March 9, 1940, was not only Molotov's fiftieth birthday, but also the day of the reorganization of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

People's Commissar of the Textile Industry Akharesey Nikolayevich Kosygin (А ekcen_hnko лaeвnч _koc ыгnh) was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (Deputy Prime Minister) a month ahead of schedule, in charge of light and consumer industries.

People's Commissar for Construction, Manturov, was also appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (Deputy Prime Minister) in charge of heavy industry, the defense industry, and construction.

With the addition of two young people and the retention of the other deputy prime ministers, the number of deputy deputies of the Council of People's Commissars was raised from six to eight.

In addition to the increase in staff, there have been some changes in the division of labour among the Vice-Chairs. Kaganovich, who was in charge of the country's industrial and agricultural economy, is now only in charge of agriculture and transportation.

Anastas Mikoyan continued to be in charge of foreign trade and economic cooperation, Nikolai Voznesensky was in charge of the State Planning Commission, Vyshinsky was in charge of the country's legal and law enforcement departments, Bulganin was in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Information, Finance and the State Bank, the only female deputy prime minister, Rosalya Shemrika, was in charge of culture and education, and the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars remained Molotov (not Stalin).

And on the evening of the day of the reshuffle, all the deputy prime ministers went to Molotov's dacha to attend the prime minister's birthday dinner.

Molotov's villa was a manor left over from the aristocrats of Tsarist Russia, with a large garden, as well as conservatories and stables. Of course, there is also a luxurious, spacious house.

Although this large house left by the Duke of Tsarist Russia cannot be compared with the palace of Prince Yusupov, it is already very spacious for anyone, especially in this era of housing shortage.

More than 70 people attended the birthday dinner, but Molotov's dining room was limited, and the long Russian-style dining table could only accommodate 30 people, while the remaining 40 people were arranged to eat in the original ballroom.

Originally, as a woman, Katia would have been arranged to dine in the ballroom with the wives of other high-ranking officials, while her husband, like other high-ranking male officials, was arranged to dine in the dining room and have a close exchange with Molotov.

But considering that Katya's position was not low, she was still the daughter of Marshal Voroshilov, a member of the Founding Father, Politburo, and the female deputy prime minister asked to go to the ballroom to dine with other women, making room for dinner, Katia was arranged to eat in the dining room, just between her husband and father.

At the beginning of the dinner, Molotov stood at the end of the long dining table near the hall with a glass of colorless wine, and addressed everyone present: "Comrades, today is not only my birthday, but also the day of the reorganization of the Council of People's Commissars. Here, I would like to congratulate two young people - Comrade Alesee Kosygin and Comrade Vladimir Manturov - on their ascension to the post of Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars! ”

"Bang Bang Bang ......"

Suddenly, the whole villa burst into warm applause. Molotov, Voroshilov, Mikoyan, Voznesensky and others all looked at the two young men with admiration, and ministers such as Tvosyan and Marishev also showed envy for their new bosses.

At the same time, however, Manturov sensed that someone was looking at him with jealousy, but due to the angle and lighting, he did not see the man's face.

After the applause, Kosygin immediately stood up and raised a small glass of vodka in his hand, "Thank you for your applause, I will do my best to do this job and do my best to serve the great party, the great country, and the vast number of Soviet people!"

Now, let's toast Comrade Molotov! Happy birthday to Comrade Molotov! With that, Kosygin drained the glass of vodka in his hand in one gulp. The face, which was originally white, soon began to turn red. A breath of alcohol exhaled from his nose, and even Manturov, who was sitting across from him, felt the warmth.

The others all picked up the wine glasses in their hands and dried them down. Manturov, who has never drunk alcohol, was also unwilling to bear the pressure of the masses and unconsciously picked up his glass.

Like everyone else, he also dried the "wine" in the wine glass in one gulp, but this "wine" does not seem to have alcohol ingredients, and the taste is very light, in fact, it is a glass of water!

Manturov scanned the crowd and saw that their faces were starting to turn red, and no matter how they looked, they looked like they had drunk wine. But the beautiful woman sitting next to him, her face did not change at all, and she was still as white as before. Needless to say, the good show of "replacing wine with water" must have been carefully arranged by his wife.

Katia also noticed Manturov's puzzled eyes, she smiled slightly, nodded slightly, and answered Manturov's question.

However, Manturov did not rejoice too soon. While he was looking after his wife, the Minister of Ordnance, Lieutenant General Vanikov, who was sitting next to him, personally poured Manturov a glass of vodka.

As the host, Molotov picked up the glass full of wine on a whim, "Tonight, everyone can drink as much as they want, and you don't need to be polite at all, as long as you can work as usual the day after tomorrow." ”

I don't know where the tacit understanding came from, everyone present raised their glasses at the same time and stood up, even Katia and Manturov, who knew that drinking hurt their bodies.

"Comrade Manturov, I hope we will have a happy cooperation in the future! Let's toast to the Soviet Union together! Just as Manturov was about to fool himself around, Kosygin, who was standing opposite, stretched out the glass in his hand to him.

Manturov was too embarrassed to refuse, and without hesitation, he stretched out the wine glass in his hand until he knew that the two of them had collided with each other, making a crisp sound of glass colliding.

Kosygin smiled pleasantly and drank the vodka in his hand. Manturov also smiled wryly, and drank the first liquor in his life. The feeling of alcohol entering the throat and heating up all over the body is really unforgettable.

Unconsciously, Manturov had another toast with Voznesensky, Mikoyan, Bulganin, Molotov and Voroshilov. The amount of alcohol in his stomach soon exceeded the maximum amount he could bear.

As for Katia, she doesn't like to drink either. But as Voroshilov's daughter, she didn't drink much worse.

She was clever, and after three drinks, she took the excuse to sneak over to the ballroom and dine with the women.

And Manturov, before the feast began, was already drunk. (To be continued.) )