Big Time 1958

Brezhnev is not like other Soviet leaders. He himself does not have much knowledge of various theories, and he admits it without hesitation on various occasions. However, in his long career as a local cadre, he has his own a set of treatments. Brezhnev was not impressed by Khrushchev's and Suslov's remarks about Lenin and communism. But he has his own criteria for judging who is a friend and who is an enemy, how valuable a cadre is, and how to use it.

In later history, Brezhnev finally took action against Kosygin. On the one hand, Kosygin was relatively old. On the other hand, Brezhnev knew that no one was more suitable to lead the Soviet economy than Kosygin. . Replacing Kosygin outweighed the gains, so Brezhnev first dealt with the most powerful Sherepin and Podgorny, and put Suslov on the shelf, and finally felt that his time was running out before starting to replace Kosygin.

   Now for the new KGB chairman Serov, Brezhnev also hopes to make his own judgment through contact, that is, whether this KGB chairman can be used, and will it pose a fatal threat to himself? It will still be my own help, of course, this kind of contact has just begun.

   "My friend, if you think Yura is faced with a choice between a security cadre and a Communist Youth League cadre, which one will he choose?" Brezhnev looked at Chernenko and asked after getting off the bus. Chernenko and he have known each other for almost ten years, and this time happened to be the time when Sherepin went to Azerbaijan to inspect and saw Serov.

"Selov was promoted by Sherepin, and he should choose to stand with Sherepin!" Chernenko had no reservations about Brezhnev, and the relationship between them was the same as that between Sherepin and Semichasny. relationship is almost the same.

Brezhnev smiled inexplicably, feeling that his subordinates needed to know more, he pushed open the door of his office, and a voice came from inside, "You know, Yura is first and foremost a KGB chairman, and he must talk to himself. The cadres of the security system stand together, Shelepin's forces seem to be impeccable, but the Communist Youth League and the KGB are simply not connected..."

After returning to the Secretariat, Brezhnev, the secretary of the Central Committee, almost immediately felt the threat of two people, one was Podgorny, who was on an equal footing with himself, and the other was the youngest Central Committee. Secretary Xie Lepin. In a short time, Brezhnev just felt that Sherepin might become a threat, but he would not take any measures against Sherepin. He first had to consolidate his position and defeat Podgo who had the same status as himself at the plenary meeting of the Central Committee. Erne.

  Brezhnev appreciates Serov's long-term planning, accumulating little by little in the dark, and making the final blow. The reason for admiration is very simple, because he is also such a person. Brezhnev will not make any moves until he is not sure, and he will not let it go when he has the opportunity.

This kind of thinking must first have a certain degree of confidence in one's own ability, and then make sure that you face only one opponent at a time, not a group. On the premise that no one is your opponent, you should clean up your competitors one by one. Lose. The only downside may be that it takes a long time to operate slowly.

   At the same time that Brezhnev was evaluating Serov, Serov, who had just sat on the chairman of the KGB, was also conducting the same assessment, but just in reverse. Since last year, he seems to have more and more contacts with Brezhnev. Until Brezhnev came to visit No. 11 Lubyanka Square this time, the number of contacts was a little too frequent. If he can't see anything by now, it's simply not worthy to control the intelligence agency of the KGB.

"It's too fast. I have this sense of smell when I just returned to the Secretariat, or did I start preparing when the Supreme Soviet was still in my hands? Everything is under control. This sentence is not suitable for me, it is more suitable for him!" Shelov felt powerless. of self-talk.

  From a historical point of view, Brezhnev belongs to the kind of realist who pays the most attention to reality rather than doctrine, and he goes too far in reality. As we all know, the situation in the Soviet Union was like this when Brezhnev came to power. General Secretary Brezhnev, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, Podgorny, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Kosygin. In addition, there is the theorist Suslov, and according to his age, Shelepin, who may be the next general secretary.

   This situation actually only lasted for about ten years, and after Brezhnev cut off several threats, that is, after the mid-1970s. The Soviet Union's troika is nominally the three of them, but in fact several departments have greatly increased their power and become the troika controlled by Brezhnev himself. They are KGB Chairman Andropov, National Defense Minister Ustinov, Foreign Minister Gromyko, Kosygin and Podgorny are already dispensable.

