Chapter 1401

Simon's private Boeing 767 landed at Pushkin International Airport on the northwest outskirts of Moscow around 10 a.m.

In addition to Celia Miller who came here in advance to arrange Simon's schedule, Yeltsin's second daughter, Tatyana Diachenko, and Valentin Yumashev, the chief of staff of the President's Office at the Kremlin Palace, came to pick up the plane. .

These are the details that the two parties communicated in advance.

Simon came to Russia this time mainly to help Russia get through the current economic difficulties for endorsement. However, Simon does not intend to make a big splash, and will only announce some news in a rather limited manner.

On the contrary, Moscow certainly hoped that Simon’s visit would be as fanciful as possible. Celia, who arrived in advance, had to give a warning. As for the Stroll system, the possibility of also publicly announcing the cancellation of some cooperation between the two parties cannot be ruled out.

In the end is the current result.

The two people who came to pick up the plane were definitely Yeltsin's cronies.

Needless to say, Yeltsin's second daughter, Valentin Yumashev, the current Chief of Staff to the President, besides his current official position, is also the author of Yeltsin's personal biography, a standard imperial pen. Not only that, Simon also knew that Yumashev later became Yeltsin's son-in-law and walked with Yeltsin's second daughter after his second marriage ended.

Simon walked down the gangway on the runway of the airport, greeted Tatyana who had met before, and then heard the other party personally help introduce Yumashev, with an unknowingly close tone, and probably understood that the relationship between the two was already over. unusual.

Of course, this kind of thing has nothing to do with Simon.

Although he didn't intend to make publicity, after leaving the airport, Simon's convoy was escorted by a police car, all the way to Silver Pine Forest Park, which is about 10 kilometers west of Moscow from the city center.

This is an artificial island that covers an area of ​​about 400 hectares and is surrounded by the Moskva River that crosses Moscow. Simon has set aside 50 hectares of land on the west side of Silver Pine Island a few years in advance. Like the castle estate outside St. Petersburg, he built his own Properties in Moscow.

The motorcade passed through the manor corridor shaded by green trees and came to the main villa.

This is a 5,000-square-meter three-storey building with a blue roof and white walls in a zigzag layout. It is said to be a villa, but it is far from the country style with a large roof in North America, and it is more inclined to a French classical style castle.

Everyone got off at the square in front of the main villa. Even Tatyana Diachenko could not help but admire the castle-like mansion in front of her.

Although the Yeltsin family is currently living in the Kremlin, the Kremlin is not privately owned. Once Yeltsin steps down, obviously the whole family will have to move out. Although Tatyana's husband, Alexei Dyachenko, used Yeltsin's relationship to start an energy business in recent years, Diyachenko's talent in business can only be said to be mediocre. Over the years, the assets under the name of the couple, The equivalent is less than 500 million US dollars.

Compared with ordinary people, such an asset is of course huge.

However, comparing people to people can always piss people off.

Not to mention the Diachenko couple, then the entire Yeltsin family's public and private assets add up, and there is nothing worth mentioning in front of Simon Westero. As for casually building all kinds of luxurious manors in any corner of the world that you fancy, then don't even think about it.

The gap is disappointing.

At a certain moment, Tatiana couldn't help but fantasize that it would be great if the world could go back to the tsarist era two hundred years ago. Her father was the tsar of the Russian Empire, she was the second princess, and the whole country belonged to the Yeltsin family.

Throwing away these unrealistic thoughts, being surrounded by people and following Simon Westero into the villa, Tatyana once again sighed with emotion, the young man beside him, with his huge personal assets and the wealth he possessed in this era The implicit power contained in it is probably more prominent than that of any king in the royal age.

This is a capitalist society.

Everyone passed through the main hall of the villa, came to a reception room next door and sat down, waited for the maid to deliver coffee and then left. Only Simon, Celia, Tatyana and Yumashev were left in the reception room. Then he started to talk about the business: "Simon, my father has prepared a lunch reception at the Kremlin Palace to welcome you. Ms. Miller has already conveyed your intentions. However, even if there are no reporters present during the reception, I am thinking, the reception After that, can we hold a small press conference, rest assured, there will be no questions, just my father and you to give a simple communicative speech?"

