I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 555 The King's Three Axe
Prince George is somewhat unworthy of his title.

Polis became the King of Bulgaria, and the Yurievs finally officially became a royal family like the Romanovs.

The affection between generations was particularly evident in Catherine. Although on the surface Catherine's favorite child was Alexandra, in fact, the one Catherine really cared about was her eldest grandson, Boris.

No matter how outstanding Alexandra is, she will eventually have to get married.

Even if Polis did not become king, he would still be the first in line to the throne of Grand Duke Yuriev.

Although both support Anne and Catherine, their degree of support is different.

Anne's love is not only for Boris, but also for other children.

Boris became the King of Bulgaria, and Catherine gave all the private money she had saved for so many years to Boris, which made Anne a little jealous.

When Anne gave birth to Alexandra and Boris, Catherine promised Anne that her money would belong to her in the future.

Now Catherine gave all her money to Boris.

Annie instantly felt that her mother-in-law was not close to her.

With the support of the Queen Mother and the Grand Queen Mother, Polis was now very wealthy. However, he did not use the money to build the new capital Adrianople, but instead used it to improve the infrastructure of the Bulgarian Kingdom.

The royal palace being built in Adrianople did not use the natural stone commonly used by European royal families, but instead chose cheaper reinforced concrete.

It’s not that there is no natural stone. Marmara Island is the largest marble producer in Europe, and there is plenty of marble available.

Compared with reinforced concrete, mining marble is still a bit troublesome, with high costs, long cycles and slow results. It has no advantages other than being expensive.

The cost of reinforced concrete is low, and the construction speed is very different. The palace in Constantinople has just started construction, and the palace in Adrianople is almost completed.

The main structure is almost completed, but it is still a long way from being ready for official occupancy.

In addition to building a new capital, the Kingdom of Bulgaria is upgrading its railway system, converting the previous single-track railway into a double-track railway, and upgrading the port facilities in Varna and Kavala, making these two places the main ports of the Kingdom of Bulgaria on the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea.

In addition to railways and ports, Polis also planned to build a nationwide road network, as well as airports in Sofia and Adrianople, and hired Russian pilots for these two airports.

In order to make the pilots stay willingly, Boris painted a big rosy picture for them.

The newly planned Adrianople is built on the mountain. Each community has an independent hospital and school, as well as parks and churches, fully meeting the daily needs of citizens.

In addition to generous salaries, Polis also provides pilots with independent residences in the city of Adrianople, and their welfare benefits are basically the same as those of officials.

Taking into account the habits of the pilots, Polis will also promote Russian language teaching in the schools in Adrianople. Russian itself is one of the official languages ​​of the Kingdom of Bulgaria. Many Bulgarians can speak Russian, especially the powerful class, for which Russian is the common language.

Although Bulgarian and Russian both belong to the Slavic language family and have certain similarities, there are still differences in details.

It has to be said that this big offer is still very attractive to Russian pilots, and many pilots immediately decided to join Bulgarian citizenship.

This is also normal. After the independence of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, Russia has always stationed troops in Bulgaria. Many soldiers stationed in Bulgaria settled in Bulgaria after retirement. They are the core base of Polis.

In addition to infrastructure, Polis also built invalids homes across Bulgaria to care for orphans, the elderly, and disabled soldiers who had no ability to live.

You may not believe it, but in the 30th century, even in the most economically developed country, Britain, about % of adult women were single.

Being single does not mean having no children. Many women have their own children but are not married.

It is very difficult for single women to raise children, so there are many abandoned children and even more elderly people without children to take care of them. This is an important reason why the average life expectancy has not increased significantly even though the Industrial Revolution has begun hundreds of years ago and the economy has developed rapidly.

In the past, the adoption of orphans was mostly done by the church.

Almost no one pays attention to the elderly group.

Things like the elderly being taken care of and the young being cared for only exist in utopias in Europe.

It’s really difficult for individuals.

If we start from the national level, it is actually not that difficult.

The Kingdom of Bulgaria had a small population, with a total population of only 650 million. The number of orphans under the age of 12 and elderly widows and widowers over the age of 60 totaled less than 2. Based on an average annual cost of about 50 rubles per person, the total number was less than 100 million.

50 rubles was the annual expenditure for a soldier after the reform of the Russian Imperial Army.

This expenditure does not include salaries and is enough for children and the elderly.

Although 100 million rubles is not a lot of money, the effect achieved is extremely significant.

With the land reform and the Invalides, although Boris had not yet been crowned, the support he had gained in the Bulgarian Kingdom had reached an unprecedented level.

What Boris gained was support, while what Brusinov gained was the nickname "Butcher".

