The next day, Count Bruneck boarded a troop transport with five thousand Prussian soldiers. Under the escort of British warships, they would arrive in North America to fight for Prussian interests.
When the fleet was about to set sail, William gave a speech to all the officers of the Prussian Expeditionary Force. William said:
"My loyal Prussian officers, you will follow the British fleet to the New World. Over the past hundreds of years, European countries have gained huge wealth in the New World, and we Prussia can only stand aside and watch. This is not the result we Prussians are willing to do.
.So your mission is not only to help the British suppress those natives and those criminals, but more importantly, you have to open up a lifeline for Prussia. I gave Count Bruneck command authority, and all the orders he issued in the New World represented
I ask you to obey his orders unconditionally. Soldiers, what Prussia wants is not only the interests of Europe, we also want to fight for the interests we should have in the world."
Amidst the cheers of Long Live Prussia and Long Live His Majesty the King, the battleships of the British fleet blew their whistles, and then the fleet set off.
Looking at the ships leaving the dock one after another, William kept waving. He saw countless good Prussian men staying away from home to fight for Prussia's interests and fighting alone on another continent. Maybe some of them would never come back alive.
But they are the heroes of all Prussia, and their names should be engraved on the monuments of Prussia.
That is, at the same time that the advance troops of the Prussian Expeditionary Force set off, spies hidden deep inside Vienna sent back an incredible news:
"Queen Theresa passes away"
If this news had not been delivered to William personally by Hawkeye, William would not have believed it. Although Queen Theresa also died of illness in the original history this year, it was in November and it is only August now.
But as the saying goes, the Austro-Prussian War triggered by William's crossing and Austria's defeat made Queen Theresa's body weaken faster, and she could no longer survive November.
William asked Hawkeye:
"Is this news reliable?"
Eagle Eye bowed respectfully and replied:
"The news is absolutely reliable. The news was released by our spy lurking in the Vienna Palace. He has lived in the Vienna Palace for thirty years and is our most important spy in Austria. It is said that Joseph II wanted to prevent the news from spreading.
His younger brothers and sisters have been imprisoned.”
William lowered his head and thought for a while and asked:
"Has there been any movement in the Austrian army recently?"
"The Austrians have made little movement at the border, and the resistance groups secretly supported by Austria in Bohemia have also died down. However, according to our spy reports, Austria is sending troops into Hungary. It is said that some nobles in Hungary are already showing signs of rebellion."
Hawkeye said softly.
"This secret plan of not announcing mourning must not have been thought up by Joseph II. Queen Teresa is indeed a hero among women. Even if she is about to die, she is still thinking about Austria." William sighed. After sighing, William began to think again.
The reason why Joseph II did not announce his death secretly was actually clear to William when he thought about it. This strategy had been used many times in Chinese history. Queen Teresa was also worried that everyone knowing the news of her death would trigger internal conflicts in Austria.
The situation is turbulent, and will European countries turn their attention to Austria again?
In fact, let alone talk about it. If William had known that Teresa could not last until August, he might have changed his goals and reached an agreement with Russia again. The prospect of carving up Austria was still very good.
But now, his next strategic goal has been placed on Denmark. Prussia cannot spare the effort to interfere in Vienna. At the same time, it must prevent Russia from interfering in Vienna after learning about the death of Queen Theresa. William sent the troops to Sweden last time
Pallas of the Kingdom visited Austria again to try to reach a memorandum of understanding with Austria.
Prussia needed to develop and had to take a longer-term view. Sir Laurent from England told William that the technical personnel that Britain was going to send to Prussia to help Prussia build shipyards were almost ready and would come to Prussia soon. With these
There are also three training ships with technical personnel. The naval military instructors promised by the British have already gathered in Hannover and will arrive in Prussia in a few days.
William returned to Potsdam after seeing off the expeditionary force. He still had many things to do. After returning to Sanssouci Palace, William summoned all cabinet members and military generals. He proposed his reform ideas to everyone.
William believes that Prussia must carry out reforms if it wants to rise, but this reform does not overthrow all the previous status quo at once, but is a step-by-step reform from bottom to top. William's reforms have three aspects:
1. Political reforms, including allowing citizens to participate in politics to awaken their nationalist sentiments, freeing serfs in Prussian territories, freeing industry and commerce, abolishing guild privileges, reorganizing the central government structure to achieve centralization, etc.
2. Educational reform. William, who came from a later generation, knew the importance of education. He hoped to reform the compulsory education system that Prussia was proud of. In fact, as early as 1717, the then King of Prussia, Frederick William I,
A "Compulsory Education Regulation" was promulgated, stipulating that all minors, regardless of gender, high or low, must receive education.
On this basis, William hoped to extend the time of compulsory education and increase education courses so that all Prussian children could receive systematic, efficient and comprehensive education.
In fact, everyone in later generations should know that it was Frederick William III, who was famous for his weakness in history, who once delivered a speech:
"This country must use its spiritual strength to make up for its material losses. It is precisely because of poverty that it has to provide education. I have never heard of a country that became poor and perished because of education.
Not only will education not make a country poor, on the contrary, education is the best way to get rid of poverty!"
3. Military reform. William hoped to start reforming the Prussian army with Prince Henry as the leader, and hoped to establish the Ministry of Defense and General Staff according to the model of later generations, and hoped to issue a "universal military service system."
The three major reforms proposed by William shocked all cabinet members and military generals. At this stage, William believed that military reforms must be carried out first, because except for the 20,000 troops sent to North America, the other Prussian troops would be useless in a short period of time.
Those who are in a position of strength must take this opportunity to reform.
After the military reform is completed, other reforms can continue. After all, political power comes from the barrel of a gun.
While others were still thinking about the pros and cons of reform, Prince Henry and Prince Ferdinand supported William's reform ideas on behalf of the military. They knew that the little king in front of them had won the support of all soldiers at home through the Austro-Prussian War.
I sincerely admire, they must support His Majesty the King's idea, otherwise they may push themselves to the edge as soon as they reform.
After William saw the support of Henry, Ferdinand and other generals, he nodded with satisfaction.
But then Rocks spoke, and he said carefully:
"Your Majesty, for William of Prussia, there is nothing wrong with reform, but the current national finances cannot effectively support reform. We are currently investing a lot of money to build our navy, and there is not enough money in the national treasury to support reform."
"Your Excellency Rocks, my reforms are not accomplished overnight. I think reform is a long process. For now, I only plan to carry out preliminary military reforms and educational reforms to ensure the combat effectiveness of the Prussian army and the knowledge cultivation of the next generation of Prussians.
, do you understand?" William said calmly
"Then I think the treasury can barely support it, but I want to ask His Majesty the King that reforms must be carried out cautiously, otherwise the good situation may be lost in one fell swoop," Rocks advised.
"Of course, I know this very well. In this case, I think everyone should reach a consensus
Come on, just go down and prepare as I said." William waved his hand and asked everyone to go down.
In fact, William felt that he had acted too hastily, but he had no choice. The external environment put endless pressure on William. Prussia had to become strong as soon as possible, so strong that even the union of Europe could not destroy Prussia.
PS: I have a break-up dinner tonight and I have no time to update tonight. I have to go home tomorrow to celebrate the New Year. So the words in each chapter today are a little less. I hope everyone can understand. Of course, the word count tomorrow will definitely be guaranteed. Thank you.