Reform One

Ferdinand knew very well that capitalists were greedy; if he were to strike them down with a single blow, heaven knows what they might do. At the same time, capitalists were also weak; if he opened a small gap, they would compromise.

In just half a year, no fewer than one hundred thousand outsiders had flooded into Bulgaria. The insidious Ferdinand naturally chose to sacrifice their interests to trade for the capitalists' compromise.

At the same time, he did not forget to leave an opening, encouraging the outsiders to learn the Bulgarian language and join Bulgaria. Of course, the primary purpose was to promote national integration and increase the population.

Beyond winning a wave of public support for Ferdinand, the Labor Law had another benefit that was not immediately apparent in the short term: it stifled the enthusiasm of the working-class movement.

The Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, which had yet to be established, was already dead in the cradle. Although its founder, Blagoev, had been finished off by the Stam Cabinet in 1889 due to the butterfly effect caused by Ferdinand.

Due to Ferdinand's transmigration, by 1890, the number of hired laborers in Bulgaria had reached as high as 480,000, with foreign laborers accounting for one-quarter of them, and the speed of economic development far exceeding the historical level for the same period.

Because the government invested heavily in infrastructure, it increased job opportunities, stimulated domestic demand, and promoted the rapid development of the Bulgarian economy.

Although the number of Bulgarian workers had increased significantly, it had not changed the situation of backward industrial development.

Except for Ferdinand's own industries, most factories in Bulgaria were still small-workshop models, with backward technology, a lack of competitiveness, and scattered distribution that failed to achieve scale, resulting in extremely poor resistance to risks.

To change this situation, Ferdinand decided to continue deepening the reforms. For a small country with a population of no more than 3.2 million to have over a thousand large and small factories competing for such a narrow market was truly a waste of resources.

On September 20, a great debate determining the future economic direction of Bulgaria was taking place at the Sofia Royal Palace. In addition to government officials, a few of Bulgaria's rare economists were also invited.

Under Ferdinand's suggestion, Konstantin submitted an Industry Access Standards proposal to the government. That is: set an industry threshold to eliminate a portion of the weak capitalists and artificially restrict newcomers from entering. This was a disguised way of supporting corporate mergers and reorganizations to promote the development of monopoly capitalism.

If this plan were passed, it would mean that within the next five years, more than 70 percent of Bulgaria's existing thousand-plus factories would be merged, reorganized, or shut down.

Clearly, this plan did not have much of a market at the moment. The late 19th century was the heyday of free capitalism, and the major powers in Europe and America were all striving against monopoly capitalism.

In 1890, just as the United States had passed the Sherman Act, pushing for monopoly capitalism felt like swimming against the current no matter how one looked at it.

Konstantin began his debate against the masses: "Gentlemen, you all know Bulgaria's current predicament. We are just a small country with a population of only three million and scarce mineral resources. As our industrialization process has reached this point, many of our industrial raw materials rely on imports. Many factories have backward management, backward technology, and products that severely lack international competitiveness, forcing them to rely solely on the domestic market. Last year, the trade deficit reached as high as 60 million Lev! If this continues, how can our economy develop healthily?"

"But Mr. Konstantin, the Industry Access Standards plan destroys the free capitalist market. Excessive state intervention in the market economic order destroys social fairness, and the consequences would be unimaginable!" said economist Vilen Soma.

"Mr. Vilen, you are being too alarmist. State intervention in the market economy is for the sake of the normal development of the Bulgarian economy, to eliminate hidden dangers in advance! If we really leave it alone, how can domestic capitalists compete with international capital?" replied Konstantin.

"Mr. Konstantin, we all know that without competition, there is no development. What we should be doing now is not pushing for monopoly, but increasing tariffs to protect the development of national industry!" said Minister of Industry Kamilaev.

"Mr. Kamilaev, how big is the Bulgarian market? Can three million people support industrialization? If we cannot do that, we must rely on the international market. Besides cutting us off from the international market, what is the use of increasing tariffs?" Konstantin asked in return.

Seeing no one answer, Konstantin struck while the iron was hot: "Gentlemen, we have no other choice now. Either we abandon industrialization, or we push for monopoly to reduce internal friction and force capitalists to innovate technologically and improve product competitiveness!"

"Konstantin is right. Monopoly is not a good thing for the great powers, but it is the most suitable thing for Bulgaria right now!" said Chekhov.

"What do you mean by 'most suitable'? It's nothing more than being most in line with someone's interests!"

"Nonsense!"

Both sides went back and forth, expressing their own opinions and arguing endlessly. Those supporting monopoly seemed to have more sufficient reasons, while the opposition was numerous and powerful. Soon, the tone changed, and the air grew increasingly thick with gunpowder.

Ferdinand stopped the escalating quarrel in time: "Enough, all of you be quiet! Please mind your status; no personal attacks! This is the only time. If anyone offends again, they will be stripped of their eligibility to participate in deliberations!"

Seeing Ferdinand lose his temper, both sides retreated. It's a good thing the parliament was dissolved, otherwise, it would have been even livelier! Ferdinand thought with relief, while also making up his mind to push through as many controversial bills as possible before the parliamentary elections.

On one hand, monopoly acts as a hindrance to technological development, as many examples have already illustrated; but on the other hand, it also contains factors that promote technological development.

Because, under the conditions of monopoly capitalism, scientific and technological development, the improvement of labor quality, the expansion of production and accumulation scales, and the development of social integration in the production process are all inseparable from the development of monopoly competition, production concentration, joint-stock systems, and professional division of labor.

Ferdinand knew very well that monopoly was the most suitable path for Bulgaria at the current stage. However, once Bulgaria grew and strengthened to a certain degree, monopoly would again become an obstacle to economic development.

The resistance to reform was somewhat beyond Ferdinand's imagination; the opposition within the government alone was this powerful.

After a moment of silence, Ferdinand decided to adopt a circuitous strategy, learning from the American tycoon Shizhiga.

Having thought of the strategy, Ferdinand hurriedly ended the government meeting and kept Konstantin behind.

Konstantin was feeling a bit uneasy now; judging from the meeting just now, the task Ferdinand had entrusted to him could be considered a failure.

Ferdinand looked at the distracted Konstantin and asked: "Mr. Konstantin, do you think the Industry Access Standards plan is feasible?"

Konstantin said without hesitation: "It is feasible!"