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

After the Central Committee plenary session concluded, Ligachev went to the General Secretary's office.

The Siberian, who had just stepped down as acting general secretary and returned to the position of second secretary, was holding a draft in his hand:

"Comrade General Secretary, I have drafted a document. I believe that at the next meeting, we should conduct a thorough critique of Gorbachev, expose all his mistakes, and repudiate his erroneous line."

Slava picked up the draft and began to read it.

The draft was strongly worded and harsh, filled with a comprehensive purge of Gorbachev, to be publicly read at the Party Congress, and to politically negate Gorbachev.

Slava remained silent for a long time after reading it.

Ligachev's intentions were clear to him. Ligachev and Solomantsev, who were conservatives, were happy to see a thorough purge of Gorbachev—because completely negating Gorbachev was tantamount to completely negating the radical reformist line, creating space for them to restore the "pre-Gorbachev order".

But Slava cannot allow that to happen.

“Yegor Kuzmich,” Slava said slowly, “do you know what happened after Khrushchev’s secret report in 1956?”

Ligachev was taken aback, not quite understanding why Slava brought this up.

"Are you referring to the Hungarian Revolution?" Ligachev asked. "Or the Sino-Soviet split?"

“No,” Slava shook his head, “none of them.”

He looked at Ligachev and said, word by word, "The Party no longer believes in itself."

Ligachev was stunned.

"At the 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956, Khrushchev delivered that secret report that completely repudiated Comrade Stalin. From then on, a question was raised by many reformers, and it could never be closed off again—"

If the Party can allow Stalin, whom Khrushchev spoke of, to remain its supreme leader for thirty years, then how reliable is the Party's judgment?

If the Party rejects those it approved yesterday, who will truly believe its judgments tomorrow?

“Once the party itself begins to openly deny the leaders it has previously recognized, then the party’s authority and legitimacy will be shaken from the ground up! Once this shaking begins, it will never stop.”

The turmoil in Poland and Hungary, the Sino-Soviet split, and the intellectuals' general distrust of the Party... all these began with that secret report.

Slava recalled the timeline before he traveled back in time, the complete overturning of the public Pandora's box, the collapse of the party's legitimacy in one self-denial after another, and the eventual disintegration of the entire country.

He knew better than anyone else present how a public purge of former leaders would erode the party's foundation.

“Gorbachev is not Comrade Stalin,” Slava continued. “He has only been in power for two years. His mistakes are political mistakes, not the historical crimes that Khrushchev mentioned. To deal with this level of issue with the most severe form of reckoning, such as secret reports, is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut—necessary and damaging to the sledgehammer itself.”

He put the draft back on the table.

"And Yegor Kuzmich, we must think clearly about one thing—if we completely reject Gorbachev, what are we rejecting? His methods and pace, or the reforms themselves?"

Ligachev opened his mouth, wanting to answer, but found himself unable to speak for a moment.

"We overthrew Gorbachev this time not because reform was wrong—you and I both know that without reform, there is only a dead end. We are united here because his methods and pace were wrong."

Slava firmly stated: "The general direction of reform that we determined at the April 1985 plenary session is correct. We do indeed need to clean up the cadre ranks, we do indeed need to rejuvenate the ranks, we do indeed need to crack down on corruption, and we do indeed need to promote democracy."

What we need to correct are the mistakes Gorbachev made in implementation, not the reforms themselves. If we completely condemn Gorbachev to the pillory of history, it would be tantamount to declaring the reforms themselves wrong—this would not only allow domestic conservatives to overturn their verdicts, but also put other fraternal parties in the socialist camp that are undertaking reforms in a passive position.

Slava looked at Ligachev and said:

"A party that nails its past general secretaries to the pillar of shame will eventually find itself standing on that pillar as well."

Ligachev remained silent for a long time.

As a man with strong party loyalty, Ligachev always believed that mistakes must be thoroughly investigated and enemies must be dealt with ruthlessly. But Slava showed him something deeper—the price of thorough investigation is the party's own legitimacy.

"So, General Secretary, what are your plans for dealing with Gorbachev?"

Slava had already prepared his answer: 'We won't conduct a secret report, but we will give history an explanation. At the appropriate time, we will collectively pass a resolution.'

