Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the end of 1909. To Ferdinand's delight, Queen Xenia became pregnant again that winter. This was already their fifth child.
Though they did not yet know whether it would be a boy or a girl, Ferdinand was thrilled. He had always believed that the more children one had, the more blessings one received. Especially since Xenia was no longer young, this might well be their last child. Ferdinand showed exceptional concern! (Note: Xenia was born in 1875 and died suddenly in 1960.)
Of course, Ferdinand would never admit that he had been influenced by his surroundings! In his previous life, as a shut-in, he had never entertained such thoughts!
In order to increase the population, Bulgaria had begun promoting the idea of "have more children, bear more children; the more children, the more blessings" through public discourse ever since Ferdinand ascended the throne.
After more than twenty years of this bombardment, the idea had sunk deep into people's hearts, and Ferdinand himself had inevitably been influenced by it!
Bulgaria had even introduced laws specifically encouraging childbirth. But because the government had previously been too poor, there had been very few material rewards, with most encouragement being merely spiritual.
Now Ferdinand was preparing to amend this law once again. At the same time, he intended to enact legislation directly banning all abortions. Previously, such conduct had been restrained solely through religious faith, without any compulsory force of enforcement!
Oh, the queen's pregnancy was now the finest possible example for publicity! Even the king and queen were working so hard to increase Bulgaria's population—they were already on their fifth child. What reason did you have not to work hard too?
When joyous events came, the spirit was refreshed. Ferdinand was