Chapter 375
The train, decorated with a large number of red flags, slowly drove into the platform in the steaming white mist. The soldiers lined up on the platforms on both sides drew their swords amid the dull sound of artillery fire, pointed the sharp blades into the air, and paid their final salute to the deceased Comrade Zhdanov.
It was rumored that a grand farewell ceremony was held for Comrade Zhdanov in Leningrad yesterday. Millions of people spontaneously took to the streets. The whole of Leningrad was filled with weeping, and even the Neva River was filled with grief.
It was hard to tell who spread such news, and it was hard to tell whether it was true or not. With the political sensitivity he had developed in recent years, Yuri knew that this was not a good thing, and there was obviously some conspiracy hidden in it. This was not a commemoration of Comrade Zhdanov, but a flattery of him. Of course, this dagger stabbed from the dark was not aimed at Zhdanov himself, after all, he was dead, just like the death of a person, no one would pursue a dead political enemy relentlessly except for a truly crazy guy .
The real target of this dagger was the people whom Comrade Zhdanov supported during his lifetime: Voznesensky, Kuznetsov, and perhaps some others, such as Rodionov, Popkov and the like, but the most important ones were probably Voznesensky and Kuznetsov.
Comrade Stalin once publicly declared that those people in the Presidium were old and the future belonged to young people like Voznesensky and Kuznetsov. So, with just this seemingly careless remark, these two people were placed in opposition to all members of the Presidium, and they became the enemies of everyone invisibly.
No one knows why Comrade Stalin ignored such a simple political common sense. Perhaps he did it on purpose because he felt threatened by the Leningrad faction, or perhaps he really suspected that Zhdanov and his people were planning to establish a so-called "Communist Party of Russia."
Among the more than a dozen republics of the Soviet Union, only Russia did not have its own Communist Party organization. This had been established since the Russian Communist Party was changed to the "All-Union Communist Party" in 1925. Since then, Comrade Stalin has been strengthening this point. The main reason is that Russia, as a republic, occupies too large a weight within the union. If a new Russian Communist Party emerges, it may very likely lead to the emergence of a second Central Committee.
Comrade Stalin may have felt the threat from Leningrad, so he planned to praise Kuznetsov and others to death. Otherwise, among all the members of the Presidium, Yuri was the youngest, and Suslov was slightly older than him. If we were to find someone to use as an example, I am afraid no one would be more suitable than Yuri.
Of course, this is just a guess. Perhaps the reason why Comrade Stalin did this was that he felt that he could still fully control all members of the Presidium, and he believed that no one dared to cause trouble under his nose.
But to be realistic, Comrade Stalin was a little too confident. As his health deteriorated over the past two years, his control over the entire core of power in Moscow was no longer as strong as before. There was a sense of restlessness in the Kremlin, which could be easily noticed by anyone with a slightly sensitive nerve or a keen sense of smell.
Thinking of the restless mood, Yuri looked up and looked straight ahead. There, the haggard Malenkov was whispering something with Beria, whose hair was half white. Less than two or three meters away from them, Comrade Khrushchev was whispering to Bulganin. Molotov stood alone farther away, looking at the train that was slowly stopping with a dull look. There was a thin figure behind him. It was Kosygin who was sitting on the bench with Molotov. And only three or four meters away from Yuri, Andreyev, wearing a gray coat and a wide-brimmed hat, was having an intimate conversation with a tall, beautiful blonde woman.
To be honest, among all the members of the Presidium present, Yuri envied Andreyev the most. This old man in his 50s was almost a genius. As a person in the core of power in Moscow, and a person with a relatively high ranking, he could be said to be the ultimate "good guy". Yuri could use three words to describe his style of doing things in the past two years: slippery, willing to take insults, and non-confrontational.
As one of the secretaries of the Central Secretariat, Andreyev's supervisory work had been in name only for the past two years. Kuznetsov had taken away all the powers that originally belonged to him, but the old man was not unhappy at all. As the deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers, he was originally in charge of the work of the agriculture and transportation departments, and Khrushchev had stuffed a large number of people into these two departments.