Simon leaned on the sofa with a cup of coffee in his hand, and shook his head directly when he heard the words: "Tanya, I think Celie and you have communicated sufficiently, I am not a person who likes to make temporary changes."

When Simon came this time, publicly, he would only leave some photos after the luncheon reception in the Kremlin Palace, and a press release that had been strictly reviewed by the Weijia team, and there would be no public information about the rest. After all, we still have to be a little scruples about the attitude of the Federation. Simon didn't want to be labeled as a Simon Westeros or something in the future one day.

Simon was able to come to Moscow in person. In addition to the established photos and press releases, he will also confirm some cooperation projects that will also be made public. This is already very embarrassing for Yeltsin. Tatyana tried again, but Simon didn't want to let go, and could only dispel the idea of ​​letting Simon speak out for Russia more publicly, and left first.

After seeing off Tatyana and the other two, Simon and Celia discussed the details of some cooperation projects to be signed in the afternoon, and ate something before getting up to change clothes.

The noon reception at the Kremlin began at 12:00 sharp.

The manor on Silver Pine Forest Island is not far from the city center. Simon arrived on time, and it was already very lively here.

Not only the giants from the Russian political and business circles were basically present, but also the US ambassador to Russia and some American business representatives on the Russian side. It took more than 20 minutes just for the necessary greetings.

As expected, someone Simon had been quietly following was also present today. When it was the turn to greet Simon according to the order of seniority, the two parties simply shook hands and greeted, and the other party introduced himself, as if they had nothing to do with each other in advance. However, Simon, who is also considered keen to see people, still felt obvious inquiries from the other party's eyes at a certain moment.

In just two years, from a former KGB who almost lost his job to become a taxi driver, well, this is a bit of an exaggeration, to be precise, he was the former deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, all the way up to the current position of head of the Russian Federal Security Service. The real power is in hand, but someone often thinks about the chance meeting in St. Petersburg two years ago.

A fairly brief exchange.

Simon Westeros invited him to work for him, then told him to come to Moscow.

And then, all the way to the sky.

Reminiscent of Yeltsin's attitude when he was in contact with Mr. President many times, it is obviously impossible for this to be a coincidence.

The most important thing is that from this position, one step forward, two steps to be precise, will reach the highest position in this country.

Someone feels that this possibility is increasing.

However, what then?

More importantly, he didn't know, what did Simon Westero want to get after doing all this? When the time comes, can I afford it?

Simon can probably guess someone's mentality, but it is impossible to communicate with the other party when there are a lot of people around him.

The reception lasted two hours.

Towards the end, a photographer arranged in advance appeared and took a few posed photos of Simon and Yeltsin having a good conversation with the reception as the background, and then the reception came to an end.

Hundreds of guests dispersed, Simon did not leave, but came to an office in the Kremlin with Yeltsin.

The two sides sat facing each other on the sofa in the reception area, and left after Yeltsin's second daughter personally delivered a pot of coffee. Is weak.

Of course Simon knew that Yeltsin had never fully recovered from his heart surgery two years ago.

The two sides didn't speak for a while, Simon was sipping a cup of coffee, and after a while, Yeltsin's voice finally sounded from the opposite side: "Simon, I have to go the way you gave me now, right?"

Simon did not expect that Yeltsin, who has always been a strong character, would suddenly say these words. Holding the coffee cup in his hand, he also leaned on the sofa and said, "Boris, how should you choose? The initiative is still in your hands."

Speaking of which, it was the first time for the two parties to meet each other until today. However, because they had been friends for a long time, after just a reception just now, they became quite acquainted without knowing it.

Of course, fundamentally, this acquaintance is based on strength.

If Simon was just an ordinary businessman, even those oligarchs in Russia who could call the wind and rain would definitely not see Yeltsin's weak side at this time, let alone the current almost heart-to-heart atmosphere.

