Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 43: Reform 1

Ferdinand knows very well that capitalists are greedy. If they are beaten to death with a stick, God knows what they will do. At the same time, the capitalists are also flexible. If you cut off the door, they will compromise.

In just six months, Bulgaria was flooded with no less than 100,000 foreigners. The shrewd Ferdinand, naturally, chose to sacrifice their profits in exchange for the interests of the compromised capitalists.

At the same time, it does not forget to create the door to encourage outsiders to learn the Bulgarian language and join Bulgaria. The main purpose, of course, was to promote national integration and increase the population.

The Labor Law, which did nothing but collect a wave of popular support for Ferdinand. Another benefit could not be seen in the short term, discouraging the working-class movement.

The Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party, which had not yet been established, was already dead in the ground. Although its founder, Blagoev, was killed off by the Stambolov cabinet in 1889 under the butterfly effect of Ferdinand.

Thanks to Ferdinand's traverse, in 1890, the number of employed Bulgarian workers had reached as high as 480,000, of which foreign workers occupied a quarter. The economy was developing much faster than at the same time in history.

The rapid development of the Bulgarian economy has been boosted by the government's strong investment in infrastructure, increasing jobs, and boosting domestic demand.

Although the number of Bulgarian workers increased greatly, it still did not change poor industrial development.

In addition to Ferdinand's own industry, Bulgaria's factories, most of them are still small workshop model, poor technology and lack of competitiveness, and dispersed distribution of non-scale, the ability to deal with risk is inferior.

To change this situation, Ferdinand decided to pursue deeper reforms. A small country with a population of only 3.2 million, with more than 1,000 factories of all sizes, wasted too many resources competing for this small market.

On September 20, a big debate is taking place at the Royal Palace in Sofia to determine the future direction of Bulgaria's economy. In addition to government officials, a few Bulgarian economists are invited.

At Ferdinand's hint, Konstantin submitted to the government a plan of "Industry Admission Standard". In other words: set an industry standard to eliminate a part of weak capitalists and artificially restrict the entry of later ones. In disguise, it supports the merger and reorganization of enterprises and promotes the development of monopoly capitalism.

If this plan goes through, it means that within the next five years, more than seven-fold of the more than 1,000 existing factories in Bulgaria will be merged and reformed or closed.

Obviously, there is not much of a market for this plan now. Liberal capitalism was most popular at the end of the 19th century, and the major powers of Europe and the United States were struggling to counter monopoly capitalism.

In 1890, when the United States had just introduced the Sherman Antitrust Act, the pursuit of monopoly capitalism had, in any case, a sense of reversing the current.

Konstantin opened a rhetorical mode, "Gentlemen, you know the current dilemma of Bulgaria. We are only a small country with a population of about three million and a lack of mineral resources. Industrialization has come so far that we rely on imports for many industrial raw materials. Many factories are poorly managed and technologically behind. Our products are seriously lacking in international competitiveness and we have to rely on the domestic market with a deficit of 60 million Leva in import and export trade last year! In the future, how can our economy develop healthily?"

"But Mr. Konstantin, the Industry Admission plan destroys the free capitalist market. This excessive state intervention in the economic order of the market destroys the fairness of society, with unimaginable consequences!" Economist Velen Soma said.

"Mr. Viren, you are too frightened! The state intervenes in the market economy for the sake of the normal development of the Bulgarian economy and to eliminate hidden dangers in advance! If we really leave it alone, on what basis will the domestic capitalists compete with international capital?" Konstantin asked.

"Mr. Konstantin, we all know that without competition there is no development. What we need to do now is not that we should promote monopolism, but that we should raise tariffs to protect the development of national industry!" Minister of Industry Kamilaev said.

"Mr. Kamilaev, what is the size of the Bulgarian market? Is it possible to support industrialization with just three million people? If we can't do that, we will have to depend on the international market. What is the use of raising tariffs other than to take us out of the international market?" Konstantin asked rhetorically.

When no one answered, Konstantin, took full advantage of the moment. He said, "Gentlemen, now we have no choice but to abandon industrialization. If we continue it, we have to implement monopolism. It will reduce internal consumption, force the capitalists to innovate technologically and improve the competitiveness of their products!"

"Konstantin is right, monopolism is not a good thing for the powers, but it is the most suitable for Bulgaria right now!" Chekhov said.

"What do you mean by most suitable? It's nothing more than serving someone's interests the best!"

"Nonsense!"

...

The two sides argued with each other, expressing their own views. The supporters of monopolism seemed to have a better reason, while the opposition was overwhelmed and soon turned sour, with the smell of gunpowder getting stronger.

Ferdinand stopped the fierce bickering in time, "Stop it, be quiet! Please behave yourself and refrain from personal attacks! Only once, if anyone does it again, he will be removed from taking part in the meetings!"

When they saw Ferdinand get angry, both sides took a seat at the table and started to talk. "Fortunately the Congress is dissolved, otherwise it would be more lively!" Ferdinand thankfully thought and made up his mind to make sure that the controversial bill was introduced as much as possible before the election of the National Assembly.

On the one hand, monopoly plays a barrier role in technological progress, as many examples have shown. However, on the other hand, it also contains factors that contribute to the progress of technology.

Under monopoly capitalism, the progress of science and technology, the improvement of the quality of labor, the expansion of the scale of production and storage, the development of social integration of the production process are related to the progress of the monopolistic competition, the concentration of production, the joint system, and the professional division of labor.

Ferdinand knows very well that the most suitable for Bulgaria at this stage is monopolism. But when Bulgaria develops and grows to a certain extent, monopolism will again become an obstacle to economic development.

The resistance to reform, somewhat beyond Ferdinand's imagination, the opposition within the government alone, is so strong.

After a few moments of silence, Ferdinand decided to adopt a devious strategy and learn from the American tycoon's protagonist, Scrooge McDuck.

Having thought of a strategy, Ferdinand hurriedly ended the government meeting, leaving Konstantin alone.

Konstantin is now a little anxious in his heart. From the viewpoint of the meeting just now, it seems that Ferdinand's account of the matter is considered to have failed.

Ferdinand looked at the absent Konstantin and asked, "Mr. Konstantin, do you think the Industry Admission plan is feasible?"

Without hesitation, Konstantin said, "It will be feasible!"

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