Ulitsky thought that by imposing his tone and showing the prestige of the chief of the Politstudio, he should be able to suppress Muralov, but he absolutely did not expect that Moscow's "crooked tendencies" would be much stronger than he imagined.

Just when he looked coldly at the party committee members attending the meeting, wanting to appreciate their discolored expressions, he was slapped on the head.

"Comrade Ulitsky, it is difficult for me to agree with your statement!" A member of the party committee immediately stood up, "Has the Central Committee already adopted a resolution condemning the Moscow party committee?" Has the Central Committee made clear its dissatisfaction with the status quo in Moscow? I'd love for you to answer both of these questions! Otherwise, what you just said is alarmist and an insult to all party members and cadres in Moscow! ”

One of the first to fire the cannon soon chimed in: "That's right, the Moscow Party Committee has not received any official telegrams of condemnation and criticism from the Central Committee, and all this time the Moscow Party Committee has been actively working to promote the revolutionary process and constantly waging an arduous struggle against enemies inside and outside the Party!" In this case, you are inexplicably lashing out at our efforts, is this a responsible attitude? We strongly demand that you have to give an explanation for this, and we must give an explanation to all the comrades in Moscow! ”

In the midst of the uproar, Ulitsky's face became more and more ugly, such a situation was not expected by him at all, these miscellaneous bits of the Moscow Party Committee were so bold that they were completely beyond his appearance, and if he did not suppress these guys quickly, he would not want to do anything.

"Shut up!" Ulitsky slapped the table hard, "What are you trying to do?" Is it a question of the Central Committee's resolution? If you don't have a problem in your work. Does the Politburo need to send me to Moscow? Could it be that the Politburo is full of food! The reason why I don't criticize you by name at the Central Committee. It's the Politburo that is saving you a little face. I'm covering up for you! You are not ashamed, but proud! ”

As he spoke, he slammed the table again, making a loud noise, which seemed to shake the miscellaneous members of the Moscow Party Committee in a daze.

Ulitsky was very satisfied with the effect he had created, although his palms ached faintly, but it was worth it, as long as he struck with a hot iron, he should be able to do it in one fell swoop!

"Does slapping the table show your authority?" Just when Ulitsky's heart fell slightly. Muralov sneered and said contemptuously: "The Politburo saves face for our Moscow Party Committee? This statement is simply absurd, what have we done to lose face? How can the Politburo cover up our shame again? Comrade Ulitsky, I would like to remind you once last that your task is only to mediate the friction between us and the Social Revolutionaries, and that the Politburo has never given you any other mission, let alone obliged you to judge our previous work! I want you to talk about things that go beyond your mission and that neither the Politburo nor the Central Committee have reached a conclusion. Please don't talk about it! Otherwise, I suspect that you are just going to indiscriminately meddle in the normal work of the Moscow Party Committee, that is, you are blindly directing! ”

Ulitsky looked at Muralov in amazement. He didn't understand why the other party's arrogance was so arrogant, and he dared to confront him, a member of the Politburo, and even criticized him by name, who gave him the courage!

Ulitsky yelled angrily: "I asked you once in the last question, are you questioning me and questioning the rationality of the Politburo?" ”

Muralov was not fooled and said with a smile: "How dare I question the Politburo? I welcome and support the Politburo for sending you to mediate the contradictions between us and the Social Revolutionaries. However, I would like to stress that the task given to you by the Politburo is only to mediate contradictions, and any other opinions you express are only your personal opinions, and cannot represent the opinions of all comrades in the Politburo, let alone the Party Central Committee! Therefore, I also implore you, Comrade Ulitsky, once again to get back on track, to your tasks, and if you are willing to discuss how to resolve the contradictions and disputes between us and the Socialist-Revolutionary, we are willing to respect your opinion. But if you have to play freely and say something irresponsible, then we are too busy with work to listen to your nonsense! ”

As he spoke, Muralov looked directly at Ulitsky without flinching, and it could be seen from his expression alone that he was indeed coming for real. What made Ulitsky even more stunned was that almost all the members of the party committee also stood up in support of Muralov, even Stalin's henchmen, who were on the wrong side of Muralov before, at this time they also sided with Muralov.

At this moment, Ulitsky realized that his previous thoughts were too naïve, he thought that there was a contradiction between Sverdlov and Stalin, and the fight was in deep trouble, and he should be able to fish in troubled waters, and now it seems that a faction is a faction, even if the bosses of the two mountains in this faction are not very good at dealing with each other, but when facing people outside the faction, it is still unanimous to the outside world.

For the first time, he also noticed that the big cake in Moscow is not something that anyone can rush up to take a bite of, because the competition here is quite fierce, and if you are not careful, you may be divided by five horses.

