Moscow, 11 Lubyanka Square.

As the seat of the KGB, the square is a special place in Moscow and in the Soviet Union. In the center of the square was a huge sign with the sword and shield of the KGB, reminding every Soviet citizen who entered the square that it was the seat of the highest intelligence agency of the Soviet Union.

In fact, there are very few people in this square, except for a few who come to see what the legendary KGB is really like, and most normal people will stay away from it and look in awe at the staff who enter and exit 11 Lubyanka Square.

To be honest, Li Xiaofeng was very surprised by this, because under his control, the KGB was much gentler than the Cheka and KGB in history, and for ordinary people, there was really nothing terrible here, and those who would be afraid of KGB were some people with ghosts in their hearts.

Of course, the lack of crowds is not a bad thing for a certain immortal, at least it is clean, so that some rats who are staring at KGB all the time can be easily exposed.

"Comrade Andrey, Nikolai. Comrade Alexandrovich has arrived. ”

Looking at the little secretary at the door, Li Xiaofeng couldn't help but be in a trance, this new secretary is famous in the history of the Soviet Union, his name is Yuri. Vladimirovich. Andropov, the KGB chairman who would succeed Bonezhlev as the supreme leader of the Soviet Union.

Li Xiaofeng was also surprised when he saw this name appear among his secretary candidates. Because, according to the course of history, Andropov, who is only 26 years old this year, should serve as the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League in the Karelia-Finnish Socialist Republic. Historically, after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, this man should have fought guerrilla warfare in the Karelia region. How did you suddenly come to Moscow?

Then. Li Xiaofeng was ready to cross out Andropov's name directly. I'm going to let this guy do whatever he wants, because he doesn't think highly of Andropov. But just as he was about to put it into action, he changed his mind.

A person like Andropov, who was able to ascend to the highest throne later, definitely still has two brushes, and it is impossible for a fool to reach the top. And now, Li Xiaofeng lacks capable and ambitious people around him, and he has not yet formed a group of his own, and this is also after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. After the outbreak of the conflict with Sverdlov, he was repeatedly at a disadvantage.

At that time, Li Xiaofeng counted with his fingers, there are many really useful people around him, but there are very few people in the political arena, only Bulganin is closest to him among the Central Committee members, and there is a misty wind jevic in the alternate Central Committee, and the rest are even if they are capable, they belong to the fringes of the party, and they can't give him much help in a short time.

During that time, Li Xiaofeng had been thinking about this question. How can he expand his strength, or who else can join his small group?

So after some thought. He decided to keep Andropov with himself and to see what kind of person the future KGB chairman was, and if there was potential for cultivation, then pull it, and if it didn't suit his taste, then kill him directly.

It should be said that Andropov is still very capable, at least he is very suitable for the work of someone's secretary, compared with Vasily, who used to be a messenger of a certain immortal, this one is much more flexible, as long as Li Xiaofeng has a look and a movement, he can know what to do. More often than not, he can take the initiative to reasonably resolve some problems that are not suitable for an immortal to solve in person.

Overall, this is a smart person who knows how to advance and retreat and know the current affairs, and the only thing that dissatisfies Li Xiaofeng is that he is not particularly "positional" and "assertive", and it is easy to blindly obey power. According to Li Xiaofeng's observation, this second-in-command who is more suitable to fill in the gaps is not suitable for being alone, especially not for being the top leader.

Of course, there is not only one Andropov among the people Li Xiaofeng observed, and since he has decided to cultivate a large amount of his own strength, he must cast a wide net. And another person who came into his eyes was Ustinov, a comrade who had a certain understanding of the Soviet military, and should know this Dmitry. Comrade Fedorovich, as the person who repeatedly blocked the aircraft carrier program of the Red Navy, as the person who received the most medals of Lenin in the history of the Soviet Union, it is too difficult to ignore him.

In the Great Patriotic War in history, the 33-year-old Ustinov was unusually promoted by Stalin to become the People's Commissar of Weapons and Equipment, and made outstanding contributions to the victory of the Great Patriotic War.

If such a talent is not used, it is really sorry for the historical experience, so after taking charge of the production of weapons, Li Xiaofeng immediately transferred Ustinov to his side as an assistant. Having been able to fulfill the tasks of the Politburo smoothly and bring the Soviet industrial enterprises into a wartime state in a very short time, Ustinov made a great contribution.

Even Li Xiaofeng had to admire Stalin's unique vision, you must know that Ustinov in 1941 was not famous, not even an alternate member of the Central Committee, and compared with those old revolutionaries with old qualifications, he was simply an ugly duckling.

In addition to these two, Li Xiaofeng also knew and observed Chernenko, but he didn't feel very good about him, thinking that his ability was limited, and he was so-so in his mouth cannon work.

And today, Li Xiaofeng is ready to gather a few core people in his small circle to talk about his ideals and ambitions, such as Bulganin, who has just been reported by Andropov, and Kuibyshev, who has not yet arrived.

