In the dim, silent railway station of Zabaikalsk, the first train full of repatriated Russian Red Army prisoners had stopped steadily at the edge of the platform. Huang Baopei and Lida, who were sitting in the passenger car at the back of the train hall, saw through the window that the entire station was full of armed Red officers and soldiers. The officers and men were dressed slightly differently from the ordinary Red Army, and their large-brimmed hats were blue.

"That's the new uniform of the Cheka, and the outside are all Cheka warriors!" It was Natalie who spoke. Leshinskaya, although she is also Polish, is a Trotskyist, not a swallow on the Dzerzhinsky-Menzhinsky line. So now still a glorious member of the Cheka. This time, she was ordered to accompany a Chinese delegation led by Huang Baopei to the Far Eastern Republic to "inquire" whether the Chinese prisoners were willing to return to the motherland. By the way, he also escorted the first batch of Soviet Russian prisoners who were repatriated back to China.

"Are all of them going to be arrested? Right here? Huang Baopei clenched his wife's tender hand, and he felt beads of sweat oozing from the palm of the other's hand - it seemed that the life of no power in China, but no need to be frightened, had made this former GC fighter lose his iron will.

"Well, of course." Natalie raised her head, looked at him frankly with a pair of big shining eyes, and said with a smile: "GC warriors should not be taken prisoner, since they are prisoners, they can only pay for their own actions. ”

This matter seemed so natural to her mouth - and it was true, every Red Army soldier knew that he would rather die than be taken prisoner. It is also known that capture is a type of mutiny (the slightest). Since they have defected, and now they have been coaxed back, they deserve to be arrested.

According to the requirements of the Soviet and Russian sides, the carriages for transporting the captured personnel were bolted from the outside. At this moment, I saw several Cheka soldiers walking outside one of the carriages, pulling out the iron bolt, and pulling the car door with a bang. The dim light on the station suddenly hit the carriage, so that the "traitors" inside could see the situation outside clearly and knew that something was wrong.

"Bring your backpack and get out of the car!" A Cheka cadre shouted in Russian. Immediately, these "traitors" who knew that they had fallen into a trap all rolled over and rolled out of the car, and formed a horizontal line in front of the carriage. All of them were gloomy. But they didn't dare to say anything, and they were silently waiting for their fate.

At this moment, he saw a slightly older Cheka cadre approaching, and several guards carrying a string of ropes followed him. He was also joined by a Red Army officer who was in charge of welcoming the prisoners home, holding a stack of books that were presumably rosters. It seems that an arrest is going to be made on the basis of this roster!

Seeing that the captives were all standing there honestly, the Cheka cadre nodded with satisfaction, and motioned to the Red Army officer beside him, who stood at the front of the queue and said loudly: "Comrades, you are all captured in the battle against revisionist imperialism, and I know how you feel now. I must have wanted to explain the reason for my capture and the table in the prisoner camp, and then go to a new job without a little psychological burden. Reunite with your families and start contributing to the construction of the socialist motherland? Then I ask you to cooperate with the Cheka comrades, who may have to take some precautionary measures - because we have information and the agents of the White Russian reactionaries are mixed in with you! They are here to wreak havoc, and the Cheka comrades can't let them succeed, but the Cheka comrades don't know who these spies are, so they can only treat you all as spies first. However, this is only a temporary security measure, and I hope you will understand. ”

Hear here. All the captives had a relaxed expression on their faces at the same time - fortunately, they didn't want to arrest themselves! Immediately afterwards, a group of Cheka warriors took the ropes and began to tie up the captives, all of whom were very obedient, lest people think that they were some White Russian agents. Moments later, nearly two hundred prisoners of war were tied together in groups of ten, and then escorted off the platform by a Cheka warrior. Then another carriage door was opened, and the same words and the same thing happened again

"What will happen to them?" Watch as the ranks of incomparably docile Red Army prisoners become prisoners. Huang Baopei couldn't help but ask again.

Natalie glanced at the other party leisurely and said with a light smile: "Comrade Zhisheng, what will happen to them, you should know, right?" ”

Huang Baopei smiled bitterly and nodded: "I know." Because I made a similar decision - at that time, I went to the punishment camp and did the hardest work, and when I fought, I was the first to charge, and I was done with death! But now there is no punishment camp to go to, it should be a labor camp, right? Maybe the death penalty, oh, there is no death penalty in the Soviet state, it should be the amount of the highest security measures, how much is there this time? ”

"It's not a lot, only 3%."

"That's it." Huang Baopei seemed to be a little surprised: "Trotsky is kind? ”

"The Soviet Fatherland is in great need of labor right now." Natalie looked at the last group of captured captives. "There are so many places to be built, and no one can do it!" She turned her head and smiled at Huang Baopei: "So don't bring all the people from the China Gang back, you have to leave a little for Zhang Guotao and Ren Fuchen." ”

"Then they'll have to keep it willingly."

