Mediterranean Hegemony Road

Chapter 9. Join the arms race?

In addition to the industrial plan, the most important thing is transportation. According to the requirements of the "Third Five-Year Plan", the total railway mileage in Bulgaria will reach 39,000 kilometers in the next five years, completing the comprehensive coverage of all important cities and towns in Bulgaria!

You must know that in 19o1, the total railway mileage in Bulgaria was less than 13,000 kilometers. By 19o7, the total railway mileage in the country reached 27,000 kilometers. You know how much Ferdinand attached great importance to railways!

The next step is the road network. "Every village is connected" is the slogan of this plan. To achieve this strategic goal, the total mileage of roads in Bulgaria will reach an astonishing 120,000 kilometers!

Well, don’t be picky about the roads of this era. Asphalt roads are all myths, and concrete roads are treated as strategic roads. It can be used in other places. What kind of road class do you consider?

Even the maintenance of the highway was done by the local government organized by the people and volunteered free of charge, otherwise Ferdinand would collapse due to the maintenance cost alone! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

What is the total road mileage in Bulgaria in 19o1? Only a mere 20,000 kilometers away! By 19o7, the total road mileage in Bulgaria will reach 68,000 kilometers, and it will reach 120,000 kilometers in five years!

No way, this is all forced out by the World War! After all, in the mountainous area, the railway construction is really difficult. With the current technology in some areas, God knows that it can only be opened to traffic in the year of the monkey and the month of the horse. This can only be made up by roads!

The experience of the previous life told Ferdinand that as long as there is enough manpower, it is really not difficult to build a road.

Besides, Bulgaria is also an industrial country after all, and there are no other things, but there is still no shortage of standard equipment such as excavators, bulldozers, and road rollers that are commonly used in later generations!

Although the performance is still very pitted, it is still much stronger than manpower! Otherwise, it is impossible for Ferdinand to request that the traffic department build more than 10,000 kilometers every year! It would be crazy if it was just relying on manpower! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

All right,

The Bulgarian traffic department said that there is no pressure. Their road construction experience can be said to be the richest in the world. From 1887 to the present, they have been building roads for more than 20 years!

Most of the European and American countries rely on personal investment because the economy reaches their transportation, and there are not many transportation projects led by the government!

But Bulgaria is different. Before the domestic economy was not good, road construction was a loss-making business, especially roads!

Now that the main roads have been repaired, the rest are remote areas or branch lines. Obviously, there is no economic benefit. There is no consortium that would foolishly do this loss-making business!

This has allowed the Ministry of Communications to cultivate a group of road construction madmen. In their words, as long as there is money, road construction is not a problem at all!

...\u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

"Mr. Chekov, tell me about the plans of the Ministry of Education!" Ferdinand continued after listening to the report from the Ministry of Transport.

"Yes!" Chekov replied

"The Ministry of Education's plan is divided into three parts: higher education, compulsory education, and literacy education.

1. Two new comprehensive universities will be built. After completion, our four comprehensive universities can accommodate more than 30,000 college students at the same time, which can basically solve the future talent gap!

Since the number of our higher technical colleges has reached as high as 36, it can basically meet the demand, and there is no need to continue to expand.

However, according to the actual situation, we will continue to expand the enrollment and plan to train 200,000 engineers within five years to solve the gap of domestic grassroots technical talents!

2. Promote nine-year compulsory education throughout the country. All citizens of Bulgarian nationality, aged 7 to 15 years old, must receive compulsory education! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

3. Continue..."

"What about the expenses?" Ferdinand asked indifferently.

Education is different from industry and transportation. After all, investing in industry and transportation is rewarding in the short term. After three or five years, it can always be fed back to the economy, and the overall national strength will increase in the short term!

However, investing in compulsory education is a long-term job. You will not see benefits for a long time in the future, and will not increase your overall national strength in the short term!

"It's mainly financial allocations, as well as private donations. Of course, you can also collect some tuition fees!" Chekov said as a matter of course.

