Chapter 282
Yuri and Bulganin are really old acquaintances. When he was in charge of commanding the operations in the Belarusian direction, Bulganin had always been a member of the Military Committee of the First Belorussian Front. Later, when the battlefield advanced into Poland, Bulganin was responsible for the administrative reconstruction of the Soviet-controlled area of Poland. The two sides had a lot of intersections.
So, even though Bulganin is now a member of the Presidium Standing Committee, which is equivalent to the Politburo Standing Committee in China, and he is also the number one figure in the General Political Department of the Soviet Army, Yuri is not very restrained in front of him.
Why? Of course, it was not only because the two were very familiar with each other, but also because Bulganin and Khrushchev had a special relationship. They had been friends for decades, and Yuri followed Khrushchev closely, which Bulganin also knew.
Yuri, who knew nothing about flower cultivation, took a look at the flower pot that Bulganin was taking care of. He showed no interest. He walked straight to the sofa and sat down. He took off his military cap and threw it aside. He smiled and said, "Why are you so idle? Have you handed over all the work in Poland?"
"It has been handed over," Bulganin said with his back turned, smiling, "Now I have nothing to worry about. Oh, there are cigarettes on the table if you want to smoke. You are welcome."
Yuri chuckled and reached out to take a pack of cigarettes from the table.
When he took the cigarette, he saw that there was a newspaper under the pack of cigarettes. It was a photocopy of the newspaper, similar to a newspaper clipping. People of this era had the habit of cutting newspapers, which meant cutting out some important information from the newspaper and putting it together for easy reference at any time.
Yuri took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, but did not light it. Instead, he took the photocopied newspaper news.
After a quick glance, the contents made him raise his eyebrows unconsciously.
This long report was cut from some newspaper, but it was definitely an English newspaper with a Russian translation. Its general content was about Yuri's gossip.
Yuri took the report in his hand and lit a cigarette while reading it.
The report is simply nonsense. It starts with an introduction to Yuri's basic situation, including his background, personal experience, and his outstanding achievements in the war, and then starts to make up stories, saying that when he was commanding the battle, he had sex with women every night. In order to meet his personal needs, Stalin set up a female corps for him. That's not all. He also likes to play with married women. He did this and that during the Battle of Leningrad, the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Kursk, etc. The report not only contains these groundless things, but also some so-called oral accounts of the parties involved. Those so-called lovers who were interviewed all said that he had some special hobbies.
In short, according to this report, Yuri has become the greatest pervert of all time. The women he has played with can form an army... the 71st Army of the Soviet Union during World War II.
"Have you seen such reports?" Bulganin sat down on the sofa next to him without knowing when. He looked at Yuri and smiled, "These Western media dare to publish any kind of reports."
"Will anyone believe such nonsense?" Yuri sneered and threw the newspaper in his hand back on the table.
"People who don't want to believe will never believe it. Even if they do believe it, they won't take it to heart," Bulganin said with a chuckle. He picked up the newspaper, crumpled it up and threw it into a trash can. "But people who are willing believe will believe any report, no matter how outrageous it is, and they will always regard it as more important than anything else."
Yuri was stunned. It was obvious that the other party was saying something else.
"This document was sent by Comrade Poskrebyshev," Bulganin continued. "Comrade Stalin meant that since you are so concerned about the work of the Red Flag Song and Dance Troupe, you might as well resign as deputy chief of the general staff and become the head of the troupe."
Yuri touched his nose awkwardly. He knew it was just a joke. If he were really asked to be the head of the Red Flag Song and Dance Troupe, it would not only be embarrassing for him, but also the entire Soviet Red Army system.
"Comrade Stalin was very dissatisfied with what happened last night," Bulganin smiled, stood up from the sofa, and said, "He asked the General Political Department to punish you for your corrupt private life. After discussion by the Political Work Committee, the punishment decision is as follows."
Is there really a punishment? Yuri stood up hastily and put on his military cap.
"Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich Kulyokov is sentenced to four days of solitary confinement and is required to make a profound self-examination of his corrupt private life," Bulganin said solemnly, putting away his smile. "During the solitary confinement, he is not allowed to leave the General Political Department building, nor is he allowed to contact the outside world. The confinement period starts from..."
