In Saint Petersburg, Nicholas II had not been in a good mood for a long time. After suffering a string of blows, he had matured considerably; at the very least, he could now keep his fury from erupting at any moment!
Yet when he saw the telegram from Sofia, he still could not help flying into a rage. In Nicholas II's eyes, the Bulgarian Government was plainly taking advantage of a blazing house to loot it—and had struck right at the Russian Empire's vital spot!
Nicholas II's life was difficult now, and much of it was because money had driven him into a corner. Years of war had already wrecked the Russian Empire's economy.
With the economy in poor shape, the government's fiscal revenues naturally were not high. Then there had been the earlier crackdown on capitalists and the confiscation of numerous factories. In imitation of Bulgaria's successful experience, a whole batch of state-owned enterprises had been created.
Unfortunately, they had only copied the superficial trappings. In terms of structure, they had instead brought the Tsarist Government's old ways into them. Not only had these enterprises failed to bring him profits, they had remained perpetually in the red.
In order to preserve employment, Nicholas II had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep them afloat, refusing to let those enterprises go bankrupt.
In these loan negotiations, Nicholas II had also wanted to use these enterprises as collateral, but the Bulgarian Government refused to take the bait and fixated wholly on land!
Bessarabia alone was not enough; they had set their sights on the Crimean Peninsula as well, leaving Nicholas II in a most difficult position.
Rationally speaking, the Crimean Peninsula had now lost its former value. It was impossible to charge out of the Black Sea into the