After the executions of Lichtnau and Lehn, Frederick decided to increase the education of little William. Diplomatic etiquette, strategy and tactics, psychology and social enlightenment were added to little William's courses. Now little William can be said to be
I was busy all day long without even touching the ground. As soon as one class was finished, the teacher for the next class had already walked in.
But little William felt that although such days were painful, they were very fulfilling. At least he would no longer have the same idea that if he could time travel, Napoleon would be a scumbag with a combat power of five.
In the spring of 1779, little William was officially crowned Crown Prince of Prussia by Frederick in Sanssouci Palace. During the ceremony, Frederick said to little William:
"William, you should deeply feel the great responsibility on your shoulders. You will shoulder the great responsibility of the rise of Prussia. Although it is too early to hand over this burden to you now. But you must remember that I did not choose you to do it.
The Crown Prince of Prussia, but God has chosen you. It is the tens of millions of Prussian people who have chosen you. No matter when and where you are, you must hold up your chest and remember that behind you are your people, and your
Above you are the ancestors of the Hohenzollern family, and they are all watching you."
After listening to Frederick's words, William said to himself in his heart: "From now on, I will no longer be the Diao silk before. I will carry the entire Prussia forward on my shoulders. God bless me, Amen." When he raised his head, he saw
It was Frederick's hopeful look.
Thinking of this, Little William, who was half-kneeling, suddenly stood up and said loudly to all the nobles present:
"Today, what everyone standing here is seeing is not just a crown prince coronation ceremony, you are witnessing history. I will uphold the wishes of the Hohenzollern ancestors and the will of His Majesty the King to shoulder the heavy responsibility of Prussia. Although
The enemy in front of us is powerful, and the road ahead is full of thorns. But please don’t forget that we are not fighting for ourselves, we are fighting for the people of Prussia and our future. Even on this road we
All died, but Prussia would rise."
After hearing William's declaration, the nobles present blushed and clapped their hands desperately, and the sky was filled with warm applause.
When Theresa of Austria later learned of William's announcement, she thought for a while and sighed to her ministers:
"The Hohenzollern family has a successor"
But Joseph II didn't care about this. He said to his people:
"That kid just said something nice. After Frederick dies, I'll see what Prussia can do to resist my Austrian troops."
Frederick arranged for Rocks to teach young William about national finances, and asked Marshal Zytten to teach young William about classic battles in the history of war and the characteristics and cooperation of various combat arms.
Little William was eager to learn all kinds of knowledge. He felt that he was no longer a person, but a machine, a machine that would become the brain and heart of Prussia.
When Frederick was free, he would take young William to summon nobles and inspect the soldiers' camps. Frederick imitated Charles VI's approach and formulated a state edict, although he knew that his doing so was of little significance.
After all, the Austrian succession war had not passed for many years. But Frederick felt that he had to lay the foundation and clear the obstacles for William.
The nobles and generals signed the state edict one after another. For the nobles who were unwilling to sign, Frederick dismissed them from their posts, and those who opposed were arrested. Frederick felt that his time was running out, and he
All this must be done before death.
In March 1779, Frederick suffered a recurrence of the gunshot wound he suffered during the Seven Years' War. In severe cases, he was even comatose for several days. Frederick appointed Prince Henry, Duke of Rocks, Marshal Zetten and Old Hans to assist William.
All state affairs were left to William to handle. After the arrangements were made, Frederick fell into the difficulty of being in a coma from time to time.
Nine-year-old William became the de facto master of Prussia. The first thing William dealt with was the punishment of Brandenburg's financial officer for embezzling the logistics and military supplies of the garrison.
Prince Henry believed that His Majesty the King was in a coma now, and domestic opposition forces and foreign intervention forces were ready to move. At this time, the priority should be to calm people's hearts and receive a lighter punishment.
However, Marshal Zytten expressed his opposition. He believed that Prussia was a military country and should be severely punished for things that harmed the interests of the military.
William asked Locks for his opinion. Locks shook his head and said to William:
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, you must realize your responsibilities and make your own decisions. The nobility and the army are contradictory and unified with each other. It all depends on your own will."
William thought for a while and said:
"Ask that financial officer to donate all his property. I will spare him the death penalty and change his sentence to ten years in prison. Only one-third of his financial kingdom will be recovered, and two-thirds will be subsidized to the military."