Speaking of Kuibyshev, this brother is indeed a little unlucky, in history this is also a bull, he became a member of the Politburo in the thirties, single-handedly built the planned economic system of the Stalin era, but unfortunately died of a heart attack in 1935.

And in this time and space, Stalin did not fully come to power, and Lenin and Trotsky were pressed by fierce men above, and although Kuibyshev was taken seriously, it was difficult for him to come out.

The most obvious is that at the last general meeting, he was fully qualified to become a member of the Politburo, but he fell behind at the last moment, and instead fell behind him, Radek overtook successfully. In this Politburo. Kuibyshev is still an alternate. Genuinely unlucky.

In fact, it cannot be said that Kuibyshev was completely unlucky, and the reason why he was defeated at the last moment was that Trotsky must give priority to his little friend Radek in order to strengthen the power of the Trotskyists, and a very important reason was that Kuibyshev had an ambiguous relationship with Stalin.

Kuibyshev had previously supported Stalin, and although he was not a core member of the Stalin clique, he was more or less on the sidelines. Looking at his relationship with Stalin and Molotov, it is too difficult to cleanse up.

But Kuibyshev was smarter and got closer to Stalin. But he did not fully participate in it, at least in the liquidation of the Stalin clique, how could he not be included in it, not to mention that his own ability was still very outstanding, and Lenin had a good impression of him, so he was given a chance to reform his ways, and he was left in the Politburo for observation.

However, this does not mean that Kuibyshev's life is any better, how can he mix up without forming gangs and factions in politics? Not all of them are Dzerzhinsky, at least Kuibyshev is not so single.

At that time, he looked around. There doesn't seem to be a single friend in the Politburo. Trotsky did not like him, and naturally did not bird him. Sverdlov has too many friends around him, and he is not needed. For a time, Kuibyshev became a loner.

So from the beginning of the change of office in 1940, Kuibyshev honestly controlled his mouth, talked less, and caused less trouble. Of course, he is not passively waiting for death, but actively observing which forces can accept him.

After a period of observation, he became interested in Li Xiaofeng, and he could see that a certain immortal was also ambitious, and compared with Trotsky and Sverdlov, this Sverdlov, who had many similarities to Stalin, was more in line with his taste than the pedantic Trotsky and gentlemanly manners.

Later, after some exploration, Kuibyshev also discovered another advantage of Li Xiaofeng - pragmatism. As long as he is a useful person, he doesn't care too much. For Kuibyshev, this was too pleasant, and soon after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, Kuibyshev became very close to Li Xiaofeng.

And this time, after receiving Li Xiaofeng's invitation, he happily went to the meeting, and Kuibyshev felt that he had finally found an organization again. And Li Xiaofeng was not surprised, in this "party", he did not hesitate to express his political ambitions, which made Kuibyshev overjoyed.

People like Kuibyshev are most worried about following a mediocre boss, and now, after Li Xiaofeng has unmistakably expressed his ambitions, his last scruples have disappeared. Even Kuibyshev secretly calculated for himself, he was born in 1888, he is just fifty-two years old this year, according to Lenin's regulations, there are still more than ten years of peak, the next Lao Tuo will get out of the way no matter what, with Li Xiaofeng's status in the party at this time, he can at least compete for the second-in-command in the next term, and there is a second-in-command to support him, and it is not easy to turn into a formal bureau member.

And even in 1945, he was only 57 years old, far from the red line of 65 years old, in the next term, maybe Li Xiaofeng can attack the highest position, at that time, although he is 62 years old, but after all, he is not 65 years old, and there should be no big problem in mixing with the bureau committee again.

What's more, Kuibyshev is not generally optimistic about Li Xiaofeng, believing that he does not need to be until 1950, and in 1945 he will be able to have a great impact on Sverdlov. Why is Kuibyshev so confident? Derived from his objective analysis of the Sverdlov group.

In Kuibyshev's view, the reason why Sverdlov was able to become one of the two carriages and the future successor to the highest power was not how outstanding his leadership ability was, but because he occupied two favorable conditions - the first was that Lenin admired him, and to tell the truth, during the October Revolution, Sverdlov was not the most capable person, and the main reason why he was able to enter the Politburo smoothly was that there was no one around Lenin back then.

Who made Kamenev and Zinoviev brain-dead? Lenin's right-hand men almost betrayed the revolution and forced Lenin to find temporary replacements, and the only replacements Lenin could find at that time were Sverdlov and Stalin. Otherwise, after that, without Lenin's protection, Sverdlov and Stalin could have gone so smoothly in politics?

In addition to Lenin's factors, another important reason for Sverdlov's success was, in Kuibyshev's view, the finding of two powerful partners. The first one is Li Xiaofeng. This one is in charge of the intelligence system. The other hand reached into the army. Having won Sverdlov the support of the military, it can be said that without intelligence and military support, Sverdlov really could not have been able to overcome the sophisticated Trotsky and the insidious Stalin in the twenties and thirties, when the struggles were complicated.

