Sofia-Burgas Railway Opens

"Colorful open-top carriages race through the streets, the warehouses of the wealthy are piled high with grain, and large, colorful posters of 'beauties' are everywhere in entertainment venues, while...

The unspeakable misery of the common folk remains; their tables are bare, they suffer from hunger, and it is rare for them to eat a meal of white bread even after many years..."

Does this feel familiar? That's right, this is a description originally written about Shanghai (adapted by the author). This is the current state of the Balkans, and it was the same for Bulgaria two years ago.

Thanks to the purges during the Stam era, which cleared out a large number of the wealthy class, Ferdinand finally had enough accumulation to relax the exploitation of the populace and allow the common people to breathe a sigh of relief.

Along the way, Ferdinand discovered that most of the old entertainment venues had closed down. A glimmer of hope shone on the faces of the people; taxes had returned to normal levels, and the heavy burden that had been pressing down on them had been lifted.

Most importantly, the usury they owed no longer needed to be repaid—the dead cannot come to collect debts—and in this regard, many of them were still grateful to the Stam Government.

Do not let the notoriety of the Stam Government fool you; in truth, its contribution to the country remains the greatest of any Bulgarian government to date.

Bulgaria is rugged and varied, with mountains and hills accounting for about sixty-four percent of its total territory. (Note: This is the terrain in 1891; after consecutive failures in the Second Balkan War and the two World Wars, Bulgaria lost a large swath of plains, and the percentage of mountains and hills rose to seventy-nine percent in later generations.)

In an era where railways were still under construction and automobiles were still being researched, even Ferdinand, as King, was no exception; he had to rely on carriages for transport and suffer the misery of the bumps.

As for why he did not ride a horse, the Ferdinand before Li Mu transmigrated was a standard knight; however, for the current Ferdinand, whether he could even stay on a horse was a question!

Fortunately, Ferdinand's body after the transmigration was in good health and could withstand it; if it had been the Li Mu of his previous life, he would have been vomiting and suffering from diarrhea long ago.

Along the way, as Ferdinand expected, the industrialization process in various regions was progressing quite well. In terms of agriculture, new technologies were spreading rapidly in the plains, while progress in the mountainous regions remained mostly slow.

Of course, there was one benefit Ferdinand had not noticed: wherever he traveled, a road was born in advance.

This ordinary road became the first interconnected transportation hub in Bulgaria, known in history as the "Imperial Avenue," and was jokingly referred to by the public as the "King's Inspection Path," meaning: the avenue walked by the King during his inspection.

Now, Ferdinand had arrived in the city of Burgas in southeastern Bulgaria. It is located on the western coast of the Black Sea, is the capital of Burgas Province, and borders Burgas Bay. It is the second-largest city in Bulgaria in terms of future comprehensive economic strength, the central metropolis of the southern Bulgarian Black Sea coast, and holds an important position in industry and transportation.

Its history can be traced back to the ancient Greece period. The city began to develop during the Middle Ages. It is also an important transit hub for tourist areas along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, while also possessing industries such as petroleum, chemicals, salt production, and iron mining.

At present, Burgas is still just an ordinary small port. The main reason Ferdinand came here was that the first main line in Bulgaria had opened to traffic, running from Sofia to Burgas, with a total length of 580 kilometers. (Some sections of this route existed previously, but they had now been connected.)

Ferdinand knew that with the completion of the railway, Burgas would enter a fast lane of rapid development in the future.

In the parallel timeline, the Port of Burgas handled sixty percent of Bulgaria's total maritime transport, and its petrochemical industry was highly developed; the largest oil refinery in the Balkans was located here.

It was also the center of Bulgaria's fishing industry, and influenced by a maritime climate and a temperate continental humid climate, it was suitable for developing agriculture.

In addition to the production of food crops such as wheat, corn, and barley, there were also cash crops such as grapes, apples, almonds, and cherries.

The opening of the railway from Sofia to Burgas was definitely a major event for Bulgaria. This railway passed through multiple cities and traversed Bulgaria from east to west.

Ferdinand could no longer remember the original name of this railway, so he simply followed his habit and took the first character from each of the two cities to name it. The awkward name "Sofia-Burgas Railway" was thus born.

The "Sofia-Burgas Railway" was the great artery of Bulgaria, possessing extremely high military and economic value. If the various branch lines were connected as well, the entire transportation network of Bulgaria would come to life.

The opening ceremony for the "Sofia-Burgas Railway" was very grand. Ferdinand attended the ceremony in Burgas, while on the other side, Chekhov represented the government to preside over the ceremony in Sofia.

Two trains departed successively from Sofia and Burgas, and after twelve and a half hours, they both arrived safely at their destinations.

In fact, to ensure a smooth opening, it had been tested many times before; now, it was just a formality.

The Bulgarian newspapers that day all reported this good news on their front pages to the public.

Ferdinand, however, did not feel much. Having been accustomed to the speed of high-speed rail, it was truly difficult for him to feel excited about a railway with a speed of less than fifty kilometers per hour.

In fact, at the end of the 19th century, the "Sofia-Burgas Railway" could only be called ordinary. It used the most common steam trains, and its only advantage was that the technology was mature and the safety was reliable.

Although Ferdinand knew that it would be eliminated in the near future and that the railway would need to be significantly upgraded, he was still powerless to change it.

Even so, this did not in the slightest affect the status of the "Sofia-Burgas Railway" in Bulgaria. From now on, one could travel from the east to the west of Bulgaria from morning to evening.

Economically, the cost of transporting goods was significantly reduced, and communication between people became more convenient, promoting economic development.

Militarily, the pressure on national defense was greatly reduced; within a day, a regiment of troops could be deployed to most parts of the country, and within three days, this number could be increased to a division. This was on the condition that the branch lines in various places were also connected; otherwise, logistics and supplies would certainly run into problems.

Ferdinand still underestimated the impact brought by the opening of the "Sofia-Burgas Railway."

Across Bulgaria, people spontaneously organized celebratory activities. Of course, the protests and demonstrations common in later generations did not exist; those would obstruct public traffic and were illegal acts.

Most were just three or five friends gathering together to brag, imagine the future, and comment on the present. There were also merchants who took the opportunity to hold promotional events.

In short, the people of Bulgaria at this stage were still very conservative. Not only was their life simple, but their daily behavior was also very conservative and followed tradition. The spring breeze of democracy and freedom had not yet blown into their hearts.

Ferdinand was enjoying this beautiful time when an uninvited guest interrupted his itinerary.

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