they were justifiable in the name of national development.

The biggest problem was that the Cabinet held all the power and wanted to reduce Ferdinand, the prince, to a rubber stamp. Since it stood in his way, he would naturally have to kick it aside.

There could be no compromise in a struggle for power. Ferdinand had tossed Stam plenty of olive branches before. But how had that worked out?

If Stam-Bolov had truly been supremely capable, politically astute, and gifted at governing—on a par with the Iron Chancellor—Ferdinand might have been able to put up with him. Unfortunately, he was none of those things.

So, with Ferdinand's covert help, the police became more efficient than ever. Large numbers of anarchists, revolutionaries, and anti-government agitators were exposed and arrested.

Ferdinand knew this clearly:

Bulgaria's main problem in the modern age wasn't a lack of democracy or insufficient freedom. On the contrary, Bulgaria's democracy had already outstripped its practical needs, and its freedom had gone beyond what was necessary...

Bulgaria lay on the Balkan Peninsula, surrounded by powerful enemies. The most important thing at this stage was to focus on development. Only when the country grew strong could it talk about freedom and democracy!

At the same time, nationalism in the Balkans was so intense that every Bulgarian had political ideas of their own and couldn't resist trying to help the country develop. They ended up meddling in national politics and development strategies, blindly rejecting outsiders!

The two Balkan Wars in history proved it. Fierce nationalism had forged a powerful army. Yet that same nationalism had also left Bulgaria diplomatically isolated, unable to find even a single ally among its neighbors!

Open a history book, and you'll see that Bulgaria had never settled on a clear, long-term, constructive strategic goal.

One batch of politicians came to power and did things one way; the next came along and did them another. Who should they choose as an enemy, and who as an ally?

The sad truth was that Bulgarians had never figured it out. In the end, they were surrounded and attacked. Then nationalism swept them into the World War, where they tried to snatch chestnuts from the fire and wound up in a miserable state.