"All this is a legacy of the Soviet era." Faced with the unprecedented depreciation of the ruble in Russia, American expert Jeffrey Sacks told Yeltsin: "There is nothing wrong with our monetary policy. ”

The ruble has depreciated to an incredible extent, almost two thousand times just compared to the collapse of the USSR! Even in the 45th year, when the Kuomintang government frantically printed fiat currency, it did not depreciate to this extent.

The wealth of the Soviets was wiped out overnight, and at this time, American experts were still swearing to Yeltsin that there was nothing wrong with their own economic reforms, which was a symptom left over from the Soviet Union, and that as long as this difficult period was overcome, Russia would still be revived!

"Yes, it's the inherent disease of the Soviet Union!" Yeltsin nodded and said, at this time, even if he has regretted it, he cannot be allowed to make other choices, if it is a problem with the current economic policy, that is, there is a problem with his decision-making, and the Russian government he leads is derelict in its duties!

This is certainly impossible!

"Then we have to come up with a new way to deal with the current situation." The finance minister told Yeltsin that the depreciation of the ruble was so serious that citizens had to bring large sums of cash with them to buy things.

"The current situation is all a legacy of the Soviet era, so we must completely remove the imprint of the Soviet era." American experts continue to come up with ideas: "Now, it has been seven or eight months since the independence of the Russian republics, but the ruble used in Russia is still the ruble of the Soviet era, and this should also be reformed." ”

The ruble of the Soviet era, regardless of the denomination, has the portrait of the former revolutionary mentor on it. These are very taboo for new leaders.

Now, the proposal of the American expert was immediately approved by Yeltsin: "Yes, we should issue a completely new currency!" Replace the original with the motifs of the Kremlin and the tricolor of our Russia! ”

"In order to avoid excessive denominations. Anyway, this time the new ruble was also implemented, simply, the value of the currency was also changed, one ruble of the new ruble, one ruble equal to the old ruble of a thousand rubles, what do you think? The American expert suggested.

This is definitely a bad idea, not to bring down the former Soviet Union, the old and new rubles are exchanged in this way, which further shows that the ruble will be devalued. In fact, there is no need to do this now, and American experts still do not miss this opportunity.

As for the suggestion of the American expert, Yeltsin actually agreed very much, immediately nodded in agreement, and signaled the Central Bank to prepare for the printing of the new ruble.

The winter of '94 was extremely cold, it was just October, and the sky was full of snowflakes. They all went down. And this winter is also the most difficult winter for all the former Soviet Unionists.

A few months ago. They were still rejoicing, rejoicing that they had finally escaped the ills of the old times and had become masters of the new state, and that the bonds distributed by the state to everyone had made them rich.

But now. In just a few months, the huge depreciation of the ruble has set their lives back sharply, not even comparable to the Soviet era.

Many people's lives have even receded below the poverty line. The bread in the store, they can't afford it.

"Caviar, fresh Caspian caviar!" Compared with the Soviet era, in the current free world, there are still ways to make money, as long as there is labor, you can get it back.

In this cold weather, a man in his fifties, wrapped in a thick military coat, drove a pickup truck and peddled his own caviar on a corner of a Moscow street.

The weather was very cold, and occasionally there were pedestrians who walked by in a hurry, but they only glanced at it, and no one came to buy it for half a day.

The old man rubbed his hands, it seems that there is no gain today.

At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps beside him, and the old man was suddenly very excited, turned his head, and first saw that the other party was wearing black boots, and it was a lady.

"This lady, do you want caviar? Authentic Caspian caviar. The old man said, raising his head, and when he saw the woman's appearance, his expression instantly froze.

Yelena's body trembled a little, and she looked at her father, who was once a high-ranking military commander, and now he was reduced to a vendor selling caviar along the street! It was very cold, and white frost began to appear on my father's beard.

"You're back?" Trevkov said to Yelena: "What are you doing when you come back?" ”

Yelena didn't speak, took her father's hand, and walked towards a western restaurant on the side.

"Yelena, what are you doing? I still have so much caviar! Trevkov said, however, his body involuntarily followed Yelena into the heated and steaming western restaurant.

