Eagle, I don't want to form an alliance anymore.

This man, who had been in the diplomatic world for nearly half a century, had long since honed his facial expressions to the point of making them as natural as breathing. On his desk sat a steaming cup of black tea and a copy of that day's Pravda newspaper, turned to the obituary section—

Ustinov's official obituary took up half a page.

He also saw off another veteran comrade from the Brezhnev era.

There was no time to grieve for Ustinov's departure to see his mentor; now it was time for the junior members to take their turn.

"Comrade Gorbachev, Comrade Ivanov," Gromyko said calmly, "what are your thoughts?"

Gorbachev laid out the reformist stance: to appoint Sokolov as Minister of Defense, while ensuring that Ogarkov had real power within the Ministry of Defense to advance military reforms, and to prevent Romanov from taking action.

"Why not Romanov?" Gromyko asked knowingly.

He knew why, of course, but he wanted to hear it from Gorbachev himself.

“Because one person should not control both military production and military command at the same time,” Gorbachev replied succinctly, “that would disrupt the power balance within the Politburo!”

Comrade Andropov's separation of military industry and the military is reasonable—if the people who produce weapons and those who use them are the same people, the Politburo's control over the military will be weakened.

This argument hit Gromyko right where it hurt.

He did trust the military, but the "power balance within the Politburo" was precisely the foundation upon which he had made his living for the past thirty years.

Gromyko remained steadfast through four regime changes, from Khrushchev to Brezhnev to Andropov to Chernenko, thanks to one ability:

Accurately determine the direction in which the scales of power tip and then stand on the slightly heavier side!

The heaviest side doesn't need his support, while the slightly heavier side will become significantly heavier because of his addition, thus maximizing his value.

He quickly did a mental calculation:

What would happen if Romanov took over the Ministry of Defense? He would become the most powerful figure in the Politburo after the General Secretary, controlling both the military-industrial complex and the military. After Chernenko's death—which is indeed a question we should be considering now—he would be Gorbachev's strongest rival!

If Romanov wins, Gromyko, who didn't stand by him in the crucial moment, will be marginalized. If Gorbachev wins—

Gorbachev seemed to sense his hesitation and spoke at that moment.

“Andrei Andreyevich, I will be the next General Secretary. The conservatives have run out of place after Chernenko, and you know that better than I do.”

After I become General Secretary, I will need a trustworthy comrade to continue leading diplomatic work.

"You help me stop Romanov today, and I'll let you stay as Foreign Minister tomorrow." For 75-year-old Gromyko, remaining in the Foreign Ministry for the last few years of his career might be the best deal he could get right now.

But Gromyko didn't agree immediately. He picked up his teacup and took a sip, which gave him enough time to consider the last variable.

He glanced at Slava, who was sitting next to Gorbachev.

This forty-year-old, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat for Agriculture, was handpicked by Andropov, allied with Gorbachev but disagreed with him on the path of economic reform, and was highly regarded by the Chinese side...

He represented a force within the reformists that was completely different from Gorbachev.

Gromyko knew that the reformists were not a monolithic group.

Gorbachev advocated rapid marketization and political openness, while Slava advocated gradual informatization and prioritizing light industry—these two directions are not contradictory now, but they will certainly lead to greater divergence in the future!

A reformer with internal tensions is easier to balance than a monolithic reformer, which is the real reason why Gromyko eventually agreed.

“I think Sokolov is a good candidate,” Gromyko finally spoke up. “Ogarkov’s arrangements require Chernenko’s approval, and I can go to the hospital to talk to him.”

He chose to personally exert influence on Chernenko because Chernenko would listen to Gromyko (they were now the only two of the three remaining), but not necessarily to Gorbachev.

“As for Romanov—” Gromyko glanced at the copy of Pravda on the table, which was still turned to the obituary section.

"The relationship between Ustinov and him was not as good as the outside world thought, and I can mention that on an appropriate occasion."

Gromyko will spread the impression to the other members of the Politburo that Ustinov himself does not agree with Romanov taking over the Ministry of Defense.

Whether this "impression" is entirely true is no longer important.

In the power struggle within the Kremlin, the difference between an impression believed by enough people and the truth is like the difference between sand and cotton in a cotton sack in Uzbekistan—once weighed, no one can tell the difference.

PS: It is said that Ustinov left a will before his death, strongly advocating that the Politburo choose Gorbachev as the party leader, because he was a loyal supporter of Andropov and had developed a deep personal relationship with Gorbachev in the last few months of Ustinov's life.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Over the next forty-eight hours, things progressed as fast as a train that had lost its brakes.

