Chapter 74 Consumption Upgrade
Everyone in Gorbachev's office stayed up all night until the early morning when the waiter brought coffee and breakfast to everyone.
Everyone has been busy all night, and they are somewhat hungry. Under the call of the staff, everyone left the office and went to the restaurant to eat, but Seryozha felt that he had no appetite. Yeltsin sat beside Seryozha and took a bite of fried eggs and sausages. Seeing that Seryozha had no intention of starting breakfast, he persuaded him: "Seryozha, let's eat a little first, we have to go to dinner later." See General Secretary Chernenko!"
"Brother Boris, what will happen if we fail today?" Seryozha asked suddenly.
"My brother, listen to my elder brother! If I fail, my political career in this life will be over, but you still have a lot of time. You have nothing to afford to lose!" Boris said this sentence Sometimes, as if talking about other people's affairs, there is almost no mood swing. But Seryozha understood that if it really failed. Yeltsin's New City for Workers would lose funding, and his transfer to a central ministry would be ruined.
Seryozha was subdued by Yeltsin's composure, and he was calm in every major event. In fact, this incident dealt a more fatal blow to Yeltsin. Seryozha himself knew that his own investment in the Workers' New City project was only 500 million U.S. dollars, and he could afford to lose this little money. However, if Yeltsin does not have a new city for workers, his political future can only stay in the Sverdlovsk region.
Seryozha reluctantly filled his stomach with breakfast. Instead of drinking coffee, he drank some hot water. After the meal, Serezha and Yeltsin took a nap on the sofa. At nine o'clock, the staff around General Secretary Chernenko called and told them to go to the Central Hospital to explain to General Secretary Chernenko Condition.
Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Sergei immediately left the Supreme Soviet in the same car for the Central Hospital where Chernenko lived. Now Chernenko's physical condition has been known by the Politburo, so he no longer conceals it. It's just that for ordinary people, what everyone can see is still the radiant general secretary. People are born, old, sick and die, these are unavoidable things. Chernenko is now staying in the hospital for a long time, and the Politburo meeting has been presided over by Gorbachev since a long time ago. Sergey and many Soviet officials had not seen Chernenko in person for a long time.
The wards of the Central Hospital are not ordinary wards. The wards here are luxurious convalescent villas, so the daily living facilities are all available. After the three of Seriosha arrived, they were arranged to wait in the meeting room. Waited for about twenty minutes. The door of the meeting room was opened, and everyone got up quickly, only to see Chernenko walking into the room slowly.
"Comrades are here, I'm sorry, cough... I'm sorry to keep you waiting!" Chernenko said in a weak voice, he was panting heavily, his lips were blue and his complexion was sallow, and he looked very bad . As soon as Chernenko finished his sentence, he quickly supported Sha and sat down.
The three of Gorbachev looked at each other, not knowing how to speak. The atmosphere at the scene fell into silence, only the sound of Chernenko's heavy breathing in the room.
Yeltsin waited for a long time, but Gorbachev never spoke. So he decided to come first by himself. Who knew that at this time, Serezha stood up suddenly and said: "General Secretary, we are here for the funds for the Workers' New City."
"Gromyko reported to me that a large amount of money is in the hands of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, cough... He suggested that this money should be collected by the state treasury. So I want to hear your opinions, you guys How are you going to use the money?" After Chernenko finished speaking, his breathing became more rapid, he took out his handkerchief to cover his mouth, and coughed as quietly as possible.
"General Secretary, I think the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation should play a greater role in economic reform. According to some data we have obtained from abroad. Under the current world economic background, the pressure of slow economic growth is not only our country exclusive.
Both the U.S. and the U.K. experienced negative economic growth last year, and only Japan’s economy is thriving in the world. They are also capitalist countries, why their economic situation is one sky and one earth, I think this is what we have to study hard! "Seryozha asked bluntly.
"Comrade Ulyanov, I don't know what your opinion is! Why don't you tell us..." General Secretary Chernenko was a little curious. He thought Gorbachev would first talk about the money being left abroad. The Ministry of Economics and Trade is reasonable, but I didn't expect that Ulyanov would actually involve the issue of economic reform. This issue has been discussed since the time of Khrushchev, but until now there is still no direction for reform. Chernenko was a little curious about what insight this young cadre had.
"General Secretary, for our Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation! Our task is to open up more markets for Soviet goods. Only in this way can our economy have a new growth engine. Japan is doing this, and they are no match for technology. The United States. Their technologies are commercially valuable off-the-shelf patents purchased from the United States, but their products are now distributed in every corner of the world. Please forgive me, most of the electronic products seized by the customs department of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation are now They are all from Japan, in addition to auto parts and home appliances are also from Japan. It is precisely because they seize the market in the world through various means that they can buck the trend in the face of the global economic depression. General Secretary, We are no longer a poor and poor agricultural country in the era of Stalin-Lenin, and it is no longer sustainable to rely solely on investment to drive the economy!" Sergesha continued.
Chernenko felt that Seryozha's words seemed reasonable, but he still didn't understand. So he said to Seryozha: "Comrade Ulyanov, can you be more specific? Why can't we continue to stimulate our economic growth through investment?"
"General Secretary, if Stalin invested in the construction of a steel factory, the products he produced might be consumed quickly. Because we were traumatized by the war at that time, we were poor and had nothing. But now, our common people have refrigerators in every house , TVs, washing machines! Even cars are not out of reach! The products produced by our factories are no longer in short supply. Simply put, we are now in an era of consumption upgrades. What ordinary people need is not necessities, but High-quality civilian products! As the most important consumer department in the country, our Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation is the government department most capable of promoting economic reform!" Sergey Sha replied in a firm tone.