Chapter 78 The Congress of the Supreme Soviet

"Not long ago, the President had a cordial and friendly talk with Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko, who came to the United Nations General Assembly. Both sides expressed that it was inconvenient to disclose the specific content of the talk. It is reported that this is the first time since the Reagan administration took office. It was the first time to meet with the leaders of the Soviet Union. Some commentators believe that this meeting is the Reagan administration's response to the accusation that he refused to contact the Soviet leaders..."

At the regular press conference of the White House, the White House spokesperson suddenly disclosed to the media the news of the meeting between Gromyko and Reagan, which caused a stir. In less than twenty-four hours the whole world knew about this unexpected meeting.

But Gromyko, one of the parties, was very dissatisfied with this meeting. The Americans just blindly emphasized the problem of the medium-range missiles deployed by the Soviet Union on the western border. There is no intention of reconciling with the Soviet Union at all. Gromyko served as an excuse for Reagan to thwart opponents' attacks on his Soviet policy.

When the news reached Moscow, Gorbachev was not only surprised, but also terrified of Gromyko's diplomatic ability. He didn't know yet if Gromyko had reached any agreement with Reagan. If Gromyko wins a major victory on the diplomatic front, new variables will emerge in the battle for the second in command of the Soviet Union.

Gorbachev would never allow this kind of thing to happen, so he began to intensively interview the top leaders of each republic. Since Gorbachev holds economic power in his hands, all the republics are facing the problem of material supply. So Gorbachev was definitely attractive to the leaders of some small republics.

Gorbachev promised to increase central financial support for the three republics along the Baltic coast - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The first secretaries of the three union republics quickly expressed their firm support for Secretary Gorbachev's economic policies. Immediately afterwards, the three Transcaucasian countries-Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia also chose Gorbachev's camp, and finally the Republic of Moldavia, which borders Romania, also participated.

The person most supportive of Gorbachev is Georgia's First Secretary Shevardnadze, who is now a member of the Politburo. Due to Georgia's proximity to the Chechnya region, being the first secretary there was sometimes a lot of unnecessary pressure. Shevardnadze was eager to come to Moscow to work, and Gorbachev naturally agreed secretly.

When Gromyko returned to Moscow, he had nothing impressive to present to the Politburo. Gromyko compiled a written report of his meeting with President Reagan and submitted it to the Politburo. Naturally, there is nothing in this report to praise the US government. Gorbachev, who had read the report, heaved a sigh of relief, and at the same time took the opportunity to let his subordinates attack Gromyko.

It was under this turbulent situation that Seryozha ushered in his first National Congress of the Supreme Soviet. Before nine o'clock in the morning on the first day of the congress, national Soviet representatives from all over the country rushed to the Kremlin Great Hall one after another in black Volga cars.

After Seryozha's special car stopped on the square in front of the Kremlin Hall, Seryozha stepped onto the red carpet leading to the venue. There were too many representatives today, and it was the first time that Serezha saw so many people participating in the same event since he traveled through time. He had just stepped out of the car, and soon comrades from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation gathered around him. Seryozha followed them into the venue with the flow of people.

The interior of the venue was brightly lit, and there were densely packed seats at a glance. The background of the rostrum is a huge modern portrait of Lenin, with the words 1922-1985 marked below it. Seryozha felt that such a big scene can only be compared with the leader's funeral.

Seryozha quickly found his seat. His seat was in the second row near the rostrum. The front row was occupied by ministers.

On the rostrum are the seats of the Politburo members. As nine o'clock approached, the venue filled up with people. With a burst of applause, everyone stood up to welcome the state leaders headed by General Secretary Chernenko to enter the arena.

The host of the conference walked to the front of the podium and announced loudly: "Everyone stand up and sing the national anthem!"

Seryozha immediately stood up from his seat, and the singing of this song sounded in the venue shortly afterwards.

The collective chorus of nearly ten thousand people created a shocking effect, and Serezha even felt that his blood was about to boil. Seryozha couldn't help looking at General Secretary Chernenko in the center of the rostrum. I saw Secretary Chernenko's lips singing slightly, and his complexion seemed to have improved a lot.

After the national anthem, Sergey returned to his seat! Although he has stepped into the ranks of senior Soviet officials. But at the meeting of the Supreme Soviet, the last time that he was able to give a report was an official of the ministerial set. Due to the special nature of the alliance in the Soviet Union, the first secretary of each republic is two levels higher than the minister. Because there are higher-level departments such as the Union Academy and the Nationalities Academy above the ministerial officials.

This meeting was a government meeting rather than a party meeting, so the first person to make a report was Tikhonov, Chairman of the Joint Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. After this person was forced to retire after the failure of Kosygin's reform, Brezhnev sent him to the position of prime minister. But he did not bring the Soviet economy back on a satisfactory path. The five-year career as chairman of the Joint Council of Ministers has proved Tikhonov's ability. If there is no accident, Tikhonov will retire at the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union next year. As for his successor, it is still difficult to say. At present, Gorbachev's voice is the highest, but there is a premise that Chernenko still occupies the position of general secretary.

The conference in the morning lasted for two hours, followed by a lunch break. Delegates will return to the hotel for a short rest before continuing to the afternoon session. Seryozha walked out of the venue and was about to ask the driver to pick him up when Minister Zhuravlev's secretary suddenly stopped him and asked Seryozha to discuss the report of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. Seryozha showed no emotion, and followed Minister Zhuravlev's secretary into another car, where Minister Zhuravlev was sitting. Minister Zhuravlev suggested that Seryozha should have lunch with him and, by the way, reconsider the contents of the report. Seryozha smiled and agreed.

You can use the Enter, ←→ shortcut keys to read