In a calm situation, there is an undercurrent hidden in Petrograd, and this undercurrent will be completely detonated with the return of Li Xiaofeng.

"It has been determined that Andrey. Petrovich is back? "When Trotsky received this news, his spirits lifted, he had been planning for this moment for a long time, and now, now that the fish have been caught, it is time to reap the fruits of victory," informed Comrade Bukharin, close the net! ”

As usual, when Lenin arrived at his office, he first asked about the schedule of the day, and when he got to this place, there was hardly any time for himself, and every schedule had to be accurate to the minute, otherwise he could delay his work.

"According to the previous plan, you first had to review the documents in the office, Comrade Sverdlov forwarded several important documents that you need to deal with quickly, in addition you have to go to the Kirov factory for a mobilization meeting, and ...... after lunch"

As the life secretary read out the agenda endlessly, Lenin felt a headache for no reason, there were too many trivial things, whether it was inside or outside the party, there were countless meetings waiting for him to attend, there were countless documents that needed to be reviewed by him, and the most annoying thing was that when he was busy, there were still some blind guys who wanted to make trouble for him.

"By the way, Comrade Trotsky's secretary had called before, and there was an important matter of foreign affairs that the Central Committee needed to meet......

Lenin suddenly became impatient and asked sharply: "The Central Committee meets?" He said it lightly, there are so many things that need to be dealt with, and most of the members of the Central Committee hold important positions. Where to go? Did Comrade Trotsky say that he wanted to meet for something? ”

He was just saying that there were important diplomatic matters to discuss. But the specifics are not ......"

The secretary's words made Lenin think deeply. Generally speaking, even if there is an important matter, the Politburo meets first, and after the Politburo discusses and sets the tone, then the Central Committee members are convened to vote. And this time, Trotsky skipped the Politburo and went straight to the Central Committee, which was unusual.

Lenin thought about it carefully, nothing major has happened in diplomacy in the last two days? What did Trotsky want to do? Instinctively, he wanted to turn down the offer. However, he also knew Trotsky's character, that is, cunning and cunning, and it could not be ruled out that this product was deliberately provoking trouble, and if he was rejected in this way, it was very likely that this product would have to crook his mouth again, and in order to make his ears clearer, he would hold a meeting at a meeting, and he would like to see what tricks this thing had to play.

"Tell Comrade Trotsky that I have agreed in principle to his request, and that the meeting will be held in an hour. Also, tell him. It's just a meeting meeting, don't go into a long story, be sure to be brief! ”

After making this explanation, Lenin picked up the telephone again and dialed Molotov, as the head of both Tekko and Cheka in Petrograd, he was the eyes and ears of the mentor in Petrograd, and it was very necessary to ask him if he wanted to know what Trotsky was selling.

"What? You have not received any information about a major diplomatic development? Lenin was first surprised by Molotov's statement, so he asked again very sternly: "Then Comrade Andrei did not give back any news?" Oh no, yes. ”

In essence, Lenin still believed in a certain immortal a little more, not because he felt that Molotov was unreliable, but because a certain immortal was a little genius in intelligence, and the last time the news came back caught Trotsky by surprise, if there was any major change in diplomacy, even if no news was received at home, someone abroad should be aware of it.

And now that no news has been received at home or abroad, then things are even more strange, anyway, the Master instinctively felt that it was very bad, and he should not have agreed to Trotsky so casually.

After thinking about it, Lenin called Sverdlov again, and he had to ask Xiao Si if he had received any news about this, but the reply he received was that Xiao Si had gone out of the country, and his whereabouts were unknown.

Now the mentor was really amazed, and Sverdlov's work was no less than his, and even more tedious than him. Because he is still only in the general direction, the specific details need to be handled by Sverdlov. Xiao Si, who should have been busy in the dark, how could his whereabouts be unknown?

Lenin immediately became a little angry, thinking that this was Xiao Si's secretary fooling him, and his tone immediately became stern, "Immediately let Comrade Yakov answer the phone, I am Lenin, I have something important to look for him!" ”

But the little secretary on the other end of the phone replied helplessly: "Comrade Lenin, Comrade Yakov is indeed not there, I really can't get him to answer the phone!" ”

Lenin frowned, what happened today was more and more incomprehensible to him, Trotsky had convulsions, why did Sverdlov also have convulsions?

"And where did Comrade Yakov go?" Lenin asked.

The voice of the little secretary became more and more helpless, "Comrade Yakov left in a hurry, he didn't say where he was going at all......"

This news immediately made Lenin ponder, and as a statesman, he immediately linked Sverdlov's strange behavior with Trotsky's demands.

But even if there was a connection, there was no clue at all for the time being, and Lenin could not guess at all, so he could only pray that Sverdlov would return to his office sooner, and that he would surely call and explain everything as soon as he returned.

