The people in Gorbachev's office stayed up all night until the early morning when the waiter served coffee and breakfast. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Everyone had been busy all night, and they were a little hungry. At the call of the staff, everyone left the office and went to the restaurant to eat, but Seryosha felt that he had no appetite. Yeltsin sat next to Seryosha, ate a bite of omelette and sausage, and saw that Seryosha had no intention of moving breakfast, so he persuaded him: "Seryosha, let's eat a little first, and we will go to General Secretary Chernenko in a while!" ”

"Brother Boris, what will happen if we fail today?" Seryosha asked suddenly.

"Brother, listen to the eldest brother! If I fail, my political career will be over, but you still have a lot of time. What do you have to lose! When Boris said this, it was as if he were talking about someone else's business, and there were hardly any mood swings. But Seryosha understood that if he really failed. Yeltsin's new workers' city will lose its financial support, and his transfer to the central ministry will be in vain.

Seryosha was subjugated by Yeltsin's composure, and whenever there was a major event, this incident was actually even more fatal to Yeltsin. Seryosha himself knew that his own investment in the project of the new city of workers was only 500 million US dollars, and he could afford to lose this money. But if Yeltsin did not have a new workers' city, his political future would have remained in the Sverdlovsk region.

Seryosha reluctantly filled his stomach with breakfast, and instead of drinking coffee, he drank some hot water. After the meal, Seryosha and Yeltsin took a nap on the sofa, and at nine o'clock, the staff members around General Secretary Chernenko called and informed them to go to the Central Hospital to explain the situation to General Secretary Chernenko.

Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Seryosha immediately set off from the Supreme Soviet in the same car to the Central Hospital, where Chernenko lived. Now Chernenko's physical condition is known to the Politburo, so it is no longer hidden. It's just that for ordinary people, what everyone can see is still the radiant general secretary. People are born, old, sick and die, these are unavoidable things. Chernenko is now in the hospital for a long time, and the Politburo meetings have been chaired by Gorbachev for a long time. Seryosha and many Soviet officials had not seen Chernenko himself for a long time.

The wards of the Central Hospital are not ordinary wards, but are luxurious convalescent villas, so they are equipped with all the facilities for daily life. After Seryosha and the three arrived, they were arranged to wait in the conference room for a while. I waited for about twenty minutes or so. The door to the conference room was opened, and everyone hurriedly got up, only to see Chernenko slowly entering the room.

"Comrades are here, sorry, cough...... I'm sorry to keep you waiting! Chernenko said in a weak voice, panting, his lips were bruised, his face was sallow, and he looked very bad. As soon as Chernenko finished speaking, he quickly sat down on the sofa.

The three of Gorbachev looked at each other, not knowing how to speak. The atmosphere fell silent, and the only sound in the room was Chernenko's heavy breathing.

Yeltsin waited for a long time, but Gorbachev never spoke. So he decided to come first, who knew that at this time, Seryosha suddenly stood up and said: "General Secretary, we are here for the funds of the workers' new city. ”

"Gromyko reported to me that a large sum of money was in the hands of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, and he suggested that it should be taken into the treasury ....... So I'd like to hear your opinions, you're going to cough ...... What are you going to do with the money? After Chernenko said this, his breathing became even more rapid, he took out a handkerchief to cover his mouth, and coughed as quietly as he could.

"General Secretary, I think our Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation should play a greater role in economic reform, judging from some data we have obtained from abroad. In today's world economy, the pressure of slow economic growth is not unique to our country. Both the U.S. and the U.K. had negative economic growth last year, and Japan is now the only economy in the world. They are also capitalist countries, why their economic situation is one in the sky and one in the ground, I think this is what we need to learn seriously! Seryosha asked unceremoniously.

"Comrade Ulyanov, I don't know what you think! General Secretary Chernenko was a little curious, he originally thought that Gorbachev would first talk about the rationality of keeping the money in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, but he did not expect that this Ulyanov would actually be involved in the issue of economic reform....... This issue has been discussed since the time of Khrushchev, but until now there has been no direction for reform. Chernenko was a little curious about what kind of high opinion this young cadre had?

"General Secretary, for us in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation! Our task is to open up more markets for Soviet goods, and only then can our economy have new growth engines. Japan has done just that, and they can't compare to the United States in terms of technology. Their technology is a commercially valuable ready-made patent purchased from the United States, but their goods are now found in all corners of the world, with all due respect, most of the electronic products seized by the customs department of our Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation are from Japan, in addition to auto parts, and household appliances are also from Japan. It is precisely because they have seized the market all over the world through various means that they can buck the trend in the face of the worldwide economic depression. General Secretary, we are no longer the poor and white agrarian country of the Stalin-Lenin era, and it is no longer sustainable to rely solely on investment to boost the economy! Seryosha continued.

Chernenko felt that Seryosha's words seemed to make sense, but he still did not understand. So he said to Seryosha: "Comrade Ulyanov, can you be specific? Why can't we continue to drive our economic growth through investment? ”

"General Secretary, if the Stalinist era had invested in the construction of a steel plant, the products he produced could have been consumed very quickly. Because at that time we were traumatized by war, poor and white. But now, our people have refrigerators, TVs, and washing machines in every house! Even cars aren't out of reach! Our factories are no longer in short supply. To put it simply, we are now in an era of consumption upgrading. What the people need is not necessities, but high-quality civilian products! As the most important consumer department in the country, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation is the most capable government department to promote economic reform! Seryosha replied in a firm tone.