Brusinov's way of dealing with his enemies can be summed up in one word: kill!

Brusinov's definition of "enemy" is slightly broader.

In a normal legal system, even if people commit crimes, it is considered an internal conflict among the people and they will be punished according to the severity of the crime.

In order to enrich the population of Siberia, the Russian Empire exiled criminals to Siberia. Bulgaria had no place of exile, and prisons and gallows were the final destinations for criminals.

Harsh punishments are used in troubled times. The Kingdom of Bulgaria has been independent for only over 30 years, but it has already deposed two kings. This shows how serious the social contradictions are.

After Brusinov's massacre in Burgas, August arrived in Burgas, appeased the Burgas people, and announced Polis' amnesty.

The meaning of an amnesty is that past events will be forgiven.

But if you dare to defy the king's orders again, you will be punished for all your crimes.

Polis' third order is to cut taxes.

Taking into account the war that broke out in the Bulgarian Kingdom last year, Polis decided to exempt people whose land area was less than 1 dessiatin from taxes.

1 Russian acre is equivalent to 16.35 urban acres, which is basically the standard for the poor in the Russian Empire, but it is the threshold for the middle class in Bulgaria.

After all, the income from growing grapes and growing potatoes is different.

The tax exemption policy truly benefited the vast majority of Bulgarian people. Only then did Polis gain the trust of all Bulgarians and become the irreplaceable Tsar in their minds.

"It sounds like Boris did a great job."

Anne was very satisfied with Polis's performance. If there was a monarch satisfaction survey at that time, Polis would definitely be at the top of the list.

"Of course, you don't even consider how many resources he has."

George was also satisfied. It would be a miracle if Boris did not do a good job with George's full support.

Anne and Catherine could only provide a certain degree of financial support to Boris, but money would be spent sooner or later.

Although George did not pay, ships from the Russian Empire and the Far East arrived in Varna and Cava every day.

George not only contracted the military of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, but also mobilized various materials from the Russian Empire and the Far East to send them to Bulgaria, with nearly 100 million tons of grain alone.

There are only 650 million people in Bulgaria. The food George sent is equivalent to 150 kilograms per person on average. This food includes not only grains, but also meat and fish, which are what the Bulgarians need most.

The main crop grown in Bulgaria is grapes, and a large amount of grain needs to be imported every year to meet the needs of Bulgarians.

The meat George sent was real meat, not hot pot meatballs made of starch, and certainly not kelp used to replace seafood.

With food in hand, there is no need to panic. Let the Bulgarians be well fed first so that they will have the strength to build the country.

"When are we going home?"

Annie misses Vladivostok a little.

Although St. Petersburg is nice, it is not Anne and George's home, Vladivostok is.

The Far East was not peaceful during this period, mainly because of the unrest in the Qing Empire.

Last year, the Qing Empire finally complied with the demands of the government and the public and introduced the so-called "responsible cabinet."

There were a total of 13 people in the cabinet, 7 of whom were members of the royal family. The Han people, who made up the vast majority of the population, had only 4 seats. When the news was announced, the whole country was in an uproar.

At the end of last year, a revolution broke out in the Qing Empire. Within just a few months, the Qing Empire, which had existed for 295 years, collapsed.

What’s funny is that just before the demise of the Qing Empire, the Qing Empire signed the Treaty of Manchuria with the Russian Empire, ceding 1400 square kilometers to the Russian Empire.

George had to admire the Russian Empire's ability to take advantage of others' misfortunes. It could even take a bite before dying. This was truly very Russian.

The biggest benefit that the demise of the Qing Empire brought to Vladivostok was that there were many more unclaimed deposits in the Siberian Bank, and there were many new immigrants from the Qing Empire in Amur.

Long before the demise of the Qing Empire, many of the Qing Empire's dignitaries went to Vladivostok to purchase land and property, which directly led to a doubling of housing prices in Vladivostok.

This is really not taking advantage of the situation. Even if this incident did not happen, housing prices in Vladivostok have been rising.

"Let's wait a little longer. At least we have to wait until the situation in Boris stabilizes."

George is not in a hurry. World war is about to break out in Europe, and George definitely cannot leave for the next two years.

Of course, life still has to go on.

With the arrival of winter, George is taking his family on vacation to the Aegean Sea this year.

George prepared a gift for Anne, which was a beautiful island with green trees, white sand beaches and crystal waves.

The most important thing is that the Aegean Sea has warm sunshine, which is very important to Russians.

Anne is not interested in being an island owner. Although she is in St. Petersburg, her heart has already flown to Bulgaria.

This was the first time since Boris was born that he had been away from Anne for such a long time.

(End of this chapter)