In the face of the united Moscow Party Committee, Ulitsky sat on wax, and he realized how great the advantage of the first hand was great, and Lenin's two major cadres had already swept away the Moscow Party Committee, and all those who did not deal with Lenin and did not obey Lenin's leadership were mercilessly swept away. The rest of these people are already monolithic. As a latecomer, he wanted to pry open this iron plate and get a piece of the pie, but the difficulty was not ordinarily high.

Now, he had two options, either he would get out of the way so as not to knock out a good tooth on this piece of iron, and instead of wasting precious time in Moscow, he would better go back to Petrograd as soon as possible, at least there would be no risk in doing so.

The second option is to rise to the occasion and break through a bloody road, which must open up the situation in Moscow. However, the risk is not ordinarily large, and it is very likely that the gains outweigh the losses.

There was not much time left for Ulitsky to think and consider, and in the face of the Moscow Party committee, he had to hurry up and express his position no matter what. The longer he delayed, the more his prestige was undermined.

"Then let's start discussing the dispute with the Socialist-Revolutionaries!" Ulitsky forced himself to suppress the anger in his heart. Concessions had to be made. Of course. The reason for the concession was not that he was afraid of these people, but that he chose the second way, which was to open up the situation in Moscow. And if you want to open up the situation, you can't turn your face now, because as long as you turn your face, the other party can completely concentrate firepower to hit him, even if he is a member of the Politburo. Nor can one person resist the opinion of the whole party committee of another great revolutionary center.

Therefore, he can only endure humiliation and burden, and can only retreat as advance - okay! You guys, didn't you say that I only have the power to deal with disputes? Then I will make good use of this power and make a good fuss about disputes, I don't believe that you can still question my authority in this regard!

The silence in the conference room was restored, and the two groups of people who had just been tense sat down again, and everyone did not speak, thinking about how to shoot in the second round of the confrontation.

This time, Ulitsky learned to be smart, and he no longer dared to slap authority and put on a show. Instead, he took the initiative from the outset, "The Politburo is very concerned about the disputes and contradictions between you and the Cadets and the Social Revolutionaries. This issue is very sensitive, and if it is not handled well, it will greatly affect the course of the revolution! ”

Ulitsky is the first to raise the tone, only the worse the nature of the incident, the greater the responsibility that can be pursued, even if it cannot be held accountable, it can also exert great pressure on the bastards in front of him. Only when they feel the pressure can they take the initiative.

Muralov they didn't mean to answer this conversation, you can set the tone as you want, the tone is set so high, you can't tell who is the most passive!

Ulitsky glanced at the compiler and continued: "According to my personal understanding, the fuse of this case was the sudden arrest of three Cadet Duma by the task force. ”

Ulitsky looked at Muralov with a straight look, and it was clear that he wanted him to answer the question. For Muralov, there was no pressure at all to answer this question, and he said very easily: "That's because the task force found out that Venter was colluding with them, and that scum actually colluded with our enemies in order to achieve his ulterior goals, which is really shameful!" ”

Ulitsky was a little smug in his heart, and he was initially worried that Muralov would do tai chi and would avoid answering this question, because the question was a trap, a breakthrough in Ulitsky's elaborate attempt to dismantle the monolithic party committee in Moscow.

What is the breakthrough? That is Venter, as the most crucial figure in the case, whose presence is the focus of the contradiction between Stalin and Sverdlov. Ulitsky thought that as long as he grasped this focal point of contradiction and made a big fuss, he could dismantle the monolithic situation of the Moscow Party Committee, and as long as he could provoke the internal struggle between Stalin and Sverdlov, he would have a chance!

And now, the opportunity has reached him!

At this moment, Ulitsky's hands trembled slightly, it was because he was too excited, he thought that he could wash away the shame just now and fight a good turnaround.

"Venter personally confessed that he was involved with the three Duma?" Ulitsky asked cautiously.

"That's right!" Muralov was sure.

"Really?" Ulitsky pretended to frown, seemed to be very suspicious, and smacked for a long time before saying: "Since the cause of the incident is in Venter, then for the sake of prudence, I must meet him, and I can only rest assured if he explains it himself!" ”

Ulitsky's heart blossomed, in his opinion, suddenly asking to see Venter would definitely be able to catch Muralov off guard, he didn't believe that Venter really confessed to being involved with the Cadets, it was a joke at all, as long as he could get Venter to retract his previous confession, hehe! Then Muralov and his henchmen will be in big trouble, maybe Stalin will also seize the opportunity to fight back, and when the time comes, I will not believe Muralov and that Andrei. Petrovich can handle it!

Ulitsky was proud, but Mulalov's face was rather weird, of course, this weirdness seemed to Ulitsky to be his own seven inches of grabbing the other party. He is now thinking about what he will do if Muralov does not let him see Venter. It's tough pressure. Or is it deliberately giving the other party a chance to "make up for their mistakes"?

