; Christmas has passed, and the next step is to take stock of the past year and prepare for the new year of national development.
William was the busiest, as he planned to start touring the whole country of Prussia after the New Year, so he needed to take care of all the business before leaving Sanssouci Palace.
Fortunately, although William had to deal with many documents, the content was not very complicated, such as the various military expenditures within the army, the public expenditure of zhèngfu, the appointment of officers in the expanded army, etc., these issues have been discussed before, and now the purpose of William's visit is to get William to issue a formal edict.
While William was flipping through the military's application for next year's military spending, Louise walked into William's study "Mother, why are you here?"
"William, you're busy, I'll take a look" Saying that, Louise walked to the chair in front of William and sat down, seeing Louise's movements, William was a little confused, you must know that Louise would not come to William's study under normal circumstances.
Thinking about it, William put down the document in his hand and asked: "Mother, just say anything you want, you don't usually come to my study."
Hearing William say this, Louise smiled, and she said with a smile: "What?
Can't a mother come to see her son?
” "Of course not, it's just that your arrival took me by surprise, something.
You can ask the maid to call me, why bother you to come over yourself."
William's words made Louise laugh "I know you're busy, just come and see you.
But by the way, I want to talk to you about something."
"Say it" William hurriedly straightened his attitude, and Louise saw William's serious expression and said: "I heard that Buel has received information that His Majesty Joseph II of Austria is terminally ill?"
Hearing this, William's heart was shocked, he didn't know where Louise got the news, and thought that this matter was originally used by himself to deceive Locks so that he could support his army expansion.
Only the three of them knew about this news, and presumably Buel's style would definitely not tell Louise, and the only one left was Locks except himself.
The more William thought about it, the more he thought Louise should have gotten the news from Locks.
Although the so-called terminal illness of Joseph II is a lie, recent signs in Vienna give this lie a hint of truth.
"Mother, I wonder where you got the news?"
"William, you don't care where I got the news from.
You just have to tell me if this news is true?
” Under Louise's questioning.
William smiled bitterly, although he wanted to tell Louise the truth, but when William didn't know what Louise's purpose was, he could only stick to his original lie, William stubbornly pretended to be very firm and said: "Of course, we got this news at a great cost, so I believe he is real" Hearing William's answer, Louise frowned.
Then she thought for a moment, and then whispered: "William, what do you think.
If Joseph II had died of illness soon, would we have gone to war with Prussia and Austria?
” Louise's question made William's head big for a while "Mother, I think it might be up to the Austrians!"
After saying that, a relaxed expression appeared on William's face.
Looking at William's expression, Louise was angry for a while, and she said with annoyance: "William, you said that if we go to war with Austria, will you marry that Anna?"
Well, this question made William tangled, it turned out that Louise had asked so many questions after such a long detour, and what she really wanted to ask was actually this thing.
"Mother, I think if the Austrians can keep their promises, then I will marry Anna" "What about Karina, Du Li, and Lilisa?"
A rhetorical question made William almost choke back his internal injuries.
Although the atmosphere in Europe was very open, and the aristocracy was proud to compare the number and quality of their mistresses, William could not directly tell his mother that if he really married Anna, then the three daughters would become his mistresses!
Seeing that William was silent for a long time, the expression on Louise's face was even more gloomy "I know you can't tell me, although I like Karina and them very much, but Wilhelm, you are the king of Prussia, and now they and you are not married, so it doesn't matter if they both live in Sanssouci Palace, but once you marry Anna of Austria, where do you put Karina and them?
Now there is no one in the whole of Europe who does not know that Karina and they like you, and you will not only hurt your future wife, but also expose Karina and them to all kinds of gossip in the world."
"Mother, Karina and I are innocent!"
"I know you're innocent, but do others know?
Others will only see them living in the palace, with you every day, no gossip!
” Seeing that William lowered his head and did not speak, Louise said angrily: "Also, Karina, they have lived in Sanssouci Palace for so long, what do you make that Anna think?
Although I haven't seen that girl yet, I have learned through some people that she is a good girl.
You have signed a treaty with His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, and if there are no special circumstances in the future, Anna will also be the mistress of Sanssouci Palace.
In such a situation, you also have to think about what other people think."
"Mother, what do you think I should do?"
William looked at his mother suspiciously, and Louise said so much that William was very puzzled.
"It's up to you, but one thing I'm clear about is that you're going to get married next year.
If you marry that Anna, then I have no objection to you and Karina continuing their relationship, but they must leave Sanssouci Palace, and you will have to keep an absolute low profile in the future.
If you don't plan to marry that and Anna, then Karina and the others can stay in Sanssouci Palace, but you will have to marry one of them before the end of next year."
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As she spoke, Louise rolled her eyes twice at William, and when she saw this scene, William smiled bitterly "Mother, I'm still young, I don't plan to get married so early" "In a year, you'll be twenty years old, and you'll be an adult.
I married your father when I was sixteen, and then I had you at nineteen, and you are not too young at twenty."
Well, Louise directly used her own example to educate William personally, and this remark made William unable to refute.
Although the Christian canon states that marriage must be monogamous, the canon does not specify the age of marriage, and in this time in Prussia, marriage at the age of sixteen or seventeen abounded.
"Also, although I know that you have complicated interests behind your marriage to Anna, I think you must make a statement to the Austrian side that Anna must be Protestant after marrying into Prussia, and this must be made clear!"
Hearing Louise hear the question of faith, William suddenly woke up, although he was baptized by Protestantism since he was a child and was constantly influenced by Protestantism, but William's previous life was an atheistic otaku, in this case, although William maintained a certain respect for religion, but deep down he didn't care very much.
And the Protestant faith that Louise mentions today is not a whim, because the hatred between Austria and Prussia stems not only from the secular conflict between the two sides, but also from the religious differences between the two sides.
Prussia believed in Protestantism, while Austria believed in Catholicism, although both denominations belonged to Christianity, but the two sects were very different in doctrine, and in the handling of a series of affairs such as baptism and mass, the two sides were completely different.
In fact, long before William and Joseph II signed the treaty, there was a lot of criticism in Prussia about William's upcoming marriage to a Catholic Austrian county lord, but because William's foundation in Prussia was consolidated, and these treaties could bring great benefits to Prussia, no one dared to disagree in front of William.
But not daring to say it in front of William does not mean that the nobles will not euphemistically put forward their opinions to Louise through some means.
In addition, Protestants and Catholics must not intermarry, which means that if Anna does marry William, then she must convert to Protestantism before marriage, otherwise the marriage will not be possible at all.
"Don't worry, Mother, that's for sure, if Anna of Austria really marries into Prussia, then her faith will have to change, and Catholicism is not for Prussia" Seeing William say this, Louise nodded.
After Louise left, William scratched at his hair in annoyance, he didn't expect things to be so annoying.
Louise must have listened to some people and couldn't sit still, and William must have been one of them.
Think about it, although William doesn't care much about these things, but there are more people who care about this matter, take Anna's faith as an example, if Anna marries William without converting, then William's prestige in Prussia will definitely take a sharp turn, religion is sometimes worse than paper rubbing the buttocks, but sometimes it is more important than life.
In addition, William's intentions can also be understood, after all, Karina's living in Sanssouci Palace affects Karina's reputation, and Locks is naturally willing William to marry Karina instead of Anna.