The political status of the leaders of the super departments of the KGB, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has risen to the level of the Supreme Soviet and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. The most powerful troops in the Afghan war are KGB Chairman Andropov and Defense Minister Ustinov. , The opponent is Kosygin, chairman of the Council of Ministers, and the final resolution is to send troops.

How to contact Brezhnev has become a problem for Serov. This boss is not Khrushchev. It is useless to talk to him about communism. Don't talk about it.

   "Am I going to learn from Andropov? Hiding in Lubyanka and pretending to die? There must be a way!" Serov thought things were far better than what Andropov faced.

In terms of job attributes, Andropov’s early wish was actually Suslov’s role, becoming the central secretary in charge of class struggle. In this case, Suslov’s perception of someone who is ready to replace him at any time can be imagined. Knowing that, I kicked Andropov to the KGB as chairman, because although the power of the KGB was great, its political status was not high in the Khrushchev era and would not be a threat.

But perhaps Suslov did not expect that Brezhnev later raised the political status of the leaders of the three major departments in order to get rid of the numerical superiority of Podgorny, Kosygin, Suslov and Sherepin, and directly The leadership made these opponents of Brezhnev a complete display. Since that time, no one has been able to oppose him. The time was 1973.

   Andropov had a bad relationship with Suslov, but Serov thought he had a good relationship with Suslov. Suslov has no henchmen. In fact, it is easy to complement each other. Thinking of Serov's decision to go to Suslov to hug his thighs, that's it.

   Serov, who is holding his thighs, must make some preparations. Is there such a condition? Yes, this objective condition exists, which is what Serov just talked about with Brezhnev, a Western Soviet scholar. In this era, the propaganda of the demonization of the Soviet Union was much larger than that of later generations. If Serov remembered correctly, later generations were mainly Chinese people who were propagating the theory of China's collapse. Serov faced a simpler situation and wanted to find out the hostility to the Soviet Union. As soon as a large number of scholars are caught, there is no need to select Russians in particular.

"Our main work direction is to concoct a slander that our own people can see at a glance, and that ordinary Western people can see with joy. With the support of big data, these slurs are embedded. The final conclusion must be that the Soviet Union is struggling, and the Western Europe opposite us only needs to wait for the Soviet Union to reform itself! The fake propaganda department will give me an outline first. This kind of thing must pass our Secretary Suslov. Yes, otherwise we will really have trouble!" Shelov said to the head of the fake propaganda department of the Second General Bureau.

   "Does that mean it's full of obvious lies? I get it, Chairman!" The head of the fake propaganda department nodded in understanding.

  Obvious lie, a KGB term for spreading rumors that the intention to attack the Soviets is obvious. In the Khrushchev period, this term actually only served as a term, but it will be different in a few years, because the Khrushchev period was relatively relaxed about public opinion, and there were remarks in the cultural circles attacking the Soviets, so I waited until Bree After Zhnev came to power, he passed a resolution and made several additions to Article 190 of the Criminal Code: the dissemination of obvious lies that slandered the Soviet state and social system in oral form, and the creation of works with the same content in written form, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for up to three years , or the reform of a labor camp for one year, or a fine of one hundred rubles; ... punishment for organizing and participating in collective actors that undermine the social system.

What exactly counts as an obvious lie? What counts as a collective actor who undermines the social system? I don’t care about this matter; lawyers don’t count; even judges don’t count. His most precious agency, the Soviet State Security Committee, allows state security cadres to interpret the law.

   A few days later, Serov took this report to Suslov's house and began to complete his first thigh hugging step.

"Let our enemies misjudge us strategically through the guidance of the propaganda field? It's interesting to hear, but these documents still can't flow into our Soviet Union, Yuri, you don't understand that even a self-proclaimed sane scholar, in fact In the face of breaking news, it is impossible to make a correct judgment, so obvious lies are useless, in your security field, you still have to block the Soviet Union, as long as you do your best to block it!" Suslov Nodding and leaving Serov's propaganda plan, he said that he would make some additions, and it is best to spread his influence only in the Western world. (To be continued~^~)