"How much financial allocation does your Ministry of Education need?" the Chancellor of the Exchequer asked with great concern

"In five years, a total of 1.8 billion leva will be required. Basically, this goal can be accomplished!" Chekov said lightly.

\u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy rolled his eyes and said neatly: "Impossible! It might be possible at other times, but not now! The situation in Europe is imminent, and we must put a lot of money into military spending!"

Before two quarrels, Ferdinand said: "Well, education is related to our future, but now the situation in Europe is very serious!

Whether we invest in industry or investment in transportation, we can see returns in the short term, but the payback period of education is much longer!

Therefore, I hope you can compress the time of compulsory education to five years! "

That's right, Ferdinand just shortened the time, but did not ask the Ministry of Education to cut the course content, which means that Bulgarian students have to use five years to complete nine years of study content!

This is obviously impossible! Then only a part of the less important course content can be cut! For example, those in art and music will disappear from elementary school classrooms! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

Fortunately, this is the beginning of the 2o century, and the knowledge of many disciplines is still very small, and it is basically enough to reduce the difficulty!

Chekov could only nod with a wry smile. Does Bulgaria attach importance to education? It can be said that it is very important. The current annual financial allocation of the University of Bulgaria alone is as high as more than 50 million levs!

In the words of the Admiralty, the consumption of one university in one year is equivalent to the military expenditure of a fleet, and the expenditure of two universities is equal to the military expenditure of the Bulgarian Navy!

This is really not a joke, there is no way who can call 6 Jun the real son? The Bulgarian navy has always been treated as a stepmother!

In other countries, the salary of their naval officers and soldiers is estimated to be n times higher than that of the 6th Army, but in Bulgaria, apart from the slightly better food, the salary difference is really not big compared to the main force!

No way, Bulgaria's 6th Army has arrogant capital, but the Navy has never made outstanding achievements since its establishment to the present! Can you be tough when you speak without military exploits? \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

And the high expenses of Bulgarian universities, this is the sequelae of poaching people. If scientists are poached, can there be less scientific research funds? If you don't give people money, how will you get any results?

The key is the investment in scientific research, which has already paid off. At least now, the level of scientific research in Bulgaria can finally be shown to people!

At least now Ferdinand is not afraid of the technical blockade of foreign powers! Oh, it seems that the technology is already in hand, and there is nothing to block!

But what about the Navy? If it weren't for the era of sea power, their sense of existence would be even lower!

This is also the reason why Petrov is keen to promote the colonial plan. At any rate, let the Chinese people see that the navy is also useful!

Now that the arms race among European countries has started, can Bulgaria back down? \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

There is no doubt that Bulgaria must follow up! But after looking at the military spending of the European powers in 19o7, Ferdinand knew what to do!

British Empire £58.92 million

French Republic £4.55 million

Russian Empire £53.28 million

German Empire £54.89 million

Austria-Hungary £22.13 million

Italy £18.57 million

And what about Bulgaria? The total military expenditure in 19o7 was: 15.86 million pounds, of which the 6th Army accounted for 1o.86 million pounds, and the navy only had 5oo million pounds!

This also includes the cost of building this dreadnought, otherwise the Navy has a military budget of 300,000 pounds, even if it is not bad!

Not to mention in 19o8, the British have already played dumplings with the Germans, will Bulgaria dare to follow up?

In this era, the construction cost of a dreadnought, the cheapest one is 1.6.7 million pounds; the more expensive two or three million pounds can still be spent!

With the strength of Britain and Germany, ten ships and eight ships are really nothing, but for Bulgaria, if they dare to play like this, what should they do with the expenses elsewhere?

The result is self-evident, the navy still has to continue to make soy sauce, and the 6th army joins the arms race! This is also a helpless move, who asked the 6th Army to be cheaper?

It is not impossible to take into account the sea 6 at the same time, the premise is to have money, obviously this is not something Bulgaria can afford!

Warships are not just built, and the cost of personnel maintenance is also an astronomical figure!

Geographically speaking, the main threat of World War I came from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it was still Bulgaria’s national policy to give priority to the 6th Army!

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