Gromyko went to the Central Clinical Hospital on the evening of the 21st and stayed in Chernenko's ward for about an hour. No one knows exactly what he said to Chernenko during that hour, but the next morning, Chernenko's secretary relayed the General Secretary's words to all members of the Politburo by telephone:

Marshal Sokolov was appointed Minister of Defense, while Marshal Ogarkov served as First Deputy Minister of Defense and Chairman of the Military Reform Committee, reporting directly to the Politburo.

Romanov received the news while he was in a conference room at the Ministry of Defense building arranging the details of Ustinov's funeral.

The generals later said that after he finished the call, his face looked ashen, as if he had drunk watered-down vodka, but then he continued to look down at the manual in front of him as if nothing had happened.

Patience! I, Romanov, am not afraid of being discouraged!

The reformists won, at least in this round.

PS: The protagonist will later use Romanov to deal with Gotma, so there's no rush to take him offline now.

...

But before the joy of victory could linger on Gorbachev's face for more than 24 hours, he did something that made Slava almost want to turn against him on the spot.

December 24, Moscow All-Union Party Affairs Conference.

Gorbachev delivered an important speech on ideology at the conference. It was a programmatic document with the characteristics of a clear political declaration.

In his speech, he introduced two entirely new concepts into the Party's discourse: reform and reconstruction, and openness and transparency.

"...profound changes must be promoted in the economic and social relations system, and a higher quality of life must be ensured for the Soviet people..."

Then came the words that made Slava, listening from the audience, extremely uneasy:

"...Openness is an integral part of socialist democracy. Frank information reflects trust and respect for the people—respect for their wisdom and emotions, and respect for their ability to independently understand events..."

Reform and reconstruction, openness and transparency, and accelerated development.

The fact that three concepts were established as the core theme in the same speech is unprecedented in the history of the alliance's political discourse!

Slava, sitting in the audience, was completely blushing as he listened to these words.

He knows those words, he fucking knows them better than anyone else!

Reform and Reconstruction—in the history he traveled through time to, this phrase became the title of the prelude to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Openness and transparency are tantamount to suicide. What did this political reform release in the history before his time travel?

Nationalism, separatism, and the complete rejection of the system have ultimately opened Pandora's box, making it impossible to close it again!

In the history before his time travel, Gorbachev used these very things to bury the Soviet Union.

He can't manage the economy, so he tries to get involved in politics. But if he can't even manage the economy, the people will definitely direct their anger at the system, and then the alliance will disintegrate.

Before this speech, Chernenko's staff reported to the General Secretary that Gorbachev was preparing to deliver an overreaching speech, and Chernenko, from his sickbed, instructed Gorbachev to cancel the speech or at least revise the script.

But Gorbachev refused.

He no longer regarded Chernenko as a superior to be obeyed, but as an obstacle to be bypassed.

Before Chernenko could even openly meet his mentor, he was already being hung on the wall like a harmless idol, making Gotu's crime even more serious.

Slava found Gorbachev during a break after his speech.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Slava said in a low voice.

Gorbachev was drinking water when he heard this, and paused for a moment, but did not put down his cup.

"Openness and transparency? You want to make politics public before economic reforms have even yielded any decent results? Do you know what that means?"

This means that everything that has been suppressed under the lid—ethnic conflicts, historical grievances, and dissatisfaction with the system—will all come to the surface at once, and you will have no economic achievements to offset these things!

After the system becomes more transparent, ordinary people will find that they can speak out, but their lives will not improve. Then the first thing they say is that the system is not good. How will you deal with that?

You only need to announce your resignation as President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; the vast majority of Soviet people have much more to consider.

"Ivanov, you are too pessimistic."

"I'm not pessimistic! I've fucking seen it—"

The moment the words left his mouth, Slava, red-faced, realized he had almost let something slip, and quickly adjusted his wording:

"I've seen too many reformers who pursued political liberalization without a solid economic foundation, only to be consumed by the very forces they unleashed. What was the outcome of Khrushchev's thaw campaign? What became of him?"

"Khrushchev's problem wasn't that he thawed the ice, but that he offended everyone while doing so." Gorbachev put down his water glass, his voice carrying a hint of impatience for the first time in this conversation.

“Ivanov, let me tell you, what I said on stage today was not impulsive! I need to show the whole party what my direction is, I need to let all those who support reform know that they have a banner to rally under, and I need to implant the words reform and reconstruction and openness and transparency into the party before Chernenko leaves, making them an irreversible fait accompli.”

