I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 521 Private Subsidies
Although Brusinov had no evidence, he did not believe that the coup in Sofia had nothing to do with Germany.

In the Sofia coup, a total of four cabinet members died, including the prime minister, all of whom were pro-Russian.

Bulgarian Army Minister Soltyski graduated from the Nikolai Cavalry School. When the coup took place, Soltyski was visiting the home of Archbishop August. With the help of Peterkov, Soltyski escaped to the military camp outside the city and survived.

After Demeter arrived in Sofia, Soltyski commanded the Bulgarian troops controlled by the pro-Russian faction and cooperated with the Guards Cavalry to retake Sofia, and his performance was satisfactory.

However, this cannot cover up Solteisky's incompetence. As the Minister of the Army, Solteisky failed to completely control Sofia, nor did he command the troops to quell the rebellion as soon as it occurred. His ability is worrying.

Brusinov did not go directly to the German embassy to ask for someone. The most important thing at the moment was to find a qualified new prime minister.

For the Russian Empire, the new prime minister must not only have a firm stance, but also have sufficient ability to deal with the complex situation in the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

The Kingdom of Bulgaria is now facing internal and external troubles. Not only does it have disputes with the Kingdom of Romania, it also has bad relations with the Kingdom of Serbia, and is on the front line of defense against the Ottoman Empire.

The internal situation was even more complicated. After Waldemar introduced German forces, although the Russian Empire was no longer the only dominant power, Sofia was completely divided.

Although Dimitrov, the current acting prime minister, was born in Sofia, he was educated in the UK and graduated from the Law Department of Oxford University. His wife is German and her background is also complicated.

After the Guards Cavalry took over Sofia, Dimitrov immediately found Demeter and asked the Guards Cavalry to withdraw from Sofia and not interfere in the internal affairs of the Bulgarian Kingdom.

"This man is either a German lackey or a British spy. He cannot be trusted."

Demeter was very dissatisfied with Dimitrov, and the current situation of the Bulgarian Kingdom was very unfavorable to the Russian Empire.

"Is there no one in Sofia we can trust?"

Brusinov also had a headache. The Kingdom of Bulgaria had always been considered as the sphere of influence of the Russian Empire. How come it was so crowded with rebels in just a few years?

There were still capable people. Edward Wemel, who was stationed on the border between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Bulgaria, had strict military discipline and outstanding abilities, but he was German.

There are people who can be trusted, but if someone like Solteisky is made prime minister, it will be a huge disaster for both the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Russian Empire.

In fact, the root of the problem lies with Valdemar. If Valdemar could behave himself, many problems would be easily solved.

George hoped that Valdemar would understand that his throne did not come from his own ability, but from the support of the Russian Empire.

In other words, since the Russian Empire could make him the Grand Duke of Bulgaria, it could also make him abdicate and let others take over.

On August 8, news came from Sofia that the new Bulgarian parliament was discussing constitutional monarchy.

Prior to this, Valdemar was preparing to upgrade his title of Grand Duke to Tsar.

If the Kingdom of Bulgaria decided to implement a constitutional monarchy, Valdemar's power would be greatly limited.

"This can't be true, this can't be possible!"

Waldemar roared like a madman, unable to accept this fact.

"Nothing is impossible. The Empire has already promulgated the Basic Law and is preparing for a constitution."

George was indifferent. Through Anne, George already knew Alex's attitude.

Alex really loves his younger brother Valdemar.

But Alex's love for Valdemar did not surpass Alexei's.

Alexei is the crown prince of the empire and the future tsar.

If Valdemar actively moves closer to Germany, the Kingdom of Bulgaria will become a thorn in the heart of Germany in the Balkans, and the influence of the Russian Empire in the Balkans will be greatly weakened.

Therefore, the support Alex gave to Valdemar was not as much as the outside world imagined.

After knowing Alex's true attitude towards Waldemar, George's favorability towards Alex instantly rose to a higher level.

Alex does have many shortcomings, but on issues of principle, Alex is actually more determined than Nicholas.

George now finally understood why Ye Di could become the emperor.

"Niki, I have to get back to Sofia, now!"

Valdemar didn't have much respect for Nicholas and didn't even call him brother-in-law.

"Joseph, Sophia is not safe now."

Nicholas would not let Valdemar leave.

"Hasn't the Guards already taken control of Sofia? Sofia is safe now."

Valdemar was fearless.

Little Nicholas frantically winked at George and told him to go away.

Waldemar probably felt that since the Russian Guards controlled Sofia, the Russian Guards would be responsible if his safety was threatened.

This is also true.

But if you die, even if we hold the Guards responsible, will they be able to bring you back to life?
Nicholas also looked at George.

Fine!