Don't think how well-intentioned Ulitsky is. The so-called making up for mistakes. It's not that he plans to let Muralov go, but deliberately gives the other party a chance to kill people, if Ventel dies at this stall, he can make a big fuss, and even make a fuss more conveniently, when Muralov and Li Xiaofeng fall into the crotch of their pants - it's not but!

Of course, if the other side is not afraid that he will go to Venter, if Venter is really involved with the Cadets. Ulitsky was not afraid either. He was confident that he would be able to persuade Venter, who had already had a ruined future, to take refuge on his side - you have already been abandoned by Stalin, so why not take refuge in Trotsky? Come to us and we'll get you covered!

Ulitsky was full of joy and imagined all kinds of possibilities, he felt that his move was simply foolproof, and he could take advantage of it no matter what, but Mulalov's next words directly poured cold water on his head, "Comrade Ulitsky, I'm afraid I can't arrange for you to meet that traitor!" ”

"For what!" Ulitsky couldn't wait to jump out and began to attack according to the first plan: "Why don't you let me see him, is there any ulterior secret in this?" ”

Muralov said with a bitter face: "Of course, there are no secret ......"

Ulitsky hurriedly said again: "Then let me see him immediately!" ”

Muralov spread his hands helplessly: "That's impossible......"

"Then you have a secret to tell!" Ulitsky is getting more and more energetic. "I warn you that I have been sent by the Politburo to investigate this matter thoroughly. I will truthfully report your words and deeds to the Politburo, and if anyone tries to deceive the Politburo and the Central Committee, I will absolutely not tolerate it! ”

Muralov said angrily: "No one is trying to deceive the Central Committee and the Politburo, but we really can't arrange for you to meet Venter!" ”

"Why, it's Andrey. Petrovich does not let? Ulitsky snorted contemptuously and sneered: "There are some comrades who just like to pretend to be ghosts and play tricks, and hide everything, isn't this a ghost in their hearts?" You go Comrade Andrey . Petrovich, tell him, bring Venter over immediately, otherwise, this is the confrontation with the Politburo, this is ......"

"This is" Before he finished speaking, Muralov really couldn't stand the constant unfolding of this self-righteous guy, and said coldly: "No one does not let you see Comrade Venter." Comrade Alyosha, let someone arrange a vehicle, take Comrade Ulitsky to the Catholic Church hospital, let him go and 'meet' Venter! ”

Ulitsky did not hear the irony, and thought that it was Muralov who gave in, and immediately became proud, and said self-righteously: "Why is Comrade Ventert in the hospital?" Could it be that you have personally persecuted him? I must sternly warn you that if I find out that you are persecuting your comrades in the party, I will definitely hold you responsible! ”

Muralov looked at the others in the room, shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, sarcastically: "Comrade Ulitsky, first of all, you must pay attention to the fact that Venter's treasonous and counter-revolutionary behavior has been confirmed. So he was a traitor, not a revolutionary comrade. If you're in his company and stand with him, it's really inappropriate! ”

As soon as Ulitsky was about to speak, Muralov stopped him, "Secondly, after the facts of Venter's crime were revealed, he personally confessed all his guilt, as evidenced by his confession and the recording of the interrogation...... And during the interrogation, no violence was used...... The reason why I asked you to go to the hospital to meet Comrade Venter is because he has committed suicide in fear of sin, and if you must see him, you can only go to the morgue......"

Speaking of this, the smile on the corner of Muralov's mouth really couldn't be hidden, not only him, but most of the people in the conference room were watching Ulitsky's jokes, silently mocking his self-righteous behavior.

Sure enough, Ulitsky's face turned red, but immediately turned white, and he trembled with anger, and pointed at Muralov and shouted: "You actually kill people and kill people!" You ......"

Now Muralov will not be polite to him, and immediately yells back: "Comrade Ulitsky, please pay attention to your words again, Venter committed suicide in fear of crime, and there are suicide notes and eyewitnesses who can confirm this...... Please don't talk nonsense, otherwise, we can only think that you are his accomplice! I will express a strong protest like the Politburo!"

Ulitsky was speechless, he was too excited just now, so he didn't choose to speak, and now he regrets it, people have done things seamlessly, and he ran up to question it without any evidence, isn't that self-inflicted?

However, if you let Ulitsky swallow this breath, he is not reconciled, and it took many brain cells to think of it like a breach, who would have thought that it would be a dead end at all. Fortunately, he was not slow to react, and immediately realized the problem, if Venter had died a long time ago, why didn't he receive any news as a member of the Politburo? There's no reason not to inform him of such a big thing!

Immediately, Ulitsky felt that he had grasped another handle, and shouted urgently: "For such an important matter, why don't you notify the Central Committee and the Politburo...... What are you trying to do here? (To be continued......)