Brezhnev was not like any other Soviet leader, he himself did not have much knowledge of the various theories, and he did not shy away from admitting this on various occasions, but he had his own set of methods during his long career as a local cadre. Brezhnev was not interested in Khrushchev and Suslov's speeches of Lenin and communism at every turn. But according to his own criteria for judging, who is a friend and who is an enemy, which cadre has great value, and how to use it, this is not difficult for him.

In later history, Brezhnev finally made a move against Kosygin, partly because Kosygin himself was older, and partly because Brezhnev knew that there was no one more suitable to dominate the Soviet economy than Kosygin. The cost of replacing Kosygin outweighed the losses, so Brezhnev first dealt with the most powerful Sherepin and Podgorny, put Suslov on the shelf, and finally decided that his time was running out before he set out to replace Kosygin.

Now for the new KGB chairman Serov, Brezhnev also hopes to make his own judgment through contact, that is, whether this KGB chairman can be used, and whether it will pose a fatal threat to himself? It will still be a help for itself, of course, this contact has only just begun.

"My friend, if Yura were faced with a choice between a security cadre and a Komsomol cadre, which one would he choose?" After getting out of the car, Brezhnev looked at Chernenko and asked. Chernenko and he have known each other for almost ten years, and this time coincides with the time when Sherepin met Serov when he visited Azerbaijan.

"Serov was pulled by Shelepin, so he should choose to stand with Shelepin!" Chernenko had no reservations about Brezhnev, and their relationship was similar to that between Sherepin and Semychasny.

Brezhnev smiled inexplicably, feeling that his subordinates still needed to see more, and directly pushed open the door of his office, and a voice came from inside, "You know, Yura is first of all a KGB chairman, and he must stand with the cadres of his own security system, Sherepin's forces seem to be invulnerable, but the Komsomol and the KGB are not connected at all......"

Almost immediately after returning to the Secretariat, Brezhnev, who was secretary of the Central Committee, felt the threat of two people: Podgorny, who was his equal, and Sherepin, the youngest secretary of the Central Committee. For a short time, Brezhnev only felt that Sherepin could become a threat, but he would not take measures against Sherepin yet, he would first consolidate his position and defeat Podgorny, who was in the same position as himself at this plenum of the Central Committee.

Brezhnev admired Serov's idea of long-term planning, accumulating little by little in the shadows, and striking a fatal blow at the end. The reason for the appreciation is very simple, because he is also this kind of person. Brezhnev will not make any moves until he is sure, and he will not let go when given the opportunity.

This kind of thinking must first have a certain amount of confidence in one's own ability, and then make sure that you face only one opponent at a time, not a group, and clean up your competitors one by one under the premise that no one is your opponent. The only downside may be that it takes a long time to take your time.

At the same time that Brezhnev was assessing Serov, Serov, who had just become chairman of the KGB, was making the same assessment, but just the other way around. Since last year, he seems to have had more and more contact with Brezhnev, until this time Brezhnev visited Lubyanka Square 11, which was a little too frequent. If he doesn't see anything by now, he simply doesn't deserve to control the KGB as an intelligence agency.

"Too soon, just after returning to the Secretariat, you have this sense of smell, or did you already start preparing it when you were in the Supreme Soviet? Everything is under control, this sentence is not for me, it is more suitable for him! Serov muttered to himself with a feeling of weakness.

From a historical point of view, Brezhnev belongs to the kind of realist who pays the most attention to reality rather than ism, and he is also practical and excessive. It is well known that the situation in the USSR when Brezhnev came to power was such that General Secretary Brezhnev, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet Podgorny, Chairman of the Council of Ministers Kosygin, this was the troika of the Soviet Union. In addition to this are the theoretician Suslov and the next general secretary of Sherepin, who may be the next general secretary according to his age.

In fact, this situation lasted only about a decade, and after Brezhnev cut off a few threats, that is, after the mid-seventies. The troika of the Soviet Union was still nominally the three of them, but in reality the power of several departments was greatly increased and became the troika controlled by Brezhnev himself, they were KGB Chairman Andropov, Defense Minister Ustinov, Foreign Minister Gromyko, Kosygin and Podgorny were already dispensable.

