A faint cold wind blew through the hallway, gently shaking the plants dotted on both sides. A man in a dark fur coat was walking briskly in the corridor, his straight back not bending down even if he took a big stride, but when he came to a certain gate, he stopped his steps, gently straightened his clothes, and then slowly touched the round glasses on the bridge of his nose before continuing to walk forward.

The doorway was guarded by soldiers with guns, armed with brand-new Mosin Nagant rifles with long bayonets stuck in them. All of them had solemn and solemn faces, especially the earthy fur coats they were wearing, the thick suede hats on their heads, and a bright red five-pointed star dotted with them, which looked extremely radiant.

But when they found the comer, their faces were not moved in the slightest, but they suddenly raised their heads towards the comer, stretched out their hands on their temples, and gave a military salute neatly. They knew this man, or rather, in the large building they were guarding, and no one did not know this short old man with round glasses, who was actually the current leader of the "Cheka", Minrensky.

As a playboy in Tsarist Russia, Minzhensky did not choose to live like the aristocracy, just as he chose Lenin over the Tsar. And when Tsarist Russia collapsed rapidly with the gunfire of the October Revolution, and the White Russian army, which was a feudal power, also quickly collapsed under the offensive of the Soviet Red Army, he still lived happily in Moscow and still enjoyed the treatment of an aristocracy.

"Hello, Comrade Minzhensky!"

The two soldiers saluted quickly, and their young eyes looked at Minzhensky with that look of adoration and admiration. And in the propaganda of the Soviets, it was a matter worth preaching that a son of an aristocracy in Tsarist Russia voluntarily gave up his privileged life and came to the midst of a miserable people.

"Hello, comrade soldier, Comrade Stalin informed me to come now, look at the time, it seems that I am not late."

Minzhensky's face was calm, and although he was approaching sixty years old, the marks of the years were not serious. Gently brushing the brown wavy hair on his head, the smile on his face was quite comfortable, he raised the watch on his wrist to look at the time, he turned his head to a soldier next to him and asked softly, "Do you still need to check?" ”

"Comrade Minrensky, you are welcome, of course there is no need to check."

A non-commissioned officer with a straight face walked out of the doorway, but when he saw the familiar face of Minhiensky with glasses, he smiled slightly, turned sideways and made a gesture of security to the door, and then nodded at him, stretched out his hand and made a gesture of please, and said with a smile: "Comrade Stalin has already said that he is waiting for you, I hope you will come quickly." ”

Without too many words, Minzhensky nodded and followed the non-commissioned officer in front of him towards the door. As the head of the Soviet "Cheka", he certainly knew how to get along with the suspicious and suspicious Stalin, and his relations with him were quite friendly. This can be seen from the fact that after the death of Comrade Lenin, Stalin was able to lead the work of the "Cheka" after he came to power.

Inside the door was still a corridor, the windows were closed because of the winter, and it looked a little dim due to the lack of light, and in this corridor, four Soviet soldiers, who also stood as straight as birch trees, did not say much when they saw the visitors, but when they came to them, they raised their heads and stretched out their hands to salute, which was a kind of courtesy.

"Comrade Minzhensky, I can only accompany you here, Comrade Stalin's office is in front."

At the end of the corridor, the non-commissioned officer with a straight face slowly stopped, nodded to an open office next to him, turned his head and smiled apologetically at Minzhensky, and at the same time stretched out his hand to one of the doors carved with simple but solemn ornaments, nodded and said: "Comrade Stalin has not had a pleasant day. ”

"Thanks, I see."

Gently propping up his frame, Minzhensky smiled in return, nodded at the non-commissioned officer, and walked forward with a slight cough. The non-commissioned officer's reminder is quite crucial, and for him, it is more associated with this sentence, whether it is the cause and end of the matter, or the aftermath work against it.

The non-commissioned officer also smiled and walked back, but his face was still solemn and solemn, like an iceman who did not talk about humanity at all. But for anyone involved in politics, he also knows how to participate in this adult game for a long time.

"Comrade Minzhensky, please come in, Comrade Stalin is waiting for you."

The pretty female clerk came out, saw Minzhensky standing outside, and immediately pursed her lips and smiled, with the same respect for him. But she didn't say much, just a polite remark, and then gently opened the door, where there was the waiting room, and the clerk, who was the equivalent of a female secretary, could report to Stalin before they could meet and talk officially.