Looking at the watch on his wrist, Bulganin said: "It starts at 10:09 am on July 3, 1944, and ends at 10:09 am on July 7. The disciplinary decision will not be announced to the entire army, but the review must be put into written form and read out at the meeting of the 9-member working group of the National Defense Committee."
Damn it! Yuri cursed in his heart, but his face showed no expression.
What kind of punishment is this? Just to embarrass myself? Or to punish myself?
"Okay," Bulganin smiled again. He walked to the desk, picked up the phone, and said while shaking the handle, "I have arranged a confinement room for you. You will reflect on yourself here for the next few days."
The call was made quickly, but the call was about calling the guard to come in.
"Also, Comrade Stalin has decided that you will be the chairman of the Executive Bureau of the Disarmament Working Committee," Bulganin said after hanging up the phone. "In the next few days, you should also think carefully about the working structure of the Executive Bureau and come up with a feasible and specific plan. Comrade Stalin is very concerned about this matter."
Yuri nodded. To be honest, he didn't take the so-called punishment seriously at all. Of course, he didn't care about the shame. In fact, at this sensitive moment, it would be better if Stalin informed the whole army about this matter. At least in that way, no one would worry about his excessive authority in the army.
The guards soon came to the office, Yuri shook hands with Bulganin, and followed the four guards to the so-called detention room upstairs.
This confinement room specially prepared for him was even more luxurious than Bulganin's office. In addition to a large reception room, there were two suites, one was a study and the other was a bedroom. The reception room was equipped with not only a full set of leather sofas, but also a TV, a refrigerator and a gramophone with a large flower-shaped speaker.
On the coffee table in front of the sofa were several fruit plates, with grapes, apples, citrus fruits and many other kinds of fruits, as well as a candy box with compartments, which contained some fruit candies, milk candies and chocolates, all in a colorful and pretty appearance. In addition, there was a box of unsealed cigars, several bottles of American drinks and two bottles of vodka.
To be honest, Yuri would be happy to be confined under these conditions for the rest of his life.
I went into the bedroom and saw that it was also very spacious. There was an old Russian-style carved bed, an ashtray and two cans of packaged milk on the bedside table on the right, a floor clock in the corner, and a thick carpet on the floor. There was also a partition in the bedroom, which was a small room that combined a toilet and a bathroom.
I went to the study and found it was quite empty. There was only a large desk and a small desk which should be used by the secretary. There was a typewriter on the desk.
Such conditions were impeccable, and Yuri was very satisfied. He went back to the reception room, took off his military jacket, hung it on the hanger near the door, put his military cap on the hat holder, and then went over to select a disc and put it on the phonograph.
He had no interest in watching TV. The TV in the reception room should be an American product. However, even if it was an American product, it was just a rough one . The screen size was no more than 12 or 13 centimeters. There was a 20-inch round convex lens in front of the screen. The convex lens was made of plastic and filled with distilled water. It was specially used to magnify the screen image. However, after the image on the screen was magnified by this thing, not only was the image distorted, but the picture was also blurry. For Yuri, who had the experience of his previous life, he could not tolerate such picture quality.
Soon, melodious music began to sound from the gramophone. It was the melody of "Troika", and the tune was sad and melodious.
Yuri walked to the sofa and sat down, picked up an orange, and peeled it while thinking about his own things.
This so-called punishment was obviously a warning from Stalin to himself. The reason for the warning was not because he could not stand his somewhat decadent private life, but because of his position as chairman of the executive board of the Disarmament Working Committee.
How important is this position? How can I describe it? The Disarmament Working Committee is directly responsible to the People's Committee and should be considered a direct subordinate of the People's Committee. According to the domestic administrative structure, this is a department directly under the State Council, and it is an important department whose work scope involves several ministries and commissions. It can be regarded as a department of the same level as the Joint Conference, which is half a level higher than ordinary ministries and commissions.
Of course, this is only the part of the suggestion Yuri put forward in his plan. As for whether Comrade Stalin made any changes, Yuri does not know yet.
In reality, Comrade Stalin did make some changes to the plan, because according to the list of standing members of the Disarmament Working Committee he determined, it was obviously a miniature version of the Standing Committee of the Presidium, and the Executive Bureau was actually a subordinate body of the Standing Committee of the Presidium.