"Of course, they will stay willingly." Natalie said: "Now that Russia can start to implement the New Economic Policy, there is so much fertile land in the Far East that no one cultivates it, and those who are willing to stay will be allocated land. ”

Listening to Natalie's words, Huang Baopei just smiled and shook his head: "Natalie, do you really think I don't know anything?" Before me, there were probably several groups of 'Chinese officials' who asked about it, right? ”

Natalie tilted her head and smiled charmingly, "I haven't heard of that. ”

Huang Baopei was a key member of the Russian and Chinese gangs, and he was a high-ranking official such as the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Far Eastern Republic. There are also many old friends in Chita City. This visit as a foreign guest was of course courteous. High-ranking figures of the party, government, and military in the Far East, including Zhang Guotao, Blyukher, Ren Fuchen, Tang Jiu, and others, all went to the Chita Railway Station to greet him, and then held a banquet at the lavishly decorated Far East Bureau to greet him.

This is the residence of the former Semenov Provisional Government, and the Russian-style building is in the shape of an H, and there is dense shade and green grass everywhere. Stepping into the hall, Huang Baopei found that the place had been decorated with magnificence, and the traces of the original damage caused by the war had disappeared.

The room is already full of people, and there are about dozens of tables, which are the layout of Chinese banquets. The number one character in the Chinese gang is almost all there, and most of them have a beautiful Russian girl around them. There are also many white cadres and their wives who are also scattered among them. The highest-ranking of the white cadres was Blyukhel. Frunze and Dzerzhinsky, who were handling the handover, did not appear, I wonder if they were in Chita or did not want to meet Huang Baopei?

The table is full of exquisite dishes, the menu is written in Chinese and Russian scripts, and there is a long list of Chinese and Russian specialties waiting to be served, and vodka or wine is placed on the table for casual use. In front of each guest, a box of beautifully packaged cigarettes was also placed. Everyone at the banquet was dressed modestly, but most of the guests were ugly.

Huang Baopei noticed that the male and female guests at several tables a little further away from the main table were throwing off their cheeks and eating and drinking, and there were some starving ghosts reincarnated. However, the guests at the main table and the few counters near the main table are much more elegant, just taking small sipes of fine food. Most of the time is whispering and laughing.

But what surprised Huang Baopei was not the hungry ghosts who were reincarnated, but the group of elegantly behaved diners around him. Huang Baopei is very familiar with them. Compared with a few months ago, each of them has gained weight, the complexion on their faces has become ruddy, and the clothes on their bodies have reached the level of elegance, and it seems that the standard of living has improved a lot recently.

This is also a justifiable thing, they are all high-ranking cadres now, even if Russia is experiencing a famine at the moment, it is normal to not be hungry, and it is not surprising to wear a few good clothes. Compared to officials of the same level in China. Their lives still seem very shabby.

But this is not revisionist China or imperialist Japan, but Soviet Russia, where everyone is equal!

Who does not know that Lenin's salary is equivalent only to the maximum salary of a skilled worker - 500 rubles per month! And none of these high-ranking cadres of the Far Eastern republics sat down had a salary of more than 200 rubles per month! This money will not buy much in Russia at the moment. The People's Commissar is a higher rank than these people. Morality. Qu Luba once fainted from hunger at a meeting of the People's Committee! Although after this, under the construction of Comrade Lenin, in order to ensure that the leading cadres had enough body to serve the people, a system called the "nutritious canteen" began to appear in the holy land of GCISM. Leading cadres at all levels can enjoy extra food at different levels at low prices according to their ranks, which can be regarded as having a little privilege. But the supply of nutritious canteens is not abundant at all. Not enough for the leading cadres to show signs of overnutrition, at least when Huang Baopei and Lida left Chita. And the nutrition canteen doesn't provide high-quality and low-cost (very cheap) cloth and clothes, right?

Could it be that in the short period of three or four months, the privileges of the Russian GCD cadres have increased significantly? Huang Baopei's heart couldn't help but think of Zuo's prophecy that he had only heard after he returned to China, "Down with the bourgeoisie and become the bourgeoisie".

"Zhisheng, our conditions here are still a little difficult. You can't compare it to yours, don't be surprised if you don't have good hospitality. Zhang Guotao drank a few more drinks at this time, and the topic of conversation with Huang Baopei also deviated from the friendship between the two countries and the two parties.

"It's good, it's good." Huang Baopei was interrupted from his train of thought, and smiled reluctantly: "If Brother Kaiyin goes to the Northeast, I can't come up with such a hospitality specification, brother." ”

As soon as these words came out, the high-level officials of the Chinese Gang sitting there actually burst into laughter, as if they had heard some joke.