Minzhensky stood in the room and did not sit down, because the female clerk had not been in for ten seconds before she came out of the door in the middle of the room, smiled and nodded to him, and gently opened the door, and when Minzhensky entered, she gently closed the door and returned to her own office.

The room behind the door is quite large, with a thick wool carpet in it, which is quite comfortable to step on, and the simple yet beautifully woven pattern looks like a work of art. This was an old thing from the Tsarist period, and although the Bolsheviks were not interested in it, it was still a luxury that added some prestige to the Soviets, which were now relatively scarce in materials.

"Comrade Minzhensky, I'm glad you came on time."

On one side of the room, in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, there was a desk made of brown wood, and behind the table a person was sitting on a chair looking out the window, when he heard a voice from behind him, he slowly put down the pipe in his hand, and there was a kind of authority and disbelief in the fluent Russian tongue, and he said slowly: "I guess you have already read the document I gave you." ”

As he spoke, he stood up gently, wearing a well-fitting gray Lenin suit that made his body look quite muscular, but on the extremely beautifully trimmed mustache, there was a certain depression in his eyes, he frowned, turned to look at Minrensky, and said lightly: "There are many counter-revolutionaries who are now pumping the blood of the Soviets, especially those peasants who do not understand the importance of collective farms, and they are still resisting!" ”

"I'm already trying to prevent those guys, and a bunch of ignorant farmers can't really do anything about it."

Minrensky looked down slowly, he didn't look directly at the man with the beautiful mustache in front of him, because he understood what kind of terrifying decision-making power and iron fist anyone who dared to resist him under those seemingly peaceful dark and brown eyes. Because in front of him was the General Secretary of the Soviets, the leader of this huge country, known for his power and ruthlessness, as well as his iron fist, Stalin!

No one in the current Soviets dared to be disrespectful in front of Stalin, and perhaps Kirov, who was already in Leningrad and was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee, could call Stalin friends. In fact, everyone knows that the young Politburo member Kirov is, in a sense, the successor that Stalin cultivated.

As an old man of the CPSU who has been in the era of Lenin, Minzhensky certainly understands that he is not the Kirov, and he will never be friends with the Stalin in front of him, and he who is called a "genius villain" by Lenin also has his own set of political sense. Because in Stalin's words, he smelled a danger ...

After quickly organizing his language in his mind, Minzhensky said as he had thought before: "Now many of the rebellious peasants, their leaders and their backbones have been sent to the labor camps in Siberia. But as if he remembered something, he said softly: "Most of the peoples outside the Russian region have successfully filled the Siberian region with personnel. ”

"No, Comrade Minrensky, this is not the case, I know that the counter-revolution is still there and is taking root in my collective farm!"

Stalin gently picked up his pipe and put it in his mouth, and a green cigarette appeared in the pipe as he inhaled, and he paused, as if recalling the mellow feeling of this fine tobacco burning in his lungs, and then slowly exhaled, and at the same time looked up at Minzhensky and said softly: "There are more and more rebels in the Ukrainian region, and there are armed rebels." ”

"I think I can do a good job of getting rid of them and letting them know the consequences of revolting against the Soviets."

Minzhensky nodded, his almost gray hair was a little messy because of his nod, and gently brushed away the hair that covered his eyes, but in front of him Stalin, who was gently smoking his pipe, he suddenly felt a chill that spread from his spine to his entire back. Taking a deep breath without leaving a trace, he finally nodded, "I understand." ”

Seeing his nod, Stalin's face brought a slight smile, and he slowly sat down in his seat, looking out of the floor-to-ceiling window at the fixed but never tired of looking at the Kremlin. He slowly raised his hand and signaled that Minzhensky could leave, but when he was about to leave the room after Minzhensky took his leave, he looked up at him and said softly: "Tell General Timoshenko, and Comrade Trotsky, please do your job." ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin."

Minzhensky slowly lowered his head, his back was already cold, and his originally tall body began to stiffen as if he was his real age, a fifty-eight-year-old man. Gritting his teeth, he walked back the way he had come, and although he had been here for quite some time, for the first time he found that it seemed as time for him to retire.