Frederick William I of Prussia was the second Prussian king and ruled from 1713 until his death in 1740. He was the son of Frederick III of Brandenburg, the first king of Prussia. When he took over the throne, his kingdom was financially drained. The condition of the army was miserable, and there were no resources left by his father for him to fix the situation. In spite of this, by the end of his reign, he had a strong army, with able and well-equipped soldiers. He had even restored the condition of the treasury by then. However, Frederick William himself lived like a poor person to bring about this massive change and development in the kingdom. He worked hard for his people and introduced various reforms and changes, such as regulation of state officials, introduction of the canton system, and a new tax system, to help the economy and the military grow by leaps and bounds, all within 20 years. However, his harsh and violent nature repulsed his family and people. He eventually developed gout and died at the age of 51.