"Haha, Brother Zhisheng is really good at joking." Zhang Guotao said with a smile: "This meal is not out of my pocket, we GCD people are all breezy with two sleeves." ”

Huang Baopei shook his head with a wry smile: "My salary as a GCD person is quite a lot. The regular salary plus special expenses (theoretically should be used for official activities, but if you can't spend it, you can put it in your pocket, which is a bit suspicious of corruption, and it is the embodiment of capitalist countries), there are always more than 800 Chinese dollars a month, which is more than Comrade Lenin gets. But my Northeast Bureau is a poor begging yamen."

"What is that?" Zhang Guotao was stunned for a moment, and asked rhetorically: "Isn't China G the ruling party now?" ”

Huang Baopei shook his head and said nothing, but Lida replied for her husband: "Zhongg is probably the poorest ruling party in the world now, right?" Funds mainly rely on party dues from party members, small donations from the working class and intellectuals, and Zhisheng has been worried about funding these days. ”

Hear this. The cadres of the Russian GCD who were sitting here couldn't help but shake their heads. The chairman of the Northeast Bureau of Central G is worried about funding all day long! So how much energy does he have to lead the work of the party? To lead the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat in the Northeast? This is ridiculous!

"Does the Kuomintang also rely on party fees and donations for its funds?" The person who raised this question was Zhong Zhijie, the international representative of China and G to GC, who had just come from Moscow to greet Huang Baopei and his party. Although he has always been a member of the Zhongg Party, he has never participated in the domestic revolutionary work, so he asked a second question.

"Of course. In China at present, there is no party treasury or national treasury. All the parties (and not just the Kuomintang and the Communist Party) had to find a way to raise their own funds. However, the Kuomintang has more money than us, and most of their supporters are propertied classes and overseas Chinese, so they are naturally more generous. ”

After listening to Huang Baopei's explanation, the bigwigs of the Chinese Gang who were sitting here all had this idea in their hearts: How about being generous. It's not the same as a beggar party! Such a party worries about a little money all day long, where can it still have the energy to grasp the revolution and promote production? Besides. How can such a political party, which relies on donations to maintain its operations, truly represent the interests of the broadest masses of the people? Surely they must put the interests of their donors first, right? It seems that Comrade Lenin's viewpoint is still correct, and China's revisionist line has no future after all.

However, the thoughts in the hearts of both sides were not revealed on face. For the rest of the feast, the GCDs from both countries began to have their glasses again. Toast one after the other. It seems that everyone has stood up once, tapped the glass with chopsticks or a knife and fork, attracted everyone's attention, and then shouted a toast. "I wish you good health!" "For friendship!" "For Lenin and Trotsky!" "I wish Comrade Zuo Min good health!" And so on. Until most of the people are very drunk. This banquet, which is already very extravagant for the current Russian difficulty, has finally come to an end.

But what Huang Baopei never expected was that during the following time of visiting various parts of the Far Eastern Republic, in the process of contacting his former close comrades-in-arms and subordinates, more budding bureaucratic privileges appeared in front of his eyes.

First of all, the status of a Russian GCD member is a privilege, a prerequisite for Russia to climb up the ladder and achieve a good life - by contrast. In China, membership in the Kuomintang or GCD is not a requirement for government or military membership (except in Xinjiang Province), and only the heads of departments of the Nationalist government and local governments are generally held by members of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, as well as in the national defense forces or the judiciary. It doesn't matter at all whether you are a party member or not.

Moreover, in addition to being officials, Chinese have many other ways to climb up, such as trading or learning. These two have nothing to do with whether they are party members or not, the former relies on business experience, while the latter requires a smart brain. By the way, in the current China, such a thing as reading is a lifelong deal! It has nothing to do with the political government, even if the members of the Central Government Bureau want to go to a public university, there is only one way to enter the examination room! In Russia, however, the most important thing is political and family background, and if Lenin and Trotsky had been born thirty years later, they would not have had the opportunity to go to university.

Secondly, there were now signs of a feudal hierarchy in Russia. What kind of life should a person enjoy. For example, what kind of house they live in, what kind of food they eat, what kind of clothes they wear, what kind of furniture they use, whether they have a car or carriage, whether they have servants to serve them, and so on, the most important determining factor is their official rank -- of course, this is not the only criterion, because at present Soviet Russia is still implementing the New Economic Policy, and it is still permissible to theoretically get rich and then use money to buy a better life.

And last but not least, one of the strictest bureaucratic privileges: the monopoly of the Russian GCD over the truth! In today's Russia, the correctness of the GCD and Lenin and Trotsky is beyond doubt! All the tools that can be used for propaganda and education are monopolized by the GCD, and the Russian people see and hear only what the Russian GCD wants them to see and hear. Even if the Russian people discover something other than the truth of the GCD, they would do well to pretend that they have not heard or seen anything.

Of course, apart from the monopoly of truth, the other bureaucratic prerogatives of the Russian GCD are still in their infancy, and perhaps at some point in the future Lenin and Trotsky will correct these problems in time?