Even facing such a situation, Comrade Andreyev did not show any opposition. He was like an old cadre who had lost his ambition and was waiting for retirement all day. As a result, no one regarded him as an opponent, and naturally no one wanted to deal with him.
After the last whistle blew, the train finally stopped. Soon, several soldiers carried a gorgeous bronze coffin out of the carriage and sent it to the platform. Molotov, who had been waiting there, was the first to greet him, followed closely by Beria and Malenkov.
Unlike the time when they carried Sherbakov's coffin, there were only eight people this time, including Voroshilov and Budyonny. Yuri, who was hiding in the crowd, didn't even get a position to help.
The coffin was carried by the big guys from the south platform into the waiting hall. At this time, the waiting hall had been emptied by the soldiers who had been arranged in advance. Almost all that could be seen were officers and soldiers in military uniforms.
After entering the waiting room, due to the large space, the group of people also had a sense of hierarchy. The group carrying the coffin belonged to the first echelon, with an average age of over 50 years old. Among them, Voroshilov and Budyonny were already over 60 years old. These two old guys also became mascots. They still had a position in the political level, but their power had been completely stripped away. Needless to say, Voroshilov, he was a marshal, but now he became the director of the cultural work in the Council of Ministers. The members of the Presidium no longer notified him of the meetings. In the past two years, every time there was an important meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee, this marshal comrade would call to ask if Comrade Stalin would allow him to attend.
As for Marshal Budyonny, his current situation is even more miserable. Initially, he was a director of the General Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, which was like an advisory committee and was a sinecure. As a result, last year, because he complained that he was no longer valued by Comrade Stalin and had become "old and decrepit", within two days, he lost his position as director and was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture as a deputy minister, becoming a "horse steward" who was specifically responsible for horse breeding.
As for the original position of director of the General Affairs Group of the Ministry of National Defense, it was given to Marshal Timoshenko who had just been transferred back from Japan.
Looking at the slightly hunched backs of the two marshals, Yuri couldn't help feeling a little emotional.
Looking back, at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, in the Supreme Command headed by Comrade Stalin, Molotov had become a frightened bird and lived a life in fear; Shaposhnikov had been dead for almost five years, and his bones were probably rotten; Zhukov was demoted to the commander of the second-level military region and did not even have the status of a member of the Central Committee; Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov, who was once the commander-in-chief of the navy and the admiral of the navy, was stripped of his marshal rank, demoted to major general, and served as a captain in the Pacific Fleet; Voroshilov, Budyonny, and Timoshenko were all unemployed.
What is the impermanence of life? This is the impermanence of life. To be honest, although he is still very young, Yuri is not sure when his life will come to an abrupt end. Deep in his heart, he has already developed a hatred for Comrade Stalin's leadership, because the pressure that makes everyone feel insecure at any time can really drive people crazy.
Comrade Zhdanov's coffin was carried out of the waiting hall and placed on a carriage that had been prepared long ago in the square in front of the station.
Several members of the presidium who had their hands free stood in a row in tacit understanding. Standing in the middle was Molotov, who had been very low-key recently.
Listening to the music in the square and watching the carriage carrying the coffin move forward, Yuri turned his head and looked around. He first saw Suslov, who was half a step behind him, and then saw the tall man hiding behind Suslov - Brezhnev. This guy was appreciated by Comrade Stalin because of his outstanding performance in Dnepropetrovsk Province. It was said that he would be appointed as the first secretary of the Republic of Moldova. However, in just four years, he completed a leap from the secretary of the provincial party committee to the first secretary of the republic. This guy is indeed quite capable.
After looking around and seeing the people who were qualified to stand in the second row, Yuri hesitated for a moment, then quickly stepped forward and stood behind Molotov. The position in the middle of the second row was not so easy to stand in, but now that Kuznetsov and Voznesensky were not present, Yuri thought it was still appropriate for him to stand here.
But he obviously thought the problem was too simple. Just as he stood behind Molotov, Poskrebyshev, who had been whispering with Beria, suddenly came over. He gestured to Yuri and asked him to go to the front row and stand next to Bulganin on the far right of the first row - this was Comrade Stalin's intention, and he had to obey.