Yeltsin still shook his head when he heard Simon's answer, with a bit of depression: "I don't have much initiative anymore, Simon, frankly speaking, I only hope to keep my family from being liquidated after two years."

"It's actually not difficult," Simon said. "At that time, you, and your family, can go to the UK, or Australia is also a good choice. That's my territory."

Yeltsin shook his head again: "Tanya and the others can leave, but I can't."

Simon paused and understood.

To put it simply, two words, face.

After all, he is a former head of a major country at the level of the five permanent members of the United Nations. If he flees after leaving office to avoid being liquidated, it will not be a simple economic issue, but simply treason. It is undeniable that Yeltsin has a strong desire for power, and he has selfishness towards his family, but he is still a shameless person, knowing that if he flees, not only himself, but the whole country will be disgraced.

Simon was also unavailable for comment.

Most of the time, people are contradictory.

Perhaps Yeltsin made Simon feel that he was incompetent in promoting the disintegration of the Soviet Union and even Russia's reforms in recent years. He can only be described as stupid, but if Yeltsin is not a patriot, he does not want his country to be strong, and deliberately messes up country, that's not true either.

Unfortunately, too often, the gap between ability and ambition is always relatively large.

It can only be said that Yeltsin is a top-level politician, but that's all.

After a moment of silence, Yeltsin finally spoke again: "Simon, do you think Vladimir is really competent?"

"It's been two years, Boris, and I'm sure you know this better than I do."

"No, Simon, after Kirienko, I'm not sure now. You should also know that Kirienko is also a very good young man."

"I can only say that you used the wrong person at the wrong time, and the direction was not right." Simon said: "Kirienko is indeed capable, the problem is that you pushed him up forcibly, except yours. support, without any other roots, and even provoked Russia

The collective opposition of the parliament is destined to do well, let alone a big problem like a national economic crisis. "

Yeltsin pondered for a moment, and said, "I understand what you mean, Simon, and I will try to win the support of those people when the time comes. However, I can't guarantee that they will agree. Perhaps, when the time comes, you will be needed to intervene."

The two of them didn't point out clearly, but they both knew it well.

The "those people" in Yeltsin's words refer to the major oligarchs who basically monopolize the Russian domestic economy. These people not only control the Russian media, but also have a strong influence in the Russian parliament. One of the key reasons why Yeltsin strongly promoted Kiriyenko at the beginning of the year encountered strong resistance from the Duma was that he had not communicated well with the major oligarchs in advance.

The recent failure to restore Chernomyrdin was for much the same reason.

In the past, the key to a person's success all the way to power was to obtain the permission of the major oligarchs, and then provide all-round support in politics, economy, military and public opinion.

Simon also nodded in agreement with Yeltsin's request.

Based on the commercial layout of the Westeros system in Russia in recent years, in addition to the direct descendants of Mikhail Friedman, there are also various cooperations with other oligarchic groups, coupled with the current overall economic environment in Russia For the endorsement demand of the Westeros system, when the time comes, Simon speaks, and each family will give face.

Seeing that Simon nodded in agreement, Yeltsin was relieved, and continued: "The last question, Simon, and then? I mean, after Vladimir became prime minister, I remember you said that you need to give him a year to accumulate prestige, However, if we continue to use the method of the 1996 general election this time, I think it is likely to be invalid?"

"It's very simple," Simon no longer hides it this time, and said: "The best way to divert conflicts is war. Similarly, the best way for a person to accumulate prestige is also war, and win a war. "

When Yeltsin heard this answer, he immediately reacted: "Chechnya?"

"Chechnya!"

Yeltsin hesitated immediately: "Simon, this is not easy."

Yeltsin apparently did not forget Russia's disastrous defeat in Chechnya a few years ago, and even had to sign an armistice agreement that almost acquiesced in Chechnya's independence.

Simon said: "First of all, it is not easy to fight this war, because this is the only way for Russia to gather people's hearts at the fastest speed under the current situation. Secondly, this time, I can help you solve some external obstacles. At that time, No one will interfere, the rest is your own business, if you still can't win, Boris, then it is your own problem."