It's hard to persuade the damned ghost with kind words. George doesn't want to be the bad guy.

Waldemar could not wait and took a train to Germany that night, most likely to seek help from William II.

George was very worried about the Bulgarian Kingdom. With such a grand duke, the Bulgarians' suffering had just begun.

But George had no right to worry about the Bulgarians, and the Russian Empire was not much better. This spring, the Russian Empire recruited 20 new soldiers according to George's plan.

That is, after the disarmament last winter, nearly 20 Russian troops retired this autumn.

He did not retire, but became an engineer and went to Siberia to continue building houses.

This summer, 150 new towns were built in Siberia, accommodating approximately 15 people.

Stolypin made full use of the transport capacity of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Various resources from the Amur and European Russian regions continued to arrive in Siberia, providing strong logistical support for the development of Siberia.

In order to resettle these veterans, the Imperial Ministry of the Interior borrowed 2.5 million rubles from the Bank of Siberia, mortgaging the Siberian Railway east of Lake Baikal.

The loan was arranged by George on the condition that the Ministry of the Interior agreed to George's new naval reform plan.

Alexei's naval reconstruction plan was flashy and completely inconsistent with George's requirements.

Based on the actual situation of the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet, George made substantial revisions to Alexei's plan and proposed a new version of the plan, focusing on the destroyer fleet and submarine forces, supplemented by naval aviation and the Marine Corps.

Alexei's plan was still to attack, so he had to spend a huge amount of money to build a battleship equipped with all heavy artillery.

George's core is actually also offense, but the focus is on land, and the fleet is only used for defense.

Battleships cannot go ashore, but naval aviation and the Marine Corps can.

If it weren't for Nicholas' strong opposition, George would even want to sell the two battleships that Japan paid as compensation to the Russian Empire to see if there was anyone willing to take them.

The Marines are easy to deal with, and we can have as many Cossacks as you want.

The cost of forming a naval aviation force is not much less than that of a battleship equipped with all heavy artillery.

George was the Secretary of the Admiralty, so it would definitely be much cheaper for the Admiralty to purchase aircraft than to sell them to the Americans.

The price quoted by the Vladivostok Aviation Manufacturing Company to the Navy Department was 15 for fighter jets and 35 for transport aircraft.

George requested to order 100 fighter jets and 25 transport planes from Vladivostok, with a total investment of 3500 million rubles, including airport construction.

Stolypin disagreed, thinking that the price offered by Vladivostok Aviation Corporation was too high.

Vladivostok Aviation Manufacturing Company belongs to George, and he knows very well whether the asking price is high or not.

The lawsuit eventually came to Nicholas.

"15, is it that cheap?"

Nikolai almost angered Stolypin to death.

Nikola's thinking on the cost of the aircraft is still at the stage when he and George were developing the aircraft.

When Nikola and George were developing the airplane, they had nothing. They were truly made by hand, and the cost was sky-high.

Aircraft are now produced industrially and the cost will become lower and lower in the future.

"The price quoted by Vladivostok Aviation Manufacturing Company to the Americans is 150 million rubles—"

George was not exaggerating, it was indeed 150 million.

After Captain Schenkov successfully landed the Eagle fighter on the Victory seaplane carrier, a US Navy pilot also successfully landed his plane on the warship. The Navy has officially entered the 3D era.

Although Americans have no research and development capabilities, they have strong copying capabilities. The aircraft sold to Americans are all one-time transactions. Vladivostok Aviation Manufacturing Company not only offers a price of 150 million, but also requires a minimum order of 50 aircraft at a time, otherwise there will be no deal.

"Only upstarts like the Americans would accept your blackmail!"

Stolypin now looked at George with an expression that was uglier than ever.

"So are you going to accept it?"

George didn't think this was blackmail. The United States bought Alaska for $720 million, which was also taking advantage of the situation.

There is the first day of the year for Americans, and there is the fifteenth day of the year for the Russian Empire.

"Your Majesty, I now reasonably suspect that Grand Duke Yuriev is abusing his power for personal gain—"

Stolypin was furious.

"Your suspicion is not reasonable at all!"

George shouted loudly, I am abusing my power for personal gain, what can you do about it.

"George——"

Nicholas was afraid that George would anger Stolypin to death. It was not easy to find such a capable and loyal person.

"Peter, I've read George's plan. It's not excessive and very reasonable. The Empire does need to build a naval aviation force."

Nicholas didn't care at all whether George abused his power for personal gain.

Vladimir and Alexei were even more extreme than George when they were Navy Ministers.

Nikolai could even tolerate Vladimir and Alexei, so George was a saint compared to them.

"I know the empire is in financial difficulty - how about I pay half of the money?"

Nicholas and Xi Ni's level has reached a new height.

(End of this chapter)