Domestic Affairs

After the provisional cabinet was formed, Ferdinand purged his opponents in the name of fighting corruption, heavily promoted his trusted men, and worked to diminish the Liberal Party's influence. Boris Kristov had been instrumental in all of this!

As the Anti-Corruption Bureau chief who had rendered such great service, Boris Kristov was now so busy every day that he could barely tell night from day, both happy and miserable. His ideal had come true, but his leisurely life was gone for good.

In the eyes of the people, he was an incorruptible official; in the eyes of the bureaucracy, he was a butcher. Ferdinand placed his complete trust in Boris Kristov. Once Boris set his sights on someone, very few managed to escape.

He was impartial and unyielding, refusing to show favoritism no matter who pleaded on someone's behalf—not even Ferdinand. Even Hoover's intelligence agents were caught in the crossfire, and a few unlucky men with sticky fingers wound up behind bars.

Hoover simply went with the flow, sending them to infiltrate the prisons and keep an eye on the criminals, earning merit while atoning for their crimes. Bulgaria was now pouring resources into infrastructure, and most of these criminals would likely be sent to work as forced laborers.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau under Boris's leadership was sending people to court every few days, at an astonishing rate. Bulgaria's courts had no choice but to organize a separate temporary court devoted to trying corrupt officials.

The media had even bestowed on him the flattering nickname "Butcher of Officials," and Boris Kristov had become the most popular man among ordinary Bulgarians.

Boris Kristov's efforts had not been in vain. Aside from bringing a large number of corrupt officials to justice, they had also restored the people's faith in the government.

To better develop the economy, Ferdinand merged the Ministry of Interior with the Ministry of Economy. Economic development had become an important criterion for promoting local officials.

Taking Bulgaria's actual circumstances into account, Ferdinand established a Department of Health by merging it with the Ministry of Education. He also transferred the Department of Water Resources, which had originally been under the Ministry of Interior, to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Thanks to the enormous legacy left by the Stam Cabinet, Bulgaria's long-running fiscal crisis had been resolved. Ferdinand now had the financial confidence to accelerate the country's industrialization.

In agriculture, the Mihu Massacre had left a great deal of ownerless land, which was reclaimed by the state. The government also confiscated some land that had been concealed and forcibly took it into public ownership. The landowning class never recovered from the blow. The government now directly controlled one-third of Bulgaria's land.

To ease class tensions, Ferdinand set a maximum land rent of thirty percent and stipulated that landowners were responsible for paying agricultural taxes.

Ferdinand decided to gradually establish farms in the plains, mechanize operations, and promote technological upgrades in the agricultural sector.

At the year-end ministerial meeting in 1889, Konstantin Yotolov said, beaming, "Your Highness, the domestic economy is booming. In the past six months, new investment has reached as much as fifty million leva!"

Ferdinand smiled and nodded for him to continue. Booming, my foot. More than half of that is my own investment or government investment. Private capital is next to nothing!

Konstantin continued, "From June until now, 1,035 new factories of all sizes have opened across the country. Twelve are large factories, each with capital exceeding one million leva and more than a thousand employees!"

"Government investment totals 12.85 million leva, mainly for the Grand Railway Project and its supporting roads, as well as some infrastructure construction. Overall, progress has been smooth so far!"

"Next year, we will continue to drive industrialization forward and increase investment in government infrastructure projects. The main projects will be completing the railway plan and developing supporting urban facilities to create favorable conditions for commerce and industry!"

Ferdinand knew he was laying the groundwork to secure next year's budget. He smiled and said, "Good. The government's work deserves recognition!"

After speaking, Ferdinand turned his gaze to the Minister of Defense, Sava Mutkurov. To bring the military under his control, Ferdinand had extensively reorganized the army, and most of its former senior officers had been promoted into the Ministry of Defense.

Thanks to his seniority and having thrown in his lot with Ferdinand early, Sava Mutkurov had become Minister of Defense. In Ferdinand's view, officers with military backgrounds were surely more qualified for the post than civilians. It was a way to put otherwise useless men to good use!

Sava Mutkurov was deeply grateful to Ferdinand. Though he, too, was a Liberal Party member, the post of Minister of Defense had always gone to civilians; there had never been a place for him.

Understanding what Ferdinand meant, Sava Mutkurov immediately said, "Your Highness, our army has just undergone a major reorganization. The problem now is that most of our weapons and equipment are outdated. We're behind not only the European powers but even Greece and Serbia in firepower!"

"Our military industry is holding us back. The machinery at the arms factories is obsolete and urgently needs replacing. Besides, they can only produce firearms, ammunition, and small-caliber artillery."

Ferdinand considered the matter, then said gravely, "The arms factories' problems do need urgent attention. We can give them priority in next year's budget. But you must also get the troops' training in hand. Build us an elite force as soon as possible!"

"Rest assured, Your Highness! We'll make sure their training is taken care of!" Sava Mutkurov promised.

James Pedenov knew it was his turn to speak. "Your Highness, because of the turmoil in the first half of the year, agricultural production has been affected, and the cultivated area has fallen by three percentage points compared with previous years."

"However, the spread of new agricultural techniques has increased yields per acre. In some areas, output has risen by more than eight percent! Overall, production is on par with last year."

Ferdinand smiled and said, "Not bad! Keep it up, and strive to take another step forward this year!"

The last to stand and speak was Chekhov. Although the Minister of Education had the least authority, his place in the cabinet rankings was the exact opposite.

This was Ferdinand's political stratagem: using the small to restrain the great. Konstantin, who wielded the most power, could not even enter the cabinet, while Chekhov, who had the least, ranked highest in it.

Chekhov cleared his throat and said, "Your Highness, education has developed rapidly this year, and the second class of university students has enrolled successfully. In addition, five new vocational colleges have opened admissions across the country: two teacher-training colleges, one medical college, and two comprehensive technical colleges. This should be enough to meet Bulgaria's educational needs."

"The literacy campaign promoted among the public is also going very well. The number of illiterate people has fallen by ten percentage points. We expect to have nearly eradicated illiteracy within ten years!"

Ferdinand nodded with satisfaction. Chekhov lacked initiative, but there was no denying his ability to carry out orders.

At last, he had dodged that one.