So for the first time in the next hour, Lenin did not concentrate on his work, and his mind was always involuntarily distracted by the strange actions of Sverdlov and Trotsky, until his secretary came to remind him that the meeting was about to take place.

"Comrade Yakov didn't call back?" Lenin asked with some irritation.

"Nope!"

Lenin raised his eyebrows and commanded without question: "Call Comrade Yakov's office and ask if he has returned!" ”

As a result, nature did not return, which made Lenin's mood worse and worse.

The secretary carefully reminded: "Comrade Lenin. Comrade Trotsky, they have arrived. You see......"

"Let them wait a little longer. Let's just say I have urgent business to deal with! Lenin waved his hand and sat back down at his desk, for it was not a good choice for him to rush to the meeting, and it was very likely that he would fall into the preset trap, and it was better to wait until Sverdlov had news before going to the feast.

But Sverdlov again disappointed Lenin and waited twenty minutes. There was still no news at all, and even Lenin could not sit still at this time, the time of the Central Committee was very precious, and even he could not continue to delay. For now, the only way to do this is to go to the meeting first, and then talk about it step by step.

In the meeting, most of the members of the Central Committee were engaged in their own affairs, and the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks in this era was not as leisurely as in later generations, and it was very normal to take advantage of the free time of the meeting to deal with some work.

Anyway, the tutors who walked into the hall did not notice anything strange for the time being, the expressions and manners of the members of the Central Committee were normal, and Trotsky did not show any strange smiles. Everything seems to be no different than usual.

But Lenin didn't dare to be careless at all, the brother who was still smiling with you a moment ago in the political struggle. The next moment it may stab you hard, and the older the fox, the more he can control his emotions, and it is almost impossible to see any clues from the dripping Trotsky.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting." Lenin sat down in his place as he said apologetic words, and the place on his right, apparently reserved for Sverdlov, was empty, which made his mood worse even worse.

The subtle change in the mood of the tutor immediately fell under the eyes of Stalin on his left, and the thing that could make the tutor show such a tangled expression was not trivial, and Stalin immediately raised his vigilance, and he also felt that this sudden meeting was probably unusual.

But at this moment, he could not ask his mentor a careful question, because as soon as the tutor finished speaking, Trotsky could not wait to stand up and speak: "Comrade Lenin has also arrived, let us now begin the meeting!" ”

Stalin's doubts grew more and more that Sverdlov had not yet arrived! You Trotsky can't wait for a meeting, what kind of rhythm is this? He was wondering when he felt a kick in his right leg, and he didn't think about it, it was definitely the teacher's doing.

Stalin's reaction was really not slow, and he immediately interrupted Trotsky's words: "Comrade Yakov has not yet arrived, let's wait for him first!" ”

Trotsky didn't want to wait at all, because although he didn't know what Sverdlov was up to, he knew that this was definitely a good opportunity, and as Li Xiaofeng's iron brother, Sverdlov would definitely spare no effort to protect someone, and there was a lot of resistance to solving someone's problem. And now God is helping him, without Sverdlov's interference, it will be much easier for him to get rid of a certain immortal, how can such a good opportunity be missed.

"Comrades have been waiting for a long time!" Trotsky hurriedly said, "And everyone has a lot of work, it would be a waste of time to continue to wait for Comrade Yakov, why don't I introduce the situation first, and wait while talking!" ”

Trotsky's proposal was immediately unanimously echoed by a group of people, including Bukharin, who, with Stalin's original temper, probably had no choice but to acquiesce to this result and sit down obediently. But today was completely different, the thing had no intention of sitting down, and was still holding fast to fight Trotsky in the ring.

"That's not good! I think it's better to wait for Comrade Yakov to come, and then you will introduce the relevant situation, which is also a kind of respect for Comrade Yakov! ”

To tell the truth, Stalin's performance surprised not only Trotsky, but also his mentor, and the reason why he kicked Stalin first did mean to make him delay time, but he did not have much hope for this goods.

Who let Stalin drop the chain in the previous paragraph? In the eyes of the Mentor, Stalin could act as a buffer, and the first battle that could block Trotsky would be over, and the rest would be up to him. It was really hard for him to refuse directly just now, after all, he was already late.

But who would have thought that this time Stalin would be so powerful, not only was he not repulsed, but he rose to the challenge. Got up with Trotsky. The mentor had to look up at him.

In fact, Stalin himself did not intend to be so active. He was used to keeping a low profile, and he was ready to make a lot of effort at the beginning, but just as he was about to sit down, he suddenly remembered what Mikoyan had told him, he couldn't be low-key for a while, and he had to make a high-profile attack, so that the mentor could see his role and ability, so that he could survive.

