I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 112 Full of Malice
  Bulgaria is not important to Russia, even if it plays badly, it doesn't matter.

Strictly speaking, today's Bulgaria is like a Russian colony.

Unfortunately, Russia was also a novice when it came to colonization and was not as good at annexation as the experienced British.

Like Carol I, Alexander held a welcome dinner for George and Milyutin on the day they arrived in Sofia.

George was present in his best attire, and in Sofia he was not only deputy envoy of the imperial mission, but also Alexander's cousin.

Alexander is the nephew of Queen Ya'er. Counting from Ya'er, George and Alexander are cousins.

Although Alexander and George are not related by blood, blood relationship is not important at the national level. Even if it is not George but another grand duke, Alexander will treat him as a guest.

Sofia is as complex as the information shows. There were many people attending the banquet. All the leading figures from the Conservative and Liberal parties in Bulgaria were present. Envoys from various countries were stationed in Bulgaria. In addition to their ambassadors, the United Kingdom and Germany also sent special envoys of the king to Sofia. , which fully proves the importance that Britain and Germany attach to Bulgaria.

The banquet was Milyutin's stage, and George's task was to observe.

Stefan Stambolov, whom Kaulbas mentioned, is the key subject of George's observation.

Bulgaria's political divisions are serious. The pro-Russian conservative party is divided into the Radical Conservative Party and the Progressive Conservative Party. The liberals are also deeply divided. Stambolov is pro-British, and another liberal leader Dragan Zhankov is pro-Russian.

It is Zhankov who is negotiating with Alexander to reorganize the coalition government.

Stefan Stambolov was born in 1854, the son of an innkeeper. He studied at the Odessa Theological Seminary in his youth. He fled after the failure of the April Uprising. After Bulgaria gained autonomy, Stambolov was elected to the parliament.

Stambolov was not active. He spent most of his time in the corner of the banquet hall with some liberal members and did not take the initiative to say hello to George and Milyutin.

George did not take the initiative to find Stam. His status as a super duke of the Russian Empire did not allow him to do so.

George is like a brightly colored big rooster, chatting without a word with the equally brightly colored Alexander.

"Is the Guards fun?" Alexander and George had met at Ya San's coronation ceremony. However, there were too many relatives at that time, Bulgaria was weak, and Alexander's identity was not conspicuous among the kings and crown princes. George had nothing to do with Alexander. impression.

"It's good. I like the profession of being a soldier." George pretended not to hear Alexander's teasing.

In anyone's opinion, joining the Guards at George's age is a bit of a joke.

Alexander shouldn't be so superficial. He was named Prince of Battenberg when he was one year old. Isn't this a joke?
  Considering the relationship between the former queen and Catherine, no matter what attitude Alexander had towards George, George could understand it.

"Can I drink?" Alexander did not have any ill intentions toward George. The root cause was the Tsar. Even if Alexander was dissatisfied, he would not make enemies unnecessarily.

George took the initiative to raise a glass to Alexander. The Bulgarian rose wine was quite good.

Rose wine is wine made from roses, and Bulgarians also make roses into perfume, both of which are on George's shopping list.

"How's the wine?" Alexander valued George's evaluation. He knew that George's side job was selling wine.

What else can George do? Listen to me blowing for you~
  "Not bad, very distinctive." George's praise was measured.

"Do you think there is a market in Russia?" Alexander guided George in the direction of interest.

"I asked Mario to buy some rose wine and rose oil as a gift for Nikolai." George didn't care, he was just idle. Rose oil is indeed a very Bulgarian product.

Rose oil is a perfume made from roses.

White people, like black people, have stronger body odor because their sweat glands are more developed.

Perfume sales are very high in Russia. Using perfume to cover up body odor has evolved into a social etiquette, and George is not exempt from it.

George doesn't use perfume, he doesn't smoke, rarely drinks alcohol, and doesn't eat too spicy food. He likes to exercise and take baths. His body odor is very small, and can be ignored compared with other Russians.

George's clothes are taken care of by Mario. Mario will use spices to fumigate George's clothes, so that a faint fragrance will remain on the clothes, which is similar to the effect of using perfume.