I called it the "Resolution on Certain Issues Concerning the Work of the Party from 1985 to 1987."

He began to elaborate on his ideas:

"This resolution has several things to do. First, it affirms that the general direction of reform determined by the April 1985 plenary session is correct—reform must continue."

Second, we must acknowledge Gorbachev's historic contribution to initiating reforms—he was indeed the one who started the reforms, and this cannot be denied, because we also need to carry out reforms.

Third, it points out a series of serious errors that occurred in the specific implementation—Almaty, the politicization of the military, the loss of control over openness, the imbalance of foreign policy, the undermining of the principle of collective leadership... These should be listed in detail.

Fourth, it points out that the primary responsibility for these errors lies with Comrade Gorbachev personally, but it also reflects systemic problems in the Party's working mechanisms.

Fifth, the current task is to correct erroneous methods and pace while adhering to the correct direction of reform.

"As for the handling of Gorbachev himself," Slava added, "it will be handled by the Central Committee in accordance with laws and regulations, and is not within the scope of this resolution."

As Ligachev listened, he gradually came to understand Slava's brilliance.

This resolution achieved all the political functions that the secret report sought to accomplish: explaining why the line needed to be changed, legitimizing the new leadership, providing a theoretical basis for personnel changes, and avoiding the destructive consequences of Khrushchev.

It preserved the legitimacy of the reforms, limited attacks on Gorbachev personally, maintained the dignity of the system for the General Secretary position, and gave the conservatives an explanation—after all, they admitted their mistakes, but it didn't give them a complete victory.

“I understand, Comrade General Secretary.” Ligachev nodded solemnly.

This young leader is not someone driven by impulses of hatred and reckoning; he is thinking about the long-term future of the country.

“There’s one more thing, General Secretary,” Ligachev said, as if remembering something, “when do you intend to give a formal summary and explanation to the Warsaw Pact and the other socialist countries around the world?”

After all, this power transition happened suddenly, and all the fraternal parties need an explanation.

“The sooner the better,” Slava said with a hint of urgency. “I’m desperately short of time right now.”

Slava was telling the truth. He knew better than anyone that time was running out for the country. On another timeline, from 1987 to 1991, this vast empire collapsed in just four short years.

He had to race against fate in this limited time, and every day was incredibly precious to him.

Ligachev thought for a moment and said, "In that case, I suggest you bring this up at the national party congress in November."

"National Party Congress?"

“Yes.” Ligachev nodded. “I had already communicated with all the participating countries in March—we did a lot of preliminary work to prepare for this meeting.”

The size and scale of this meeting are just right for you to give a comprehensive and formal explanation to the entire socialist camp.

Slava nodded.

The National Party Congress is a rare event, a special form of meeting that falls somewhere between the Party Congress held every five years and the Central Committee plenary sessions held more frequently.

Its full name is the "All-Union Party Representative Conference." Attendees are representatives elected from grassroots party organizations—the conference can reach approximately five thousand people. This type of conference was held from 1925 to 1941, then was interrupted for several decades, and has only recently resumed.

Its function is to handle major issues between two party congresses.

This meeting will be the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Its importance far exceeds that of an ordinary Central Committee plenary session. The current Central Committee plenary session is a purely high-level meeting within the party, in which foreign fraternal parties do not participate. In contrast, the National Party Congress is a party-wide congress, in which foreign fraternal parties send delegations to attend, and resolutions are passed by the applause of thousands of delegates.

This legitimacy is far stronger than an internal vote at a Central Committee plenary session!

The domestic representatives attending the meeting will include:

First secretaries of the Communist Parties of the constituent republics, first secretaries of the Party committees of the states and border regions, secretaries of the Party committees of major cities, ministers of the central ministries, representatives of the military, chairmen of the Council of Ministers of the constituent republics, secretaries of the Party committees of important industrial enterprises and model workers, representatives of the cultural and scientific communities, and grassroots representatives elected by Party organizations at all levels.

The international delegations were the most prominent part of the conference.

Leaders of the Warsaw Pact and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) member states will be present, including Honecker of East Germany, Jaruzelski of Poland, Kádár of Hungary, Zhivkov of Bulgaria, the leader of Czechoslovakia, and Ceaușescu of Romania, at Ligachev's invitation.

