"Food is the people's heaven; safety comes first when it comes to food!"
On the surface, solving food safety problems meant cracking down on unscrupulous merchants and laying the groundwork for monopolies to develop.
Only Ferdinand knew the deeper reason: to accelerate population growth. A country with a population of just over three million could never become a great power.
Although no one had ever counted them, Ferdinand was certain that even if all the Bulgarians scattered across the world were added together, they would not exceed ten million. Within the Balkans as a whole, there were currently somewhere between six and eight million Bulgarians.
Compared to the European powers, at the same time France had a population of more than thirty-eight million, Germany had nearly fifty million, and the Russian bear had around 120 million. Bulgaria, by contrast, had only three and a half million people—not even a tenth of the population of those great powers.
Thus, population was the most critical and formidable problem Bulgaria would face in its future growth. To Ferdinand, every Bulgarian was precious.
Ferdinand had spent a long time thinking about how to increase the population, and had also conducted field surveys across Bulgaria.
With the situation stable, the economy developing rapidly, and people living in peace, Bulgaria's birth rate had already risen considerably.
Bulgaria's birth rate was 4.07% in 1885, and had gradually risen to 4.25% by 1889. Based on statistics from the first half of the year, it was reasonable to estimate that the birth rate in 1890 would be between 4.36% and 4.39%.
As for Bulgaria's death rate, it stood at 2.65% in 1885 and 2.78% in 1889, including those secretly executed. Statistics for the first half of 1890 put it at 1.01%, excluding migrant workers.
Judging by the current situation, Bulgarian customs were relatively conservative. People were still keen to have children, and as long as their finances allowed, they were generally willing to raise several.
Ferdinand knew there was still considerable room to improve those numbers. Compared to Russia at the same time—whose birth rate was 5.29% in 1864 and remained around five percent for many years—Bulgaria still had a long way to go.
The same was true of the death rate. The great powers of Britain and France had both managed to keep theirs at around two percent. If casualties among colonial personnel were excluded, the figure was even lower.
But Ferdinand could hardly believe the survey figures for infant survival rates—nor, for that matter, could the author. They weren't too low; they were too high.
The figures tracked infants who survived past their first birthday. Bulgaria's infant survival rate in 1889 was 85.7%. At the same time, Austria-Hungary's was 74.4%, France's was 82.6%, and Germany's was 77.4%. Ireland and Norway had the highest rates, both exceeding ninety percent.
Before his transmigration, Ferdinand had refused to believe those figures were real. But after seeing the statistics gathered in Bulgaria itself, he had no choice but to accept them. (The figures above came from Palgrave's Statistical Tables.)
As for boosting the population, the transmigrator had no good ideas. All he could do was encourage people to have children. Ferdinand hadn't studied medicine in his previous life, so there was no way he could cheat his way to better medical care.
The medical professionals were still in school. Raising Bulgaria's medical standards in the short term was beyond him. Transmigrators weren't omnipotent; Ferdinand was truly powerless to help.
Before Ferdinand had transmigrated, many regions had already begun to experience population decline, and many people had no interest in having children. There was just one group that eagerly embraced the idea.
At the Sofia Royal Palace, Agriculture Minister James Petdinov was being soundly chewed out by Ferdinand. "This is the result of two years' work by your Ministry of Agriculture?? Idiots, good-for-nothings..."
James Petdinov stared blankly at the furious Ferdinand and thought, There's nothing wrong with it. We've always done things this way! Why is the Grand Duke so furious today? What the—
Fortunately, Ferdinand didn't know what James was thinking. The consequences would have been hard to predict. He looked at the documents strewn across the floor, then at James's bewildered face. The anger he had just managed to suppress flared up again.
He rebuked him sharply. "Hmph! You fool, James! Tell me, what have you done with the funds specifically allocated to your Ministry of Agriculture?"
James was sweating now. He answered nervously, "Your Highness, we used some of it to promote new technologies. Most of the funds were transferred directly to local governments to increase grain production!"
Ferdinand sneered. "Heh. You fool, James. Aside from promoting new technologies, what results has your Ministry of Agriculture achieved? You gave the money to the local governments, and then what? Was it used to build irrigation works or modernize agriculture?"
"Neither! Look at what's written here! 'Repair the river embankment, reinforce the river channel'? The Danube, the Maritsa, and the Struma River—you don't know where these rivers are? What does Montana have to do with them? Did the floodwaters somehow inundate the Stara Mountains?"
"You fool! Even if the river channels needed work, there was already funding from the Ministry of Finance. Did the local governments even submit a request? The funds for irrigation works were simply swallowed up, and what's worse, my agriculture minister has come out to vouch for the parasites beneath him!"
By this point, James was drenched in cold sweat. He hadn't noticed such an obvious problem and had simply treated it as routine. He had approved the reports from below without even checking them. He had wasted millions of leva.
James said shakily, "Your Highness, this... was my failure! Please relieve me of my... duties!" Having said that, James let out a deep breath of relief.
He had never held much real power as a cabinet member. Ferdinand had kept him from taking charge of anything outside the Ministry of Agriculture, which had left James somewhat dissatisfied. Now, all he felt was relief. So I really am useless!
Ferdinand looked at the dejected James. He knew the incident had hit him hard. After all, he was not yet thirty and couldn't withstand that much pressure.
James had already begun to think about stepping down, but Ferdinand couldn't let him resign just yet. He wasn't the Chongzhen Emperor, replacing cabinets as if they were horses on a merry-go-round.
He had already dismissed one cabinet, and only a few months had passed since then. Unless a major problem arose, Ferdinand wasn't planning to replace anyone before the next cabinet election.
"Forget it. It seems the Ministry of Agriculture isn't the right place for you. The government is about to establish a Ministry of Information, and I hear you used to work in publicity. It's a perfect fit. Go over there and serve as minister," Ferdinand said, trying to comfort him.
James looked at Ferdinand gratefully. He knew Ferdinand was trying to save face for him. The Ministry of Information's main task was to supervise the newspapers. Its minister was dispensable, with everything handled according to regulations. It was basically an idle post.
After thinking for a moment, James's scholarly idealism surged. He said excitedly, "Your Highness, I really am not suited to politics. The University of Bulgaria would suit me better. Passing on my knowledge of agriculture to the next generation, or conducting research, would be more meaningful!"
Looking at the hot-blooded James, Ferdinand had nowhere to vent his frustration. He said helplessly, "All right! If that's what you want, go ahead. Bulgaria is short of agricultural experts anyway. Your cabinet position will be kept for now. You can't think of yourself as an ordinary researcher: you'll need to organize research teams and conduct field surveys in the countryside! I hope you'll contribute to Bulgaria's development through your research!"
"I will, Your Highness. You have my word, in God's name. I'll do my best!" James said excitedly.
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