"But you've tied economic reform and political opening up together! These two things shouldn't be done at the same pace. Economic reform should first produce results to stabilize public sentiment before there's any capital to pursue political opening up."

You present both of them together now and tell me you can balance them—once you actually get the hang of it, you'll definitely run into a runaway economic crisis and then try to reform the system!

“Ivanov, shut up! Why don’t you try to implement reforms yourself? How many years have you been in charge of party affairs? I’ve been in party affairs for over thirty years. Don’t I know how to do it better than you?”

The two looked at each other, neither backing down.

Slava realized something he didn't want to face.

The differences between him and Gorbachev were never just at the strategic level, but at the level of policy direction.

Gorbachev believed that the fundamental problem of the Soviet Union was the closed and rigid political system, and that economic problems were merely a manifestation of this fundamental problem. Therefore, he believed that political reform was necessary to open up space for economic reform.

Slava believed that the primary problems facing the Soviet Union were its inefficiency and obstruction of information flow. The political system was also problematic, but he argued that changing it before the economy improved would only make things worse.

One person said to open the windows for ventilation before cleaning the house, while the other said to clean the house first before opening the windows, otherwise the wind would blow more dust in.

“We cannot convince the other side on this issue for the time being,” Gorbachev finally concluded the conversation in a tone that seemed to set aside the differences.

It would be unwise to openly break with Slava at this stage.

"You carry out your economic reforms and informatization, and I'll pursue my political direction. We'll see when our paths cross."

“Okay,” Slava accepted the offer.

Given the current power structure, he doesn't have enough influence to change Gorbachev's decision; he must begin preparing for that day to come.

"Gorbachev... Comrade, we are now seeking common ground while reserving differences, but I reserve the right to raise this issue again at an appropriate time in the future."

"of course."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

This disagreement certainly didn't remain between the two individuals; both of them took action after returning home, and the disagreement quickly spread throughout the entire reformist camp of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

In the following days, a faint rift began to appear within the reformists:

Moderates who prioritize economic reforms and are cautious about political openness are beginning to gravitate towards Slava. These include some young cadres transferred from local areas, some pragmatic bureaucrats working in the economic sector, and generals in the military reform camp who, while supporting military reforms, are uneasy that openness and transparency might weaken military secrecy.

Meanwhile, radicals and liberals who supported simultaneous political and economic reforms rallied more closely around Gorbachev.

These people included a group of influential intellectuals in academia and the media, young diplomats in the diplomatic system who advocated full openness, and idealists who sincerely believed that "all the problems of the Soviet Union could be solved as long as the people were allowed to speak the truth."

The rift within the reformists, or more accurately, the divergence of their political lines, was a situation Gromyko had foreseen before he agreed to support Gorbachev.

The old fox had already foreseen this move when he saw Gorbachev and Slava sitting side by side opposite him in that office on the 21st.

This is also the real reason why he chose to support Ogarkov's entry into the Ministry of Defense—Ogarkov's military reform proposals are more in line with Slava's gradual informatization in terms of methodology than Gorbachev's systemic reforms. Placing him in the Ministry of Defense is equivalent to planting a seed within the military that is slightly different from Gorbachev's direction.

This unfinished power struggle came to an end in 1984.

It was snowing heavily in Moscow on New Year's Eve. Slava stood at the window of his apartment, looking out at the snow-covered city. Director Nian was already asleep on the sofa, covered with a blanket.

Another year has passed.

Andropov has been gone for nine months, Ustinov for eleven days, and Chernenko is still in the hospital, clinging to his pitiful life with an oxygen mask. Of the three troikas from the Brezhnev era, only Gromyko remains standing, and he stands there precisely because he never actively pulls the cart but only takes the helm.

The new year is approaching.

1985 years.

In the history before his time travel, it was a turning point in the fate of the Soviet Union—Gorbachev came to power, reforms and reconstruction began, the Cold War began to end, and the Soviet Union itself began to disintegrate.

What about in this world?

he does not know.

But he already possessed the power to shake up history.

P.S.: Everyone in my dorm got accepted into graduate school... The defense results came out today. My roommate who got into Beihang University failed his first defense and had to defend it a second time. The reason was that his research methodology was wrong. His advisor was a junior researcher who told him that the method was acceptable, but the defense examiner was a mid-level researcher who thought the method was wrong, so he had to defend it a second time.

As for his other roommate, his advisor was a senior member of the college. Although his research topic was relatively simple and had little content, the professors did not make things difficult for him because of his seniority.

Sigh, academic authority, sigh, seniority, sigh, academic tyrant.

Chapter 46 The Kremlin Crisis (7.5K)

The time came to February 1985.