The second partner who gave Sverdlov valuable support was Ruzutak, although Ruzutak's actual power in the party was not very large, but he had one of the most important advantages, that is, Lenin admired him and was willing to listen to Ruzutak's opinion. By virtue of the ability to influence Lenin. When Ruzutak supported Sverdlov, it was natural that Xiao Si's waist board would be much harder.

Of course, for Li Xiaofeng and Ruzutak's support for Sverdlov, Kuibyshev also has some calculations in his heart, in his opinion, Li Xiaofeng's support for Sverdlov belongs to the category of hard power, while Ruzutak's support can only be regarded as soft power. It is clear that Kuibyshev believes that hard power is more effective.

How did Lenin and Trotsky come into the October Revolution? Without the support of the millions of routed soldiers who had withdrawn from the front, without the support of the army, Lenin and Trotsky would have been cut into a stew by Kerensky in a minute. Even the February Revolution was the same. If it weren't for the backlash of the army in Petrograd, would Nicholas II be able to step down?

Soft power is different. Think about it, with Lenin's retirement, and even with Lenin's death in the future, the soft power that Ruzutak represents will die out little by little. And the hard power represented by Li Xiaofeng will only gradually increase as the Great Patriotic War progresses.

Speaking from the heart, Kuibyshev felt that Sverdlov's choice after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War was quite strange, and at this time Li Xiaofeng's role was more prominent, and in the long run, Li Xiaofeng should be held back, so as to stabilize the foundation. And Sverdlov is stupidly contradicting someone, isn't this digging his own grave?

Anyway, Kuibyshev was a little confused about Sverdlov's choice, thinking that Xiao Si was smart and confused for a while. However, Li Xiaofeng does not think that Xiao Si is confused, on the contrary, Xiao Si's recent actions are very profound, and it can be said that it is a decision after comprehensive consideration.

Why did Sverdlov choose to suppress him, Li Xiaofeng believes that it is precisely because the hard power he has is too strong! I am afraid that in Sverdlov's view, the hard power faction represented by Li Xiaofeng is too powerful and must be restricted, otherwise it will be allowed to develop openly, and soon Sverdlov himself and the soft power faction represented by Ruzutak will be dispensable.

And at that time, whether it was Xiao Si or Ruzutak's political status, it was very embarrassing, who would listen to it at that time?

What's more, as Kuibyshev analyzed, as the war for the country progresses, the hard-power faction will only become stronger step by step, and when Li Xiaofeng is full-fledged, that is when Xiao Si will step down. As a political family, he has always only believed in political interests, and the reason why Xiao Si, Ruzutak and Li Xiaofeng were able to form an iron triangle before was due to external pressure. And now that the external pressure is almost gone, it is natural to make adjustments internally. And the only object to be adjusted is Li Xiaofeng.

If Sverdlov doesn't want to be set aside in the future and doesn't want to become a marionette, the first thing to do is to restrain Li Xiaofeng and re-find the balance within the faction. Therefore, Xiao Si's previous actions that seemed to be abnormal were actually normal, and the only thing that might be abnormal was that his actions were too quick and too big.

Of course, this may also be due to the fact that Li Xiaofeng put too much pressure on him, and Xiao Si probably thinks that he can't wait for a moment.

In other words, the current Sverdlov group has reached a crossroads, and which direction it will go depends on the choice of Sverdlov, Ruzutak and Li Xiaofeng.

Especially Li Xiaofeng, his choice is extremely important. Because Xiao Si has already made a choice, he will inevitably adjust the power structure within the faction, and whether Li Xiaofeng is willing to be adjusted or fight for the initiative or simply set up his own door is in his thoughts.

And the reason why Li Xiaofeng called his core friends over was to discuss this topic and discuss the future direction.

Bulganin was the first to speak: "For the time being, the existence of the Trotskyists means that we cannot underestimate the enemy, and if there is an internal dispute at this time, it is very likely that the Trotskyists will be cheapened." As he spoke, he glanced at Li Xiaofeng, and then added carefully: "I think that for the time being, we should not adopt too fierce means of struggle, and we should be more patient." ”

It is clear that Bulganin was inclined not to stand on his own, and the reasons he gave were the same. Indeed, Trotsky did not admit defeat, and although he would inevitably step down in the next term, he would always have to plan for his Trotskyists, not to mention continuing to sit in power, but always retaining a considerable amount of money in the Politburo, right?

Once Li Xiaofeng and Sverdlov get too stiff, I am afraid that the Trotskyists will take advantage of the loophole, and then the Trotskyist fishermen will benefit.

Kuibyshev, however, did not think so: "What talent can the Trotskyists have other than Trotsky?" Ulitsky? Raddic? These two men were so limited in their abilities that they could not succeed Trotsky at all. And besides them, the rest of the Trotskyists are old and young, and there is no way that anyone will emerge in the next ten years! That being the case, what else is there to be afraid of the Trotskyists? (To be continued......)