Time flew by. After more than half a year of wrangling, Bulgaria had finally completed the transfer of the Caucasus region with the Russians.
How to govern this region became another difficult problem weighing on Ferdinand's mind.
Geographically, the Caucasus lay between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, embraced by mountains upon mountains, layer upon layer, stretching deep into the distance.
Between the mountains lay patches of small lakes, their waters jade-green and tranquil, while waterfalls dotted the landscape like stars scattered across the sky.
The scenery was quite good, suitable for developing tourism. Unfortunately, this was not the twenty-first century, so all those advantages became disadvantages instead!
(Note: The Caucasus region covered roughly 440,000 square kilometers, encompassing what was now southwestern Russia and the northern areas of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.)
In terms of resources, it was truly not bad. Oil and natural gas were extremely abundant, while reserves of coal, copper, manganese, molybdenum, tungsten, and other mineral resources were also considerable.
If they wanted to develop the local economy, mining was their only short-term option. But before that, they still had to build roads.
Ferdinand could not even be bothered to criticize Russia's transportation situation. At the very least, Bulgaria's total railway mileage was now twice Russia's, while its total road mileage was five times Russia's.
One had to remember that Bulgaria's territory was still just short of half Russia's. Russia's transportation conditions could well be imagined.
What comforted Ferdinand was that years of civil war had completely devastated the local economy. A great number of able-bodied young men had been conscripted into the army, so there was no need to worry about rebellion breaking out.
The Caucasus region's population now stood at roughly 5.8 to 6.6 million. Most were elderly, weak, sick, or disabled, with only