Chapter 391
Considering that Molotov would come over in the afternoon to "explain the problem", Yuri did not rest at noon . To be honest, given the current situation, Molotov's position in the core of power in Moscow is no longer as high as Yuri's, mainly because the old guy no longer has any status in front of Comrade Stalin.
According to common sense, Yuri should keep a distance from and cut off ties with an old man like Molotov who has "fallen out of favor". This is the best choice to protect himself. However, he cannot avoid this meeting this afternoon. After all, the other party has made it very clear that he has come to explain the problem. According to Molotov's level, Yuri is the only one within the Central Supervisory Committee who can handle this matter personally.
Three minutes before two o'clock, a black Moscow sedan slowly drove into the courtyard of the Central Control Committee and stopped at the entrance of the main building. Yuri looked down from the window and saw a burly man getting out of the car. He was wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a gray windbreaker.
Although he didn't see the man's face, Yuri recognized him at a glance. This man was indeed Molotov.
After straightening his shirt, Yuri walked back to his desk, picked up a document, spread it out on the desk in front of him, and began to read it seriously.
“Dangdang…”
The grandfather clock in the office rang, and the knock on the door happened exactly at the same time.
"Come in," Yuri coughed lightly, looking at the documents in front of him without raising his head.
The door was pushed open from the outside, and Kryuchkov's voice rang out: "Comrade Chairman, Comrade Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov is here."
"Oh?" Yuri raised his head and looked towards the door.
When he saw Molotov standing outside the door with his hat in hand, he quickly stood up from his chair, walked around the desk with a smile on his face, and walked towards the door, saying with a smile: "Hey, Comrade Vyacheslav Mikhailovich, please come in."
"Good afternoon, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," Molotov shifted his hat from his right hand to his left hand, took two steps forward, shook hands with Yuri, and said, "I hope I didn't disturb your work."
"Good afternoon," Yuri replied, and then said , "Haha, there is always work to be done. Compared to work, entertaining friends is obviously more important."
At this point, he gestured for an invitation and said, "Please sit down. What would you like to drink? I have some coffee here that I just got a while ago. It's said to be Cuban coffee shipped from South America. It should be pretty good."
"Then have some coffee," Molotov handed his hat to Kryuchkov, walked to the sofa and sat down, smiling, "It's just right. I didn't sleep well last night, and it can refresh me."
Yuri gestured to Kryuchkov to get some espresso, and he went to sit next to Molotov and said, "Has Polina's problem not been solved yet?"
Yuri guessed what Molotov meant by "confession". He should have come for his wife. Since this matter had to be discussed anyway, he might as well be the first to speak.
Molotov shook his head at first. It looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He was silent for a while and said, "I mentioned it on the phone this morning. The reason I came to the Supervisory Committee this afternoon was to explain some personal issues of mine."
Yuri nodded, indicating that he knew about this matter and had heard the secretary report it before.
"Then please arrange for me to take notes," Molotov took out a pack of cigarettes from his windbreaker pocket, took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. When he was about to light it, he stopped. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and said, "Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich, considering that the issues I want to confess will involve some personal views, I hope that you can take notes in person. In addition to you and me, there can be at most one other witness present. The witness must be a trustworthy Bolshevik member and a Soviet cadre with a firm stand."
Yuri frowned. He didn't expect Molotov to make such a serious request. So after thinking for a moment, he said, "If you think it is necessary, I can ask Comrade Matvey Fyodorovich to act as the witness."
Matvey Fedorovich refers to Shkiriatov. The reason why Yuri mentioned this person was because he had a different position from him. Finding him as a witness could ensure the fairness of this "interrogation".
"Okay," Molotov thought for a moment and approved his proposal.
At this time, Kryuchkov just brought coffee, and Yuri arranged for him to call Shkiriatov.
"This coffee is really good," Molotov took a sip of the coffee and casually praised it, then fell into a long silence.
Molotov didn't say anything, and Yuri didn't want to force a conversation, so he returned to his desk and pretended to look at the documents.
The long ten minutes seemed like a year. Finally, Shkiriatov arrived and Yuri breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Shkiryatov Yuri is still far ahead of him in terms of seniority in the party. However, not everything in this world can be ranked by seniority, otherwise there would be no such term as catching up from behind.
Perhaps because of his seniority, Shkiriatov was very cautious in his actions. After understanding what had happened, he stubbornly asked to take notes himself. In other words, the following conversation would have two notes and two witnesses: Yuri would take one note and he would take one note, and the two would corroborate each other.
Why did he make such a request ? It was simple, because Shkiriatov knew very well that this transcript needed to be handed over to Comrade Stalin for his personal review, so the two transcripts would ensure that the two had the same exposure in front of Comrade Stalin, and of course, they would also bear the same responsibility.
"...Comrade Ulyanov's later years were more complicated, and at times, his style was even more neurotic," Molotov talked about his own problems while drinking a cup of coffee and smoking in Yuri's office.
However, he did not start by talking about his own problems, but instead set the starting point of his narration thirty years ago, just like telling history. The "Comrade Ulyanov" he mentioned was naturally Comrade Lenin.
"In dealing with some issues, his attitude was too weak. He always believed that opponents should be given a chance to speak and that a consensus should be reached through debate," Molotov said in a deep tone. It can be seen that many things in those years formed a deep memory in his mind. "Therefore, there were many extremely uncoordinated and diverse oppositions at that time. After the death of Comrade Lenin, some of these suspicious people even became the pillars of the Central Committee. They wanted to abandon our line, abandon the leadership of the working class, and complete a transformation to capitalism . For this guy, someone had to deal with them and let go to suppress them. And this person was Comrade Stalin. Yes, I chose Comrade Stalin at that time, and I was also a very important one among all those who supported him."
Yuri said nothing and took notes behind his desk.
"Comrade Molotov, this doesn't sound like you're explaining the problem," Shkiriatov put down his pen, rubbed his temples, and said, "It sounds like you're complaining."
"Don't be impatient, Comrade Matvey Fyodorovich Shkiriatov," Molotov put out his cigarette in the ashtray, glanced at Shkiriatov sitting next to him, and said with a smile, "You can't be impatient when doing any work. You know, your problem is that you are too impatient."
Shkiriatov turned his head to look at Yuri, and seeing that he had his eyelids drooped and was not looking at him, he could only pick up the pen again helplessly.
"Yes, I also participated in the formulation of the suppression policy at that time," Molotov continued, "Whether it was within the party or outside the party, I firmly believed that this kind of suppression was necessary and completely correct, because without it, we could not survive. It was the only choice to save the people and save the revolution. My view is that as long as imperialism exists in this world, the dictatorship of the proletariat must continue, and this dictatorship cannot be of the peasants and intellectuals, but only of the working class, and even only of a minority of the working class. Because we must unify our opinions and concentrate all human, material and financial resources to fight imperialism..."
Hearing the word "minority", Yuri paused with the pen in his hand. At the same time, almost subconsciously, he looked up at Molotov sitting on the sofa. He was sure that this guy's words had a hidden meaning.
"But now, I realize my mistake," Molotov said without stopping. "It is obvious that our suppression policy was not implemented thoroughly. Some suspicious guys were missed, and some people betrayed and abandoned their principles..."
Some people betrayed? Who, who betrayed? Gave up their principles? What principles?
Yuri felt dry mouth and tongue. In a trance, he became more and more certain that his guess was correct. Something big was going to happen in Moscow, something very fatal.
“Ring…”
Almost at this moment, one of the three phones on the table suddenly rang.
Yuri was caught off guard and was startled. He subconsciously reached out and grabbed one at random, only to find that it was the red phone that was ringing.