"How can something that can be bought on the market be used as a gift to Nicky? I will have someone send you some really good things later." Alexander is sensible. Things for ordinary people are not worthy of the crown prince. .

George politely thanked him, saying that the quality of royal supplies was indeed much better than that of commercial products.

Alexander still has moral integrity. He showed limited kindness to George instead of bottomless flattery.

Although George didn't want to keep a high profile, some people still came to him.

"Good evening, Super Duke Yurievsky." Herbert Bismarck, the Kaiser's special envoy, came over to say hello to George.

Herbert Bismarck was Bismarck's eldest son. Bismarck had high hopes for him, but Herbert's qualifications were mediocre and he was unable to inherit Bismarck's mantle.

Bismarck's descendants never reached a level similar to Bismarck's.

On the one hand, this is related to personal qualifications, and on the other hand, it is also related to Germany’s national conditions.

Germany's elite probably don't want another strong figure like Bismarck to appear in Germany.

Therefore, the descendants of Bismarck are destined to disappear from the public.

Just like Suvorov's great-grandson Vasily.

"Good evening, how are you, father?" George said with a calm tone as soon as he came up.

But this is normal. George is the super duke of the Russian Empire, and Bismarck is a marquis. He was made a duke by William II after he stepped down. In terms of status, George and Bismarck are of the same generation.

Herbert didn't expect George to be so old-fashioned.

But he couldn't say anything, because George really knew Bismarck and it was not a forced relationship.

Herbert was indeed not as good at dancing as his father. He murmured for a long time before he managed to say "It's okay", and then he turned red and ran away.

George was stunned. This guy took the initiative to come to the door. He just wanted to say hello?

Alexander remained calm, probably used to this person's lack of tone.

It was probably Herbert's embarrassment that kept the others away, and George was ignored until the end of the banquet.

Okay, keep your distance.

Back at the embassy in the evening, George and Milyutin took stock of today's gains.

"The situation in Sofia is very complicated. Both conservatives and liberals want greater autonomy, which is contrary to the interests of the empire." Milyutin finally had a personal experience of the complexity of Sofia.

The so-called autonomy is power.

After finally getting rid of Osman, the adoptive father, the Bulgarians definitely do not want to continue supporting Russia, the living father.

What's more, there are a bunch of wild fathers nearby who are ready to make a move. It is normal for Bulgarians to be tempted. “How is Alexander?” Milyutin asked George what he thought of Alexander. George spent almost the entire evening with Alexander.

"There is too little information to judge." George contacted Alexander and spent less than two hours trying to figure it out, but he could not come to a conclusion.

Alexander is a cautious person, and even if he has any thoughts, he will not expose them in front of George.

However, judging from Alexander's behavior, he is not a law-abiding person. Alexander is also responsible for the current situation in Bulgaria.

Faced with the mutual strife between conservatives and liberals, Alexander did not take sides, but inaction itself was laissez-faire.

Combined with Milyugin's judgment.

Didn't Alexander have a desire for power?

No, not possible, unless Alexander had not tasted the sweetness of power.

"Consolidate military power, control the economy, and support conservatives to suppress liberals with all their strength." George used force to break the situation. As long as the military power is in hand, no matter how much the young people do, nothing can change the situation.

"The Conservative Party also has many demands." Milyutin scratched his head, feeling that he had no idea where to start.

"As long as it does not touch the bottom line of the empire, appropriate compromise is acceptable." George's ideas are gradually improving.

When dealing with the Balkans, neither toughness nor compromise is appropriate. Every time you hit a stick, you have to give a date. You can't let the horse run away and let the horse not eat grass. You have to let people taste the sweetness.

The British are best at dividing and disintegrating, and mediating in the middle.

Although Russia has no experience, it can copy the British's work. The Balkans are Russia's home field, and Russia occupies a favorable position.

"Bulgaria needs a shrewd person to succeed -" Milyutin looked at George with regret on his face.

In Milyutin's view, George is the best person to deal with the Balkan issue.

