Chapter 555: Masklyukov
Maslyukov was a high-ranking Soviet official who held some positions in the central government of the Soviet Union. As a deputy prime minister of the government, he www.biquge.info rank that most Soviets did not even think about. But in government work, his life is getting harder and harder day by day.
As Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Chairman of the State Planning Commission of the USSR, and Chairman of the State Military Industrial Commission of the USSR, what was in front of him was not only the nearly 300 million mouths of the USSR, but at least the entire heavy industry system, or the strength of his own basic military-industrial system that determined his position in the Central Committee of the CPSU.
In the political environment of Gorbachev's new thinking, the Soviet Union changed the military concept of winning a nuclear war to a purely defensive military concept.
Although it is only a book written by the General Secretary at the behest of American booksellers, this book is a weapon more powerful than nuclear weapons. This is in line with the old saying that the sword is far less powerful than the pen to kill.
The shift in military philosophy led to the military deployment of the USSR in Eastern Europe, as well as to a dramatic change in the military-industrial system of the country as a whole.
In the last year before the nineties, financial expenditures for the maintenance of the army, military-technical, intelligence, reconnaissance and security agencies were drastically reduced. However, the vast majority of the money saved in defense spending is unknown. Gorbachev could change the economic policy of the Soviet Union at will, but he could not allow those who had been abandoned in perestroika to feed themselves directly with photosynthesis.
And the basic power of Deputy Prime Minister Maslyukov is almost entirely concentrated in the hardest-hit areas of this reform.
Since the pace of winter is getting closer and closer, his old subordinates and old leaders, old relationships, and various channels have responded to him, almost basically a wail.
If there is no new support from the state, then I am afraid that people will starve to death in the great Soviet military-industrial factories.
In reality, however, the great General Secretary of the great Soviet Union is still pondering how to extract money from the military-industrial system. After all, the cost of the book New Thinking published by the great General Secretary is not cheap at all, and it is said that the title on the hard-shell cover is made of gild, but the price of the book is quite "approachable". Without a little subsidy, these books could not occupy the study room of every Soviet person.
Comrade Maslyukov was a good comrade, and although there were inevitably problems of the Soviet bureaucracy in one way or another, at least he was a man who was willing to do things.
Compared with those high-level leaders of the Central Committee of the CPSU who are too old to do things, but who have seized power until they die of old age, his age and ability can still play some role.
In fact, class mobility in the Soviet Union was very fixed, but for the lower classes, the changes at the top were too far away. In the Soviet Union, the rotation of cadres at the state and ministerial levels was still possible, and most of the people who were able and lucky were able to reach the level of secretary of the municipal party committee at the end of their careers. In this way, at the level that ordinary people can access, it seems that the flow of cadres in the USSR still has a certain vitality. But in fact, a pool of backwater at the top has long been formed, and people who are really capable cannot get a stage to play.
There are very few people like Maslyukov who can see the situation clearly and are willing to do the work.
But it was precisely because of this that he felt more and more a shame in the bottom of his heart. What happened to the great Soviet Union, that even the soldiers who defended the country were already hungry, and the army even refused to accept the aircraft produced by the military-industrial system, because there was no money to pay for production in military factories, and there was no money to maintain the produced aircraft, let alone to let these planes take to the air to carry out tasks.
Instead of leaving the planes in a pile of junk in the poor maintenance conditions of the troops on duty, it is better to keep them in the workshop of the production plant.
In such a state of affairs, Comrade Masklyukov felt that his heart was full of pain. In the military-industrial system, which has risked itself for almost a lifetime, a catastrophe worse than the German invasion is spreading.
And he, the deputy prime minister of this great country, had nothing to do.
In his fourth year as chairman of the Planning Committee, another piece of bad news came. It is even more terrifying than the plight of the military-industrial system, the difficulty that can deprive the Soviet Union of even the last vestiges of dignity.
Interest on the Soviet Union's foreign debt was due, and without a $1.5 billion financial allocation, the Soviet Union, the world's second largest country, would face a default on its international debt.
As chairman of the planning committee, the question of where exactly the money was going to be "scraped" was put on his desk.
After intense discussions in the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Soviet Foreign Minister Shevardnadze made a suggestion that perhaps a financial aid from a European country, such as Great Britain, could be tried?
After all, our great General Secretary was about to toss himself to the end of his breath in order to show the goodwill of the Soviet Union. After the Soviet Union moved closer to the Western countries in such good faith, could it have provided some moral assistance to help the Soviet Union move closer to the free world?