The noble Yelena took off her coat, handed it to the waiter on the side, and took her father to sit in a booth in a box.

"Two steaks." Yelena said, "Medium-rare." ”

"Isn't there a subsidy for veterans?" Elena asked, "Why are you still selling caviar on the streets?" I originally went to the villa, but the villa was already someone else's, I asked a lot of people, only to find out where you live, just such a small apartment, how can you live? ”

Yelena's questioning was a bit aggressive, and she was trying to suppress her anger, which of course was not directed at her father.

Subsidies for veterans? General Trekov, with the rank of military before retiring, is a general! Now it's been so miserable, the villa has been sold, moved into a small apartment, and lived by peddling caviar, and life has changed too quickly in the past six months.

"Yes, according to the allowance of retired soldiers, I have three thousand rubles a month." Trevkov said.

Three thousand rubles, according to the standards of the Soviet era, is definitely not low, many workers earn less than a thousand rubles a year, but now, three thousand rubles is not enough to eat a steak in this restaurant with their daughter today!

In Soviet times, the military was a noble profession, envied and desirable, with a great social status, but now? No one treats veterans as individuals! Trevkov went to government departments and asked to increase the allowance for retired servicemen, but several times to no avail.

Not to mention retired soldiers, the government can't even pay the salaries of active military personnel now, and the wages of active duty are in arrears for several months, and active military personnel are out of line!

The arrears of salaries of the soldiers, the maintenance of the army's equipment, not to mention, the nuclear submarine base of the Northern Fleet, even because they could not pay the electricity bill, was cut off by the local power department!

How could this have happened in Soviet times! At this time, Trelkov, I believe that many people, like him, have begun to miss the beauty of the Soviet era, but unfortunately, they can't go back.

Yeltsin, and those who followed him, were not thinking about the interests of the whole country at all, they were just a bunch of careerists! has seized the power of the country, but it is not capable of managing the country well!

Even General Trevkov has been mixed up to this point, not to mention those lower-ranking retired officers and soldiers, who have dedicated their lives to defending the country, and in old age, they have encountered the collapse of the Soviet Union, inflation and other crises.

Trevkov saw very well that if he was now the commander of the Far Eastern Military District, perhaps he would have to lead his subordinates to a new revolution, but now he is nothing, he has already retired.

When he was in power, Trevkov adhered to principles and did not do anything to damage the interests of the country, which is why he was so miserable, and those who betrayed the interests of the country were all tied to their pockets, and those who were bold even dared to sell the equipment in the warehouses of the army! Now Trekov can be regarded as seeing everything clearly.

He was also angry, but there was nothing he could do.

Looking at her father's expression, Yelena's heart was also uncomfortable, and she could feel her father's sorrow.

"This country, there is nothing to be nostalgic about, father, you go with me, let's change countries and live again." Yelena said.

With such a violent upheaval in Russia, Yelena finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to come back and take her father to a stable country.

Yelena is in Pakistan, has taken root, and at this time, there is a new life in her belly, she knows that she already belongs there, and she does not want to see her father spend the rest of his life alone and miserable.

"To Pakistan?" Trevkov asked, knowing that his daughter had gone to Pakistan, and that after a series of major changes in the Soviet Union, his daughter had not returned.

"Yes, I have become a Pakistani citizen, I am Pakistani, I am there, I have a new life, father, please come with me." Yelena said.

She looked at her father steadily, hoping for an affirmative answer.

However, she was disappointed, and her father shook his head: "No, I am in the USSR and have dedicated all my youth and energy to this country, and I don't want to leave." ”

"However, the Soviet Union no longer exists!"

Yes, the USSR no longer exists, this sentence made Trelkov's eyes gloomy for a while, and he fell into a deep memory again, this country, there is no more.

"No, I don't want to go to another country, I love my country, and although it has now been divided into Russia, I still want to stay on this country." Trevkov said: "Yelena, you are a young man, I am already old, I can no longer do anything for this country, and I cannot betray this country. ”

Elena knew that her father still loved the country, and she had no way to say that he would follow her, thinking of the explanation of her lover Mhammad before leaving, Elena said: "Father, there is still hope for this country, do you want to save this country?" (To be continued.) )