Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

In addition to inheriting from their parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and close relatives, kings of European countries are also selected from other countries.

Among them, the Germans are particularly popular, including the former Tsarist Russian Empire, the British royal family, the Romanian royal family, the Bulgarian royal family, the Greek royal family, the Finnish royal family, the Swedish royal family (the later Swedish royal family, the Bernadotte dynasty, is of French descent), and the Mexican royal family outside Europe. The Second Empire (Maximiliano I, younger brother of Franz Joseph I of the Habsburg family), the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the Grand Duke of Liechtenstein, and the Danish royal family are all royal families with German ancestry.

In 1886, a coup occurred in the Principality of Bulgaria, and Prince Alexander I was overthrown. The Bulgarian National Assembly selected suitable people from all over Europe to serve as their prince. The candidate list included the Danish prince, the Romanian king, etc., and finally they chose the German prince Ferdinand.

Ferdinand was originally a prince of the German Saxe-Coburg family, and his mother was the daughter of King Louis Philippe I of France. His father's family produced 1 king of Belgium, 4 kings of Portugal, and 3 kings of Bulgaria. His godfather was Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, younger brother of Emperor Joseph I of Austria-Hungary. His family is very close to the British royal family, the French royal family, the Russian royal family and the Austro-Hungarian royal family.

Queen Victoria of England and Tsar Alexander III of Russia were astonished at his selection as Prince of Bulgaria and said it was a big joke. Because Ferdinand was too weak and willful and lacked political talent, Queen Victoria even wanted to prevent this incident from happening.

However, Ferdinand I was extremely successful during the first 20 years of his rule in Bulgaria. In October 1908, Ferdinand I announced at the 40th Martyrs Church in Veliko Tarnovo that Bulgaria had completely separated from the Ottoman Turkish Empire and became a sovereign and independent kingdom, and named himself "Tsar". Türkiye and other European countries quickly recognized Bulgaria's independence.

Bulgaria joined the Allies in World War I. The war was not yet completely over. The Allies united with the forces in Bulgaria to force Ferdinand I to abdicate and pass the throne to his son Boris III. Unlike other kings or emperors who were forced to abdicate, Ferdinand I was happy that he could pass the throne to his son in this way, and did not feel depressed or miserable because of being deposed and exiled.

After abdicating the throne, Ferdinand first went to Vienna and then returned to Coburg, Germany, the birthplace of his family. Since he took all his personal wealth with him when he left Bulgaria, he was able to live a leisurely and comfortable life. He became a writer, botanist, entomologist, and philatelist, traveling extensively to collect stamps, artwork, and botanical and entomological specimens.

Today, Ferdinand came to the Berlin Palace to find Yannick.

The old man, who is almost eighty years old, is still in good health, walks with ease, and is in good spirits. "Thank you, His Highness Yannick, for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me, an old man."

Yannick smiled. "Grandpa Ferdinand, you are too outspoken. Just call me by my name."

As we all know, royal members from various European countries are related. Take Ferdinand for example. His mother is Princess Clementine, the daughter of King Louis Philippe of France, and his father, Prince Auguste, is the King of Portugal. The younger brother of Fernando II, he is also the first cousin of Prince Albert, Queen of Mexico, Princess Charlotte of Belgium and King Leopold II of Belgium, and the first cousin of Queen Victoria of England. Among them, Princess Louise, the mother of Charlotte and Leopold II, was the sister of Ferdinand’s mother...

The relationship was so confusing that Yannick thought that Ferdinand and William II should be cousins.

And a lot of interesting things happened between the two of them.

Perhaps due to congenital brain damage, perhaps the sequelae of a nightmare childhood, or perhaps a psychological imbalance caused by a disability in his left arm, William II had some mental problems.

Not long after Wilhelm II took the throne, the British Embassy in Berlin reported to London: "Strange rumors are circulating in Berlin about the emperor's mental illness." Bismarck also told his followers at the time that he was aware of William's "mental condition." ", hoping that he could save the nation from the catastrophe, but of course, he did not do it.

In essence, Wilhelm II never got over the shadow of his disastrous childhood. One of his close ministers once described him as a "childlike little emperor" during his thirty-year imperial career. Therefore, William logically "inflicts upon others" the childhood abuse he "did not want others to do".

Once, Wilhelm II suddenly lost his temper at a banquet for Ferdinand and slapped him on the back in public without warning. Ferdinand felt humiliated and immediately left Berlin with a hatred, triggering a diplomatic disaster.

Another time in 1909, Ferdinand visited William II. In the New Palace in Potsdam, Ferdinand leaned out of the window and looked out. At this time, Wilhelm II came over and slapped him on the buttocks affectionately.

Ferdinand I regarded this as a great disgrace. Kings could not fight, and William refused to apologize (another theory is that William II apologized, but failed to calm Ferdinand). In anger, Ferdinand canceled the plan to send a letter to the German arms giant Krupp. orders, and instead handed over this large number of weapons production to the French Schneider Company.

All this and that, but many years later the king still "complained about Germany" and joined the German side in World War I, and was eventually forced to abdicate.

Of course, William II's prank was not directed at Ferdinand alone.

He once hit a Russian grand duke on the back with a marshal's staff; he once beat up another grandson of Queen Victoria in public in the library, and once rode on the belly of this grandson to dominate; William once in the North Sea During the parade, senior generals were summoned to do "group aerobics" while beating their ribs with sticks. These famous generals who were all-powerful on the battlefield had to accompany them with smiling faces and pretended to particularly enjoy the emperor's "game"; the most outrageous thing Once, he secretly cut off the waistband of one of his generals with a penknife in the gym, causing the general to make a fool of himself in public...

Fortunately, he was a supreme emperor, otherwise he would have been hammered to death long ago.

Fortunately, William II is still normal most of the time. The problem is that for an emperor, especially for the emperor of Europe's largest military power like the German Empire, William II's mental problems were undoubtedly fatal. No one could have said it more accurately than British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey, who said that Wilhelm II reminded him of "a warship with its steam engine started and propeller turned, but without a man at the helm." , and warned that one day the emperor would cause great disaster.