Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 44: Reform 2 (Food Safety Controversy 1)

"But Your Highness, the resistance is too great. It will be difficult for us to gain the support of the public, and the government will be very pushed," said Konstantin with some hesitation.

Ferdinand nodded in approval and spoke again, asking, "What about picking up the plan in smaller parts? For example, find a sector first, as your starting point."

With a shock, Konstantin said, "If it's just one sector, then we're going to face much less resistance, but ~~."

Ferdinand interrupted what Konstantin said later, "There are not so many "buts"! Your government can first find a sector to check, find out the problem, collect enough evidence, then create public opinion, then reform!"

After a few moments of thought, Konstantin said, "Your Highness is wise!"

Ferdinand was very flattered, although this flattery is very enough to hold. He smiled and said, "Don't flatter. It is not your style! By the way, you have to be busy next. Reform is reform, but the Five-Year Plan must not be affected. The government has a great responsibility!"

"Don't worry, Your Highness, we at the Ministry of the Interior will do a good job!" assured Konstantin.

...

After leaving the Sofia Palace, Konstantin had a headache. Don't look at the fast promise he just made before; in fact, he didn't have much of a clue.

The Five-Year Plan takes up most of the government's energy. In his heart, Konstantin is opposed to reform now and is too busy to do so.

At the same time, he also agreed with Ferdinand's reasons for reform. It is now the time of least resistance to reform. After being cleaned up by the previous government, the interest groups have been greatly wounded, and they are sensible people who have survived.

The new parliamentary elections have not yet started, and the power is still all concentrated in Ferdinand's hands. As a result, the government can still carry out reforms if they are forced to do so. The backlash will not be powerful. After all, the butcher's knife during the Stambolov period has scared the capitalists, and they do not dare to fight the government in the short term.

But where to start is another tricky question. As the first target, it must be iconic and widely recognized by the public.

The wind is crisp after autumn; The rain is cold after autumn; The weather is cool and good. The earth presents a delightful scene of harvest, which makes people feel happy.

Facing the autumn breeze, Konstantin could not help but walk down the street. From time to time, he heard several shouts of selling goods. The street was full of goods stalls, from the beginning to the end of the street, and the colorful goods on the stalls dazzled people. It filled even the air with the tasteful aroma of belly soup, canned meat, cheese, roast meat, yogurt, and cucumber soup....

A sudden idea struck Konstantin: what better sector than the food one?

"Food safety" is an issue of concern to all people, and it is crucial to crack down on lousy business and solve food safety concerns, so no one can say there is a problem.

Looking at the flurry of activity in Sofia, who knew, except for Konstantin, that a government crackdown would be coming here shortly?

The issue of "food safety" has been around for a long time. In the 19th century, the golden age of capitalism, capitalists were reckless in using various additives to maximize their profits.

As for food safety, as long as they are not taken as a problem by eating, they dare to market and sell. No matter if it is dead beef or rat meat, it is a small matter. A large amount of mercury is used as a chemical to preserve the meat, which is simply murder.

On October 15, the Bulgarian government introduced the Food Safety Regulation, which mandated a deadline for food processing companies to reform.

After a few days of waiting and watching, the capitalists saw no further action by the government, typically "thunder is loud, and rain is small"1). And then everyone will be doing what to do nothing, who are not blind, who will not want to get along with the money.

Of course, there is an exception, at least the Shuanghui Food Group is in a major overhaul. Wilhelm, who has insider sources, naturally knows that the government will get real this time.

Before that, Shuanghui Food Group has various brands of the same product, and there is a vast price gap between the lowest gear of ordinary goods and the most high-grade noble exclusive more than ten times.

Even so, the aristocratic goods sold very well, and the customers, in addition to the aristocrats who loved saving face, the capitalists were the primary consumers.

Why do European aristocrats eat the food produced by their own estates and the eager capitalists who erupted to buy estates? They are not stupid, mainly because people know that there are problems with the food sold in the market.

Obviously, Ferdinand is also an eligible capitalist. The goods sold to the public are profitable to the maximum to come how to be cheap. At the same time, the aristocrats are exclusively supplied. Ferdinand can guarantee that it is absolutely safe, without any additive chemicals, mainly because he is also eating it.

Anyway, the cheaper it is, the more insecure the quality of the product. It is almost the same as the international one. As for whether it will poison people, it is not within Ferdinand's concern.

Now that Ferdinand is in the position of a monarch, Bulgaria needs to increase its population. Food security is an urgent issue. What Konstantin intended, one might say, coincided with him.

As for the reform of the food sector, it will not affect Ferdinand's business. They can only say that they are nothing but worries.

No matter how to reform, people have to eat! It will not reduce the demand on the market sharply. It will not be the first to suffer from technological innovation and rising production costs, only small capitalists.

Within a few days, the Bulgarian Daily reports a news story. There was a mass food poisoning incident at the Ultra Hardware factory in Sofia. They sent a total of more than eighty people to the Salvation Hospital of Mercy for food poisoning.

According to reports on the news, the main cause of the poisoning was the high amount of mercury-based preservatives added to the food consumed.

Actually, this kind of thing was not new in Bulgaria at that time, or even the whole of Europe, or even the whole world at that time. It was just a group of poisoned workers, and it wasn't any big shot that was poisoned, so what was the big deal?

What's the big deal about poisoning and containing it? Moreover, these people are not all dead, even none of them are dead.

Not even one person died and was sent to the hospital for rescue. It is something that happens every day, and how can this be considered big news?

Well, this kind of thing, indeed, would not have been regarded as news. In the past, when food poisoning happens, the workers were left to fend for themselves. But now, the capitalists are sending them to the hospital for rescue. However, they are forced to do so by the labor law, which is also great progress.

The news media didn't bother to report it because the workers were primarily poor and wouldn't bother to buy a newspaper. But this time, the situation is very different. The Bulgarian Daily actually published the news in the most crucial position.

Translator:

1) A Chinese phrase that means a person who speaks with great passion without having much ability.

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