Shevardnadze humiliated the British government with an urgent financial aid of at least $1.5 billion for the Soviet Union "in any form acceptable" with the aim of repaying interest on the Soviet Union's foreign debt.
The Soviet authorities, who longed for the friendship of the "free world", unexpectedly received an answer from the British - a request that was so absurd that it would not be taken into account by the British government.
The Soviets seem to have forgotten that the free world never speaks of class feelings, and that they themselves often have dogs' heads beaten into dogs' heads. Because they have a good relationship with the other party, they will provide assistance free of charge or generously, which is something that only a socialist country would do.
Although the Soviet Union lost its dignity, it did not exchange its dignity for a dime of dollars.
Interest on the foreign debt of 1.5 billion dollars still had to be paid, but Comrade Maskyukov rummaged through the pockets of the Soviet Union, but not a single steel hammer was turned out - it is a great joy in life to touch the pockets of old clothes and find surprises during the change of seasons. But at this time, the Soviet Union was already poor and didn't even have winter clothes, where could they turn their pockets over?
The harsh reality made Comrade Kryuchkov, who still wanted to do something, feel that this last winter, before entering the nineties, was probably going to be extremely cold.
"Edward, God, you're back!"
Valentin was sitting on the sofa at home watching television when he heard the door open and saw Eduard Kryuchkov wearing a black trench coat and a black hat, with a thick layer of white snow falling from his shoulders, like a delicious piece of Black Forest cake.
"It's been a cold winter this year! My dear Valia, is everything okay at home?"
Kryuchkov let his wife Valentin dust off the snow and then took off his clothes for him and hung them on a hanger at the door. The babysitter brought him a cup of hot tea and took out a rag to wipe off the snow that had fallen on the ground.
After hanging up his clothes, Valentin came back to his senses, carefully and seriously looked Kryuchkov up and down, and then nodded with satisfaction.
"Everything is fine at home, but I haven't seen you for a week. Two days ago, little Alexander came to see his grandfather, but he didn't see you, and the little guy couldn't even eat well. ”
"Hi, it's my fault. Kryuchkov stretched out his hands helplessly: "But I can't help it, there are too many problems at work, and I really can't leave." ”
"Well, don't talk so much, you're not so busy on the first day. Valentin took out the slippers for him, and after changing them, the two of them walked towards the room.
Valentin said as he walked, and came to the telephone at home: "Since you are free today, I will simply ask Lyudmila and Maria to bring little Alexandra over, and we will have a good dinner as a family." ”
"Of course that's good. Kryuchkov nodded: "I also want the cute little Alexander, let them come over as soon as they get off work." ”
Winter in Moscow comes much earlier than in China, where autumn is already a day of heavy snowfall.
Lyudmila Kryuchkov had just called his wife and told her to take little Alexander to her father's house for dinner in the evening. He might not be able to get out of the unit a little later, so he had to ask her to go to school first to pick up little Alexander.
Maria is a cadre at the Moscow Municipal Bureau of Materials, and her son, Alexander, attends a complete secondary school not far from her place of work. In the past, it was mostly Lyudmie who pulled the car and picked up Alexander first, then came to pick her up, and then the family of three went home.
However, since Lyudmila's work requires overtime today, she has no choice but to take her son and dare to go to her father-in-law's house.
"Mom!"
"Alexander!"
Maria received Alexander from the school gate, and the security situation in the Soviet Union had deteriorated badly in the last two years.
Alexander was able to go home on his own when he was in the lower grades, but since he was in the ninth grade, there have been several vicious cases in the vicinity of the school. Families who are worried about their children are taking out precious off-duty time to pick up their children from school.
Alexander in a small suit school uniform looks very cute, his face is blown red by the cold wind like a seductive big apple, bright eyes and sexy eyelashes, and a cute little nose, he is a handsome little guy who can fascinate people to death, and it is the pistachio of the whole family.
"Let's go, let's go to Grandpa's house for dinner today. What do you want to eat? We bought it and took it to grandpa's house, and asked the nanny to make it for you when the time came. ”
"I want to think about ......"
Alexander held his chin in his hand as if trying to think, and after a while, he nodded vigorously.
"I want to eat Beijing roast duck! Romanoff's father invited everyone to eat this yesterday, it's so delicious!"
(To be continued.) )