Chapter 4
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Chapter 4: Poor, Weak, and Helpless
The new head of the Royal Affairs Office, Warren Freeman, looked like a simple young man with a very serious work attitude.
Leader One arrived at the office promptly at 8 o’clock in the morning, only to see Freeman waiting at the door. When asked, he found out Freeman had been waiting there since 6:30 am.
"Do you think I don’t work hard enough? Why did you come to work so early?"
"Your Highness, I am just… um, excited. I am happy to be appreciated and given this job."
"I heard Anna say you are very good at making tea?"
"Yes, Your Highness, I used to serve as a tea maker in the Prussian army."
Leader One sat down on his chair and watched Freeman handling the tea leaves in the prince regent’s office. The tea cabinet contained over fifty tea canisters, each with writings from different places.
Freeman crouched in front of the tea cabinet and asked the prince regent which tea he wanted to drink today.
"North Garden Oolong," Leader One said.
Freeman accurately picked out the right tin from the large pile of tea canisters, selecting from the Ming Dynasty teas.
With interest, Leader One asked, "Do you know Mandarin too?"
Freeman replied, "My father was a missionary and he took me to live in the East for a while."
Freeman brought over a pot of tea and cups, holding a white towel on his arm, looking like a good butler.
After taking a sip, Leader One exclaimed how wonderful it was, giving the newcomer some encouragement before announcing the start of the day’s work.
In reality, Leader One didn’t really know about tea; he just drank whatever was available. The over fifty types of tea in the cabinet were all gifts from others.
"Your Highness, here is your schedule for today."
From eight to nine in the morning, approve important documents submitted by the Cabinet.
From nine to ten in the morning, meet with former Minister of National Defense Marshall Steinmetz.
From ten to eleven in the morning, review the parliamentary proposals from yesterday, either approving them or vetoing them.
From eleven to one in the afternoon, meet with Minister of Science and Education Humboldt and have lunch together.
At two in the afternoon, attend the opening ceremony of the Prussia Military Medical and Field Medical Training Academy and give a speech.
The rest of the time, take a break.
After finishing speaking, Freeman tore the paper with the daily schedule from the notebook and handed it to Leader One.
"No problem. Oh, by the way, don’t forget to sort out the letters. We still have letters from last month that haven’t been dealt with."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The work of the prince regent is quite easy. Approving cabinet documents and parliamentary issues are part of the daily routine. Meeting with ministers and giving speeches outside are the other tasks. Currently, the international situation is normal, and domestic development is stable with no major concerns.
There are political upheavals in England, internal conflicts in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, protests in France, uprisings in Poland, suppression of peasant uprisings in Russia, and Austria is busy suppressing various national uprisings.
Look at how normal everything is. Today’s world is so peaceful and calm.
The internal situation in Prussia is a bit chaotic because Leader One has appointed a large number of young officials who often make confusing decisions and mistakes.
But that is not important. Various reform policies from Berlin are being implemented, and Prussia is in a period of rapid development, moving from feudalism towards modernization under national strategic planning. The Ministry of Finance estimates that this year’s economic growth will reach eighteen percent, and government revenue is expected to increase by twenty-five percent compared to last year.
The bad thing is that farming is getting worse. Leader One is hoping that the Prussian Engineering Institute can develop advanced farming machines quickly. He also hopes that domestic chemical companies can produce cheap fertilizer. This way, they can save the disastrous situation in agriculture.
The efficiency of the experimental state-owned farms is not good. The workers are mainly young students from the agricultural university established last year. Due to their lack of experience, they have made many confusing mistakes.
Since becoming prince regent, there has been a focus on education strategy. Initially, due to lack of money, it was just talk. However, in the past year or two, there has been strong development. The Ministry of Education and Science has been receiving more funds. Many vocational schools and twenty new universities have been established, slightly improving the Compulsory Education System.
At noon, Leader One met with the Minister of Science and Education Humboldt. They had a pleasant meeting and shared a meal together. They discussed the effective implementation of education reforms. Next, they planned to promote science fervor, nurture research talent, improve the treatment of scientists and engineers, establish national science and technology awards, promote scientific breakthroughs to the public, significantly elevate the social status of researchers, and expand admissions to the National Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering.
As for the former Minister of National Defense Marshall Steinmetz, who was a complete loser in the power struggle, Leader One had a simple chat with him. He granted him a title as count and let the old marshal retire peacefully at home.
In the afternoon, the Regent returned and instructed Freeman, the head of affairs, to bring the newspapers.
With the day’s work mostly done, the Regent planned to spend the rest of the day in his office reading newspapers from various European countries, taking short breaks when needed, or strolling around the estate.
As the monarch, Leader One had the final say on whether he wanted to be busy or not. He could choose to rest or assign numerous tasks, such as inspecting local areas or disguising himself as a commoner to explore the situation among the people.
Inspections and secret visits could be done weekly. Today, Leader One wanted to relax as Catherine was dealing with matters in the army. It was a comfortable day for him.
Catherine didn’t plan to go home these days, but suddenly remembered that she left her favorite small telescope at home, so she came back to get it.
In the evening, Catherine dressed in armor returned to the palace.
The office of the prince regent was next to the office of the director of royal affairs, and the director’s office door was usually open to quickly notice anyone in the hallway.
Freeman was dealing with letters when he heard footsteps and metal clashing, thinking it was an assassin. He quickly ran into the hallway and found Catherine instead.
"Oh, you’re the new person taking over for me. Do your best! Keep it up," Catherine casually encouraged before preparing to leave.
But Freeman stopped Catherine.
Catherine: ???
"Without an appointment, you can’t meet Your Highness the Regent. You need to make an appointment in advance, especially since you are a Prussian general. Military personnel need appointments to enter the prince regent’s office."
"I need an appointment to see the prince? Huh." Catherine pushed Freeman aside, causing him to stagger and look embarrassed.
But he quickly stopped her again, shaking all over as he said, "I’m sorry, but you really can’t see Your Highness the Regent."
Catherine was furious, "In this land of Prussia, who dares to disrespect me? Freeman, you have a lot of nerve!"
"Huh? Did Anna tell you to do this?"
Freeman’s expression was a "yes", but his actions were shaking his head, overall looking timid and about to cry.
Freeman looked pitiful, weak, and helpless, caught in between Anna and Catherine, unable to offend either but having to offend someone.
Catherine didn’t intend to make things difficult for him, after some thought…
"The Redel-Catherine Palace is my own home, I can go home, right? I’m not here to see the prince regent."
"Oh, then there’s absolutely no problem." Freeman quickly stepped aside.
