William had a clear view of the democratic wave in France. France could be said to be the first country to be enlightened in the European continent at the same time. A large number of enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau, etc. were all French.
These Enlightenment thinkers opened a window into the ideological world for the entire French people, and with the development of the times, the bourgeoisie has developed extremely rapidly. It can be said that the entire society is in an era of transition from feudalism to capitalism.
In fact, it is not just France, but the whole of Europe. The whims of Enlightenment thinkers have filled Europe with an unusual smell. Based on the achievements of natural science and philosophy in the seventeenth century, Enlightenment scholars believe that, just like Newton
Just like the discovery of the law of universal gravitation, people can also use the power of reason to discover the laws of nature, human beings and society, and seek worldly happiness; they use the concepts of rationality, religious tolerance and progress to impact the old concepts of conservative status quo and oppose all restrictive ideas.
and dogmas and systems that suppress freedom; among them, the most progressive thinkers advocate religious atheism, philosophical materialism, political democracy, and economic laissez-faire. Enlightenment thought involves religion, philosophy, ethics, and economics.
science, political science, history, aesthetics and other fields.
But France was the center of the Enlightenment, and the Encyclopaedists represented by Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau and Diderot were recognized by the entire French society.
Of course, the development of an emerging class will definitely affect the interests of the old forces. In the ideological field, the emerging bourgeoisie in France also launched a rapid struggle against feudal rule and church privileges. These emerging bourgeoisie opposed obscurantism, authoritarianism and religion.
Superstition. They hope to break the old traditional concepts and spread new ideas. In this way, the contradictions between capitalism and feudal autocracy begin to deepen.
A large number of people and intellectuals combined with enlightened politicians and radicals brought a stormy impact to French society.
There is also a group of people who advocate the Enlightenment in Prussia, but the conservative forces in Prussia are too strong, and William is not ready to start vigorous reforms of the entire Prussian society now. Too radical reforms will make the entire Prussian society
Collapsed suddenly.
So at first, William only tried to liberate the serfs and strengthen patriotic education. Now in Prussia's compulsory education, William has added a necessary course, which is ideological and moral courses. To put it simply, it is brainwashing.
Through this course, William hopes to instill in all the people of Prussia that their happy life is the result of the continuous bloody struggle of the entire Prussian nation, and the Prussian nation is one of the best races in the world. Every Prussian learns from him
He has been a soldier since he was born, a soldier who has been fighting endlessly for the great motherland of Prussia.
Of course, the most important thing is that in Prussia, everyone has the first responsibility to obey the king's orders. "One country, one nation, one leader, one voice" was forcibly added to the curriculum by William
.
The Prussia that William hoped to create was a militaristic country similar to the Third Reich in later generations. History has proven that if a nation or a country wants to quickly move towards prosperity and revival, then it has only one choice, and that is militarism.
Among all social systems, militarism is the shortcut that can make a country strong in the shortest time.
The development of the matter was in line with William's wishes. Driven by the Prussian spies, the whole of Paris began to talk about Enlightenment ideas. Even in the upper echelons of Paris, many nobles joined in. These nobles were young and ambitious. They hoped to restrict ecclesiastical power.
, the royal power comes to seek its own interests.
It was at this time that Louis XVI announced the convening of the Estates-General, which gave those careerists and people who advocated freedom an opportunity and a platform.
Louis XVI's proposal to increase taxes was ruthlessly shot down. William was not surprised by this. Only William would be surprised if it was passed. Like France, Prussia also had a serious financial crisis a few years ago. However,
William did not resort to raising taxes, a method that would hurt both others and himself.
William would rather tighten his belt and grit his teeth to get through the difficulties than raise taxes, because taxes are not easy to increase. When taxes are increased, it means that the people's hearts are being lost. No one is willing to live in this country.
A country with lots of taxes.
After receiving the latest information about France, William gave instructions on the current situation. He ordered that from now on, patriotic education should be carried out in all Prussian troops. The most important significance of this education is to let all Prussian soldiers understand
What are they fighting for and who are they fighting for?
At the same time, William asked the government to once again increase investment in the French spy system. William asked France's Prussian intelligence agencies to do their best to penetrate into the various forces in France to steal first-hand information.
Time rushed into July. On July 1st, William inspected the Prussian National Bank located in the bustling area of Brandenburg city center.
At the National Bank, Meyer reported to William.
Since the establishment of the National Bank, more than 80,000 liberated serfs and more than 20,000 freedmen have applied for low-interest loans from the National Bank. The total loan amount of these serfs was nearly 10 million silver marks, and the National Bank also provided loans to these serfs.
The flow of money was tracked and investigated. Most serfs used the loans in their hands to purchase land from landlords, and only a small number of serfs used these loans to start their own businesses or trade.
Most of the money from the National Bank was used by Meyer to build a large number of factories near Brandenburg. Some of these factories produced military uniforms and uniforms, some produced weapons and ammunition, and most of them produced a wide variety of daily necessities.
, to this end, Meyer personally went to the UK to recruit a large number of technical talents to train workers in various factories.
William enthusiastically inspected a factory not far east of Brandenburg. This factory produced military uniforms and quilts. In the workshop, hundreds of workers were working on textile machines.
William looked at the textile machine in front of him with great interest. This kind of textile machine was called the Jenny Textile Machine by later generations as the leader of the first industrial revolution.
It is undeniable that textile machines had a huge impact on the entire textile industry, and many craftsmen were unemployed as a result. However, because of the freak of the Prussian State Bank, those craftsmen were absorbed into the industries run by the state bank.
Or, it is not an exaggeration to describe Prussia as a partially planned economy.