The Path to Mediterranean Supremacy/Bulgarian Empire

The truth begins half a month ago, when Franz, still scouting around Bulgaria, was halted by a telegram from Ferdinand.

The content is very simple: "Mr. Franz, the development zone has settled in Sliven. You are now going to Sliven to discuss business matters at once!..."

Franz then hurriedly ended his trip and began gathering a negotiating team.

Used to the slowness of the Austro-Hungarian bureaucracy, Franz has always praised the efficiency of Bulgaria now.

Of course, but this time there are some exceptions. As Franz's guess, even if the Bulgarian government wants to establish a development zone. If one integrates all factors, such as administrative staffing, personnel transfers, etc., it will not be completed without a year and a half.

As a result, three days after receiving Ferdinand's telegram, Franz received an invitation to establish the Sliven Development Zone, leaving him no time to prepare.

It was so fast that the Bulgarian business community had no time to react from creating public opinion to establishing the development zone, actually less than a month.

Like the rest of the business community, Franz arrived in Sliven in a hurry.

As the spokesman of Ferdinand, Franz is already a big name in the Bulgarian business community, and all parties have to give a few respects.

The mayor of Sliven and the head of the development zone, Hugo Ivanov, came to greet him personally. When he saw Franz, Howell said brightly, "Mr. Franz, nice to meet you, and welcome to the new part of Sliven!"

Franz's loud voice rumbled, "Mayor Hugo, I am also pleased to meet you. I believe the new zone of Sliven will bring me a change of pace!"

...

Most of the big names in the Bulgarian business community have personally come over. Even if there are delays, they have sent delegates over.

As soon as Franz arrived, he became the main figure. As the head of Volvo, Europe's largest retail leader, it was impossible to ignore the crowd's focus.

Just after arriving in Sliven, people kept coming over to visit. What made it difficult for Franz was that most of them were fellow guests and could not be ignored.

Many of Ferdinand's industries have come with a coat of arms and are seen to be separate on the surface to avoid being a target.

The circle of Bulgarian industry and commerce is not large, and there are few people with weight. Most of those eligible to be invited are those who have made their mark in the industry.

If one were to look into it, one would find that half of the attendees were Ferdinand's people and the Bulgarian economy, now under Ferdinand's control.

Although the new zone of Sliven development is not taken seriously by the Bulgarian community, the scene is still very lively. All because: Ferdinand is going to attend the opening ceremony!

On November 12, 1891, God seemed to be unusually generous as the golden sun hung high in the crystal blue sky, dispelling the bitter cold of winter.

A temporary assembly hall was set up in the Sliven Development Zone. A small number of people attended the meeting. Besides government officials, more than thirty representatives of industry and commerce and several media such as the Bulgarian Daily press were also invited to attend.

After the tedious set of ceremonies, Ferdinand began his inspiring speech.

"There is a philosopher who said, 'After walking many miles in a dream, you still wake up in bed.' It tells us symbolically that one cannot live lying in a dreamlike ideal."

"In the road to achieve the ideal is inevitably bumpy and rugged, we need to have determination, confidence, the spirit of perseverance despite the difficulties. In the face of setbacks, we can not be daunted and this we have to give in, to take out the courage of difficult conditions at the end and tirelessly work hard. Because, the great Bulgaria gives us passion, strength, we do not have any reason to have the slightest slack, thus wasting it away. We have to wield the colors of life in our constant pursuit and struggle, and let our ideals soar!"

"What is patriotism?"

"A deepest feeling for one's homeland that has been built up over thousands of years."

"That is our patriotism!"

"..." (30,000 words saved)

"Let's work hard for the rise of Bulgaria!"

The speech ended in the thundering moving applause that made Ferdinand's speech very successful. It can not be unsuccessful for this half-hour speech. He copied more than ten famous patriotic speeches of later times and fused he replaced the essence of the core of the speech to Bulgaria searching for people to refine and form it.

The purpose is to pose as a hero, no! It's to get the business community and receive a baptism of patriotism.

Once the speech was over, and Hugo was naturally responsible for the aftermath.

How should the development zone be developed?

It is a difficult problem, and now there is no example in the world to refer to it!

The new zone authority has a headache. Hugo Ivanov is now regretting a bit. Why bother to fight for this position?

Of course, do a good job, achieve results easily, and be valued by the top. But the problem is, how to do it? There is no clue!

Can not figure out how to do it, Hugo asked to be taught, telegraphed to the top to support. It is a pity that the central government of Bulgaria does not know where to start!

Konstantin is very easy to return the call, do not worry about it, I look at you! By the way, it is an idea that he can discuss with the business community.

Then there was nothing more, and the Sliven Development Zone is arguably the poorest administrative unit in Bulgaria.

For now, there is nothing but the ten square kilometers of land set aside from the city of Sliven.

It was so poor that it didn't even have a government office, and the previous expenses were all paid by the city of Sliven.

To absorb businesses to settle, at least there must be infrastructure! Now Sliven Development Zone is still barren land mixed with a small amount of farmland. The terrain is fine and relatively flat.

The initial investment alone is not a small figure. The central government is not optimistic about the development of the new area and has no plans to allocate funds.

The tax offer is not bad. The first three years are tax-free, and the next five years are half-taxed. Bulgarian capitalists are very excited, but after calculating the initial investment, there is no return without the investment of several million Leva.

The investment is so big, can it recover the cost? Many people said that as long as the government could solve the infrastructure, they still intended to support it. One by one, they all gave up, and then it became the same situation now.

And then Franz stood out in the public eye and stated: he was interested in signing up for the infrastructure construction of the development zone.

What happened then was that everything went smoothly, and the new regional government threw out the mess in a hurry. It also gained 100,000 Leva, the first administrative funds, and paying off the debts of the Sliven City government.