The political status of the leaders of the KGB, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has risen to the level of the Supreme Soviet and the chairman of the Council of Ministers.

How to get in touch with Brezhnev has become a problem for Serov, this boss is not Khrushchev, it is useless to talk to him about communism, Brezhnev sees how much he gains, and if he does not gain anything, he should not talk about anything.

"Am I going to learn from Andropov? Hiding in the Lubyanka and playing dead? There must be a way! Serov thought things were far better than Andropov's.

In terms of work attributes, Andropov's early wish was actually Suslov's role and become the secretary of the Central Committee in charge of the class struggle, and in this case, Suslov's perception of the person who was ready to replace him at any time can be imagined, and he kicked Andropov to the KGB to be the chairman, because although the KGB's power was very large, its political status was not high in the Khrushchev era and would not become a threat.

But perhaps Suslov did not expect that Brezhnev, in order to get rid of the numerical superiority of Podgorny, Kosygin, Suslov and Sherepin, raised the political status of the leadership of the three major departments and led them directly, so that these Brezhnev's opponents became completely ornamental. From that time on, no one could oppose him, and the time was 1973.

Andropov did not have a good relationship with Suslov, but Serov considered himself to be on good terms with Suslov. Suslov has no henchmen, in fact, it is easy to complement each other, thinking of this, Serov decided to go to Suslov to hug his thighs, so it was decided.

Serov, who hugged his thighs, had to make some preparations, was there such a condition? Yes, this kind of objective condition exists, which is what Serov just talked about with Brezhnev, a Western scholar of Soviet studies. In this era, the propaganda of demonizing the Soviet Union was much greater than that of China in later generations, and if Serov remembered correctly, it was mainly a Chinese in later generations who was propagating the theory of China's collapse, and Serov was faced with a simpler situation, and he did not need to specifically select Russians if he wanted to find out a large number of scholars who were hostile to the Soviet Union.

"Our main direction of work is to concoct something that our own people can see at a glance, and the general Western people rejoice at a glance. With the support of big data, these slanders are embedded in it. In the end, the conclusion must be that the Soviet Union is struggling, and that Western Europe, which is opposite us, will only have to wait for the Soviet Union to reform itself! The fake propaganda department gave me an outline first, this kind of thing must be approved by our secretary Suslov, otherwise we will really be in trouble! Serov said to the head of the fake propaganda department of the Second Main Directorate.

Does that mean it's full of obvious lies? I see, Chairman! The head of the fake propaganda department nodded in understanding.

Obvious lie, is a KGB term, which means to spread rumors that the intent to attack the Soviets is very obvious. During the Khrushchev period, the term actually served only a term, but in a few years it will be different, because during the Khrushchev period, public opinion was more relaxed, and there were statements of the cultural circles attacking the Soviets, so after Brezhnev came to power, a resolution was passed to make several additions to Article 190 of the Criminal Code: the dissemination of obvious lies that denigrate the state and social system of the USSR in oral form, as well as the creation of works of the same content in written form, are punishable by deprivation of liberty for up to three years, or conversion of labor camps for one year, or a fine of one hundred rubles; …… Punishment is imposed on those who organize and participate in collective actors that undermine the social system.

What exactly counts as a blatant lie? What counts as a collective actor who destroys the social system? I don't count this matter; What the lawyer said doesn't count; The Central Committee of the CPSU handed over the power of interpretation to its most precious organ, the State Security Committee of the Soviet Union, to let the state security cadres interpret the law.

A few days later, Serov went to Suslov's home with the report and began to complete his first step of hugging his thighs.

"Guided by the propaganda sphere, let our enemies make strategic miscalculations against us? It sounds very interesting, but these documents still can't flow to our Soviet Union, Yuri, you don't understand that even a self-proclaimed sane scholar can't make a correct judgment in the face of explosive news, so obvious lies are useless, in the field of your security, you still have to block Soviet studies, as long as you try your best to block it! Suslov nodded and left Serov's propaganda plan, saying that he would make some additions, and that it would be better to spread his influence only in the Western world. (To be continued.) )