Even if George messes up, as long as George can learn enough experience in the process, it will be worth it.

It's a pity that the Tsar would not send George to the Balkans.

George was the governor of the Far East left to Nicholas by the Tsar.

As for whether George can become Russia's Bismarck, that depends on George's destiny.

On the second day after arriving in Sofia, Milyutin began to frequently meet with various Bulgarian princes.

As the founder of Russia's modern army, Milyutin had high prestige in the Balkans. In Bulgaria at this time, no matter who wanted to come to power, they must first obtain the consent of St. Petersburg. Milyutin's attitude was crucial.

George was not idle either. Accompanied by Kaulbas, he visited the Bulgarian military camp to strengthen Russia's control over Bulgarian military power.

In the current Bulgarian army, most of the officers are Russians, and the control of the army is not yet obvious.

These officers have now become Bulgarian citizens, so how long their loyalty to Russia can be maintained is what George is most worried about.

"Don't worry about this issue. The Bulgarians will never dare to betray. If they really do that, we will completely destroy them just like we destroyed the Ottomans." Compared with the loyalty of the Bulgarian officers, Kolbas's blind optimism More dangerous.

On the surface, there really isn't anything to worry about.

Bulgaria has no military-industrial capabilities. Part of the weapons equipped by the army are supported by Russia, and part of them were captured from the Ottoman Empire during the Tenth Russo-Turkish War. Logistics are completely dependent on Russia.

This is not absolute. If Bulgaria needs it, Britain or Austria-Hungary can also replace Russia's role.

The Bulgarian army is not large in number. The total number of the entire army is only about 200. This is a heavy burden for Bulgaria's population of million.

But this is far from the limit for Bulgaria.

During World War I, Bulgaria, with a population of only 400 million, mobilized a total of 85 people to participate in the war, the highest mobilization rate among all countries participating in the war.

"How are soldiers treated?" George rarely asked questions, but every one of them was crucial.

"The treatment is okay, but the arrears are serious. Bulgaria has no money. Leon hoped to get a loan from the empire last month, but there has been no news." Korbas's answer was not what George wanted.

How could the Bulgarian government have no money?
  Generally speaking, the newly established Principality of Bulgaria is full of waste, and it is normal to have no money.

In fact, this is not the case.

The change of power will lead to a new round of wealth distribution. During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the rentier class in Bulgaria was dominated by the Ottomans. The wealth accumulated by this group of people over the past 500 years is the most important legacy left to Bulgaria by the Ottomans.

If Bulgaria operates properly, it can definitely make a difference on this basis. Not to mention skyrocketing, at least it won't even have to borrow money for military pay.

Russia is still eager to suck blood from Bulgaria. How much can it help Bulgaria?

Although George realized that something was wrong, he did not pursue the question further. He would wait until he returned to St. Petersburg. At that time, George would suggest that the Tsar investigate the private property status of these Russian generals in Bulgaria.

As a senior officer, Kaurbas's level of management of the army is not high.

The military camp is a military camp left over from the Ottoman Empire. The signs outside the military camp still use the official Ottoman text and have not been replaced in time.

There are tatters everywhere in the camp, and some soldiers are still wearing Ottoman Empire-era military uniforms, and the conspicuous logos on them are not covered up.

The sanitary condition was also not good. Horse manure was not cleaned in time. The roads were rutted and not repaired in time. Although the lunch was beef stew with potatoes, there was almost no beef.

Bulgaria is a purely agricultural country.

After visiting the military camp, George became more and more worried.

Bulgaria's military power is still firmly in the hands of Russian generals, but if the current situation continues, it is hard to say what will happen in the future.

The conservative parliament was dissolved because of the fight for control of the army.

Didn't Alexander know the situation of the Bulgarian army?

I know for sure.

The reason for leaving things alone is probably to add fuel to the flames.

The hidden dangers in loans are even greater.

Russia has no resources left to help Bulgaria, Britain does, and Britain will be happy to help.

If Britain can provide enough loans to Bulgaria, how long can Russia maintain its advantage in Bulgaria?

(End of this chapter)