Under the influence of a sense of crisis. Stalin had to hold on, and with the momentum of sacrificing himself to block the eye-catching, he got into contact with Trotsky, don't you just want to have a meeting? Lao Tzu won't let you get your way!

And Stalin's excuse this time is really reasonable, anyway, he has been waiting for Lenin for so long, what does it matter if he waits for Sverdlov a little longer, on the contrary, there is a kind of nobody in the eyes of the meeting in advance.

Trotsky's hatred, he thought that without Sverdlov, Lenin would have a lame leg, but who would have thought that Stalin, who had been silent all the time, would suddenly break out. In a word, he was blocked.

According to his own ideas, he was naturally prepared to refuse regardless of it, but just as Lenin had just rejected his proposal. In the face of Stalin's opposition, it was difficult for him to come forward.

Fortunately, he Trotsky was not without comrades-in-arms, and Bukharin immediately jumped out: "How is this disrespectful to Comrade Yakov? The first meeting was also held to save the precious time of the comrades, and also for the sake of the revolution, and Comrade Yakov was not an unreasonable person, he would definitely understand! ”

Trotsky and Bukharin felt that what they had said was enough, and that you Stalin should also be interested, could it be that you can still be hard-topped?

Not to mention, Stalin was particularly powerful today, facing the two bigwigs, Trotsky and Bukharin, he was not at all stage frightened, and he still clung to his key: "Even if Comrade Yakov can understand, we can't do this." Just because Comrade Yakov can understand him, we can't disrespect him, right? This is ridiculous, I don't think it's a big problem to wait a little longer since I've been waiting so long in the first place! Otherwise, it would be a contempt for Comrade Yakov and an insult to his personality! ”

Well, this is all on the line. It seems that according to Stalin, not waiting for Sverdlov is to discriminate against comrades, that is, not to talk about unity. This made Trotsky and Bukharin gnash their teeth with anger, and there was nothing they could do. Suddenly, the two goods exchanged a color, which meant that they were asking each other what to do?

To tell the truth, Trotsky and Bukharin really did not arrive at home, and if he were a mentor in the same situation, he would not have raised such doubts in the face of such a "dilemma". On the contrary, he will strike decisively, anyway, now that the members of the Central Committee are here, it is enough to directly initiate a vote and pass a resolution to force the meeting to begin.

Trotsky and Bukharin are almost here, and they have already reached the time when the struggle is heating up, and the big guys are all pulling out knives and stabbing people, what else are they pretending? Throw away the mask, that's pointless!

The biggest drawback of these two products is that they regard political struggles as sports competitions and want to win in a dignified and orderly manner. But the real political struggle is a brawl of street gangsters, with no order, no rules, let alone no decency. There is only one thing you can do in this game, to win by any means, even if it is not good-looking, it is better than losing. Because history washes the floor for the victors!

So the gentlemanly Trotsky and Bukharin met Stalin, who had a serious hooligan atmosphere, and it was not at all a rut, and the two stared at each other for a long time before they sat back helplessly.

What's even more ridiculous is that these two guys are still comforting themselves in their hearts - it's nothing, we have the killer weapon anyway, and we will win whether Sverdlov will come or not. And it's even better that he's back, he won Lenin in the open, so he has nothing to say!

The meeting room returned to the state before Lenin came in, and the bigwigs were busy with the things at hand, and seemed to be at peace. But this is just a superficial phenomenon, the turmoil just now has reminded them, almost everyone understands that today's meeting is absolutely extraordinary, and they all need to be careful, otherwise they will be crushed into powder in the confrontation between the two top bosses.

The eerie silence in the venue lasted until the door was pushed open again, and the moment the door opened, almost all eyes were on the direction of the door, and if it was Sverdlov who came in, then a big battle would break out at once.

It's a pity that it wasn't Sverdlov who came in, and when Krupskaya's petite figure appeared, many people were temporarily relieved, they really weren't ready for that big battle!

Seeing that it was Krupskaya who came in, Trotsky involuntarily frowned, and his political intuition told him that it was definitely not a good sign for her to come in at this time, so he immediately pricked up his ears, and his body involuntarily leaned in the direction of Lenin, he was eager to hear what Krupskaya was here for.

However, the result disappointed Trotsky, and Krupskaya did not say a word superfluously, but walked directly to Lenin and handed over an envelope, "Ilyich, this document needs to be read by you at once!" ”

Lenin looked at the letter quietly, then handed it back casually, saying only one sentence: "I know what I know!" ”

While Trotsky was still looking forward to the letter, Krupska walked away, and Lenin got up and said: "Comrade Yakov has just written that he has something to do and cannot leave for the time being, so let's not wait for him, and now we have a meeting!" (To be continued......)