Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 144: 04) Restitution

Back in Sofia, Ferdinand had a grand ceremony waiting for him to officiate in person!

A large number of heroes emerged from the Bulgarian-Serbian War, some of whom had enough merit and needed to be conferred with their titles, a task that could only be presided over by Ferdinand himself!

Also, in memory of the fallen soldiers and officers of this war, the Bulgarian government held a national memorial. Ferdinand decided to attend personally to show the fallen martyrs' importance.

It should have started a long time ago, but with the death of Aleksandr III, Ferdinand went to St. Petersburg, so everyone had to wait.

The material rewards, which have already started long ago, can be received by everyone in varying amounts of cash according to merit or can be converted into land in newly acquired territories.

The soldiers quickly and warmly welcomed Ferdinand's decision. For soldiers from rural backgrounds, nothing is more attractive than land!

It is a pity that for most people, even if the government gives a reduced price for land this time, which is much lower than the market price, they still cannot get much land.

After all, this war is going too smoothly. Basically, all the smooth and hard battles are rarely fought, and it is not obvious that everyone gets the war credit!

After the military requested a cumulative war service award, Ferdinand agreed to it in good faith.

The Balkans lack everything but war and to gain more land. The military will actively promote war, which happens to be the same as Ferdinand's next strategy!

So the awkward scene emerged that the pensions and war bonuses prepared in advance by the government were almost no one claimed.

On the other side, there were long lines of people at the counter where they gave out land rewards. Whether or not they could redeem enough land, everyone was willing to go and have a good time.

Ferdinand, of course, knows the reason. Besides the low price of the military land and one of the biggest advantages, the low tax, only need to pay half of the regular tax!

It is the primary reason why the people are so eager to move to the newly acquired territory. After all, such great benefits are at hand. It is not difficult to accept to proceed to the newly acquired territory.

In order to prevent seizure by capitalists or aristocrats, Ferdinand also made special provisions for these military lands to lose the privilege of half-tax once the sale took place!

Under normal conditions, there are so many restrictions. If the newly risen military landlords who can still bankrupt their businesses, Ferdinand can only express his admiration.

The lady in waiting, Alisa, brought over a stack of documents and said, "Your Highness, this is the list submitted up by the military, the first page is the ones that need to be conferred with titles, and the ones that follow are the ones that need to be awarded by you personally for military merit, as you requested."

Ferdinand casually took the list and read it. There is not much on it. The first page is even less, only a mere eight people, all attached to their battle records, merit, there is no doubt.

In the last pages of the list, also mostly marked with red lines, Ferdinand knew that these people, either killed in action or seriously wounded and retired, the military gave priority in terms of honor. He naturally did not intend to look deeper.

After all, the living can not compete with the dead. It is common throughout the world. Others make some allowances is also understandable.

Ferdinand nodded in satisfaction. There is no rotten thing. If someone is abused, he has to become a joke for this show.

On the other hand, the cabinet government is now busy. Despite its short duration, the Bulgarian-Serbian War was a national mobilization, and it didn't matter in wartime; everything served for the war, and they could postpone many issues.

Now that the war is over, something has to give!

It is important to give severance pay to the mobilized reserve and reward the people who take the initiative to participate in it, at least the honorable reward!

It is one thing to give or not to provide monetary compensation for the requisitioned factories, but there should always be a claim; the materials that were called for should always be paid for now, and it is impossible to keep owing it, and what is the price to be paid?

The new territory must be divided into administrative districts; the reward of the military land also needs to send people to preside over the division; it is necessary to prepare for the recruitment of immigrants!

...

Anyway, there are many messy things, and all the big guys are busy and dizzy, which is considered painful and happy at the same time.

The celebration took place after Christmas, on January 3, 1895, when Ferdinand himself presided over the conferral of the title at the Royal Palace in Sofia.

Considering the war behind, Ferdinand showed very little and took out a total of two viscounts and six barons as a reward, but also not hereditary titles!

Of course, his reason is also very good. This time the opponent is Serbia. Whomever else to command can win, and the army's performance can only be moderate. There is nothing to say. With low difficulty, the reward is naturally low.

It is, of course, will not cause discontent in the army. After all, in this war, basically by strength all the way through the pressure, the officers do not have many chances to perform.

For example, if he wanted the Middle Army, it would have been a good tactic to send troops deep behind the enemy and cut off supply lines; but the main Serbian force slipped away early and had to do useless work and waste time.

As the main force, the battle record is smaller than the other two sides of the division. They feel ashamed. There is no face to mention the war credit.

The Left Army, this time, took on the decisive battle of the main force. The fight was perfect, the problem is the casualties paid too much, and the officers naturally lost a lot of war credit.

There's nothing to say. We can't just let people look at the war record and ignore the casualties, right? Bulgaria is a small country with a small population that can't afford to be tossed around.

The Right Army, needless to say, is completely picking up the pieces along the way, not having fought a single hard battle and seemingly doing well in battle, but the opponents are a bunch of tatters, and there is no way for them to be convincing in battle.

Against the mob of fresh recruits, who could not even get their guns together, the Bulgarian Army said, "A Bulgarian main battalion can deal with a new Serbian division!"

Accurate or inaccurate, the example of a single Bulgarian battalion defeating a division with no main Serbian force pressuring it still happened in the Bulgarian-Serbian War.

As for the conferring of titles later, Ferdinand did not refrain. How to come, everything is followed according to the rules!

Even though he didn't like to put on a show, Ferdinand smiled and put each medal on the officers and men personally, patting them on the shoulder as a sign of support.

Those who have died will have to be claimed by their families on their behalf. What appears at the scene is only their portraits for the world to honor.

With the cultural differences between China and the West in mind, Ferdinand did not create a monument to the heroes. Still, he held a memorial service for the fallen soldiers in the Sofia Cathedral, per Bulgarian tradition.