Henry and Old Zytten were speechless after hearing William's punishment, but Rocks gave William's verdict a thumbs up. This punishment not only gave face to the nobles, with this financial officer as a typical example, but also gave the military a
It has great benefits and is really a good idea.
After this incident spread, people throughout Prussia praised the Crown Prince's wisdom.
During the time when Frederick was in a coma, William had to learn all kinds of knowledge and handle state affairs with the assistance of important ministers. He wanted to split himself in half and divide it into two people.
Louise felt very uncomfortable when she saw her son losing weight day by day. She felt that she needed to persuade little William. But when she persuaded little William to pay attention to his health, little William agreed in person, but behind his back he acted like usual.
Just as busy.
The one who is most unhappy about all this is of course our Princess Christine. She feels that her brother can no longer play with her as often as before. Sometimes she sees that she just says hello in a hurry and then leaves. Her former brother
So gentle, Christine, who is only seven years old this year, would not have thought that her brother was now carrying Prussia on his shoulders.
One day, Christine saw William walking past her in a hurry again. This time it was even more extreme. He didn't even say hello to her. Christine's cheeks bulged high with anger, and she decided to give William a little.
Look at it. Christine sneaked into William's study quietly when the waiter was not paying attention. When she saw the three-foot-high pile of documents on the desk, she was so angry that she couldn't get out of nowhere. She lay down on the
On the desk, I took out a box of matches from my small handbag and prepared to light a fire.
At this moment, William walked in accompanied by old Hans. He happened to see Kristine lighting matches there. His face changed and he shouted:
"Christine, what are you doing, stop it!" He said and rushed towards Christine.
Christine was startled by William's loud shout, and she looked back. But she didn't expect that the match was lit at this moment. Christine only felt her hand being burned, and she subconsciously threw away the match.
, but the lit match fell on her skirt. The next moment, Kristine burst into tears and ran while shouting for help.
When William saw Christine's skirt on fire, he hurriedly pulled off his shirt and prepared to put out the fire. The old Hans at the door was startled when he saw the fire. He quickly asked the attendant to get water and sand, and brought the kettle at the door.
He got up and rushed towards Christine.
While comforting Christine, William slapped Christine's skirt with his shirt, but the fire was getting bigger and bigger. William couldn't control it anymore. He took his sister's hand and rushed out.
go.
The attendants outside just ran over with water and sand. William took the water and sprinkled it on himself and his sister.
Looking at Kristine's eyes that were red from crying, her aggrieved expression, her skirt that was burned by the fire, and her dark face, William's original anger instantly disappeared. His soft comfort was still there.
Crying Christine said:
"My good sister, it's okay. Don't cry. If you cry again, my brother won't want you anymore."
Unexpectedly, it was better that William didn't say anything. When he mentioned Kristine, he cried even louder and shouted:
"It's not you. You haven't played with me for so long and you haven't even eaten with me. Do you hate me? I want to tell my mother that you bully me."
William said helplessly:
"If you don't cry, if you don't cry, why would I hate our cute little princess? Isn't this busy? Let's go out and play together in two days." Ignoring the expression on the old Han's side that seemed to be about to dissuade him, William continued:
"When the time comes, how about we go out as a family, and my brother will stay with you all day?"
"Really" Kristine's original cry turned into sobbing, and she looked at William suspiciously while sobbing.
"I promise it's true, but Christine, you can't come to my study again, you know?" William said frankly and swore.
"I won't come here anymore. Do you think I care about you?" After saying that, he made a face to William.
William smiled and said to the attendant:
"Come here, take Her Highness the Princess back to her room." After that, she said to Christine:
"Follow the attendant and go back to change clothes, little cat."
Looking at her gentle brother, Kristine followed the attendant obediently, and when she left, she turned back and smiled at William.
Until Kristine walked away, William turned around and said to old Hans with a straight face:
"Crack all the attendants standing at the door of my study today with twenty horse whips, and then change a group of people. Go and do it now. In addition, I will give you another order. No one is allowed to enter my study without my order."
Looking at William's increasingly majestic face, old Hans William should be respectful.
Afterwards Hans lamented to Rocks:
"Although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not very young, he is still reliable in his work and attaches great importance to feelings. There will be a successor to Prussia."