"Your Highness, you see William is so hateful. When His Majesty announced him as the Prince of Brandenburg, he glared at me. What should I do in the future?" Wilhelmine von Lichtenau raised her handkerchief to wipe her tearless eyes, while secretly glancing at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
In fact, our little William was also shocked when he heard the news. Why would he bother to glare at her? She was just trying to sow discord.
"Okay, put away your nonsense. Although I don't know why His Majesty named him Prince of Brandenburg, I think he has his reasons," said the Crown Prince with a dark face.
"Recently, you should be more restrained. You know that the ministers are very dissatisfied with you. Don't provoke them anymore, otherwise even I can't protect you." After saying that, he snorted and walked away.
"Okay, I knew you couldn't bear to do it. In that case, don't blame me for being ruthless," Lichtnau thought fiercely, stomped his feet and walked out of the palace.
As His Majesty's order to confer the title of Brandenburg on William came down, people throughout the Sanssouci Palace could be heard discussing this matter from time to time. Some people thought that this was a warning from His Majesty because he was dissatisfied with the Crown Prince. Others thought that His Majesty was making amends out of guilt for William. However, everyone had a rare unanimous opinion that Sanssouci Palace was about to become restless.
"Your Highness, I will be responsible for your daily life from now on. If you need anything, please tell me," Buel said in a low voice while standing at the door of William's room.
"Okay, Lord Buel, I'll trouble you in the future. Now you go down first, I need to change my clothes," William said in the room. After hearing William's words, Buel went downstairs.
Where did all these little things come from? According to the usual practice of the court ball, if it started at noon, it would not be dismissed until about ten o'clock in the evening. So our little William had to change into the dress of the Prince of Brandenburg and go back to the hall to have a good chat with the nobles present.
William let the maids manipulate his body, and it took more than an hour to finish dressing up. The only thing William was dissatisfied with was that his black hair was covered by the white wig. What was even more annoying was that the wig was braided into many strands, which made our little William very unhappy. But William knew that this was etiquette, so he had no choice but to wear it.
"His Royal Highness Prince of Brandenburg has arrived." As the attendant at the door read out, William strode to the center of the hall, where the most powerful person in Prussia was. And little William's father was also there.
Amid the respectful greetings from many nobles on both sides of the road, little William held his head high and thought to himself: A real man should be like this.
"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince and Your Highness the Prince." William respectfully bowed to his adoptive father and Prince Henry.
"Stand up," His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said, and then he ignored little William and turned to chat with other people. Our Prince Henry happily grabbed William's hand and said:
"That's right, Prince of Brandenburg, you must seize the opportunity and not make His Majesty angry, okay?" Henry said in a persuasive manner.
"I understand, Grandpa Henry," little William replied.
"Don't blame your father. In fact, no one expected that you would be conferred the title Prince of Brandenburg. Perhaps your father overreacted and felt that you posed a threat to him," Henry said again.
It was not just His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who thought so, but most of the people present. The King had long been dissatisfied with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, not only because he was indecisive, but also because His Royal Highness the Crown Prince brought his mistresses to the ball in public, and sometimes even allowed his mistresses to interfere in government affairs.
His Majesty the King has reprimanded him many times, but the Crown Prince has never changed. Some people think that His Majesty may see hope in Little William, and perhaps His Majesty will not allow the Crown Prince to ascend the throne in the future, but will directly pass the throne to Little William. This is also possible.
Little William was lost in thought. Henry saw that he was in a daze and said:
"Come, I will introduce you to some adults."
After saying that, he took William's hand and walked towards the group of people standing in the middle.
"This is Marshal Hans Ernst Karl Graf von Zieten, the Kingdom's Chief of Cavalry, this is Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, this is the Kingdom's Minister of Finance, Duke of Rocks, and this is Commander-in-Chief of the Guards, Leopold Kael Anhalt-Dessau." Henry introduced the four people standing in front of him to William.
Marshal Hans Ernst Karl Graf von Zieten is already 78 years old this year. Although he looks thin and has a big trough nose, the old man has an aura of authority when he stands there. He participated in the War of Polish Succession, the War of Austrian Succession, and the Seven Years' War and has made great achievements. There are only a handful of generals in Prussia today who can compete with him.
Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, whose full name is Ferdinand von Brunswick, is 56 years old this year. He participated in the War of the Austrian Succession. In the Seven Years' War, he led his army into Saxony and Bohemia, and wiped out 20,000 Austrian garrisons along the way. He served as the commander of the right wing in the Battle of Prague. In 1757, he was sent to the Western Front by Frederick the Great to resist France. In the same year, he was proposed by King George II of England to become the commander of the coalition forces. From then on, Ferdinand has been on his own, and with only a small Hanoverian joint force, he has resolved all the attacks of the French army in the west. The Western Front has never been a problem for His Majesty the King again.
Duke Rox was a playmate of His Majesty the King. After His Majesty succeeded to the throne, he was promoted to be the chief steward of the palace. He is 63 years old this year. During the Seven Years' War, he assisted the then Minister of Finance in handling domestic finances. Due to the impact of the war, the national finances have been in a state of deficit. Seeing this, Duke Rox suggested to His Majesty the King to plunder the wealth of Saxony and impose special taxes on Saxony, thus improving the financial situation of the kingdom. After the war, His Majesty promoted him to the position of Minister of Finance.
Leopold Kael Anhalt-Dessau is the youngest son of Leopold Anhalt-Dessau. He is 52 years old this year. Four of them, father and son, served as imperial marshals. The elder Leopold was also the Prince of Anhalt. In his early years, he was a capable general under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the War of the Spanish Succession. Later, he became the main organizer and leader of the Prussian Army and promoted a large number of generals who later became the pillars of the country. His "corpse-like obedience" became the iron will creed of the Prussian Army. Kael himself was also a very capable commander, deeply loved by His Majesty the King.
William was thinking about the information of these four people. These four people controlled most of Prussia's military and financial power. They were indeed important figures. It seemed that he had to maintain good relations with them in the future, otherwise the situation of me, the Prince of Brandenburg, would not be good.