Other socialist countries also sent representatives, such as Castro of Cuba, Nguyen Van Linh of Vietnam, Batmunkh of Mongolia, and a delegation from North Korea.

A Chinese delegation will also be present, and the contact between the new Soviet leadership and the Chinese representatives will foreshadow a major shift in Sino-Soviet relations—this will be the most important international event of the entire 19th Party Congress.

In addition, non-ruling Western communist parties—the French Communist Party, the Italian Communist Party, the Japanese Communist Party, and communist parties from various developing countries—will also send delegations to attend.

This will be a grand gathering of the global communist movement. And Slava will announce the Soviet Union's new direction to the entire socialist world at this grand gathering.

“Okay,” Slava said, “It’s set for the National Party Congress in November. Yegor Kuzmich, thank you for your hard work in the preliminary preparations.”

"This is what I should do, General Secretary."

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.

After Ligachev left, Slava sat alone in the General Secretary's office, looking out the window.

Time was tight and the task was heavy. The Central Committee plenary session had just concluded, and the new line had just been established. What awaited him was dealing with the aftermath of Gorbachev's downfall, the November Party Congress, the accountability to the entire socialist bloc, the full-scale rollout of economic reforms, the deeply entrenched system of cadre privileges, and the possibility of instability in the constituent republics due to ethnic issues...

The burden of managing thousands of square kilometers of Soviet territory rested on his shoulders, which were only 1.6 meters tall.

"Ding!" Just then, the phone on the table rang, but the phone was clearly not plugged in, so where did the signal come from?

Slava hesitated before picking up the receiver. A voice he knew all too well came from the other end of the line; Director Nian's tone was filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"Brother!" Director Nian's voice was full of excitement, "I have some good news for you—"

"What's wrong, boss?"

Director Nian paused for a moment on the other end of the phone, then spoke in a tone as if announcing some major event:

"You should be free now! As the system girl, I finally have a system!"

"If you hadn't told me, I would have really thought you were just bluffing me about your system girl identity." Slava pouted.

Director Nian said, "It seems I can now access all the alliance's data, such as agricultural levels and consumer goods levels. It seems you no longer need to scheme and plot with your subordinates to obtain the country's real data!"

Slava raised his eyebrows with interest, took the unplugged telephone, walked to the window, and asked:

"So what are the data for our alliance? How is consumer goods production? What is the level of technology?"

"All of them are—uh...perfect scores?"

Are you kidding me?

Chapter 71 Another Crisis in 1929!

“You’re amazing, boss.” Slava chewed on the number, walked to the break room next to the General Secretary’s office, took out a small pair of binoculars, and looked out at Moscow in May.

In the distance, the line of people queuing to buy things in front of the state-run store was at least a hundred meters long.

"Did you get this system directly from the Kremlin's propaganda department?"

“Brother Lao, don’t rush, the fun is yet to come. Let me tell you one by one,” Director Nian said, cracking open another sunflower seed. “Listen carefully—public service level, eighty.”

“Eighty?” Slava raised an eyebrow. “What is this thing?”

“Well,” Director Nian paused, seemingly looking for an explanation on the screen, “it’s called housing accessibility.”

Slava nearly dropped the phone. He thought of the tenement building he lived in back in Uzbekistan, of the Khrushchev-era buildings in Moscow that were hastily built in the 1950s and whose walls would crumble three times a year, and of how many families, spanning three generations, were crammed into a two-bedroom apartment, sharing the kitchen and toilet with their neighbors.

"Stop joking," he said irritably. "How long has it been since the Khrushchev building in the Union was renovated? At most fifty percent of the city's housing is given away for free, and countless people are lining up for housing until their children are already in school and still haven't gotten their turn—"

How did you calculate that eighty? Did you include unfinished construction sites in your calculations?

“I’m just someone who reads reports, what’s the point of yelling at me?” Director Nian slowly shirked all responsibility. “Let’s move on to the next one—civil liberties, number seventy.”

"...What's this called?"

"Citizens' legal freedom in all areas of life."

Slava licked his lips, took a rice strip from the one his supervisor had given him earlier, stuffed it into his mouth, and mumbled a muffled hum:

"Given the KGB's reputation in the country, they're basically free? Seventy? How dare they?"

"The level of daily necessities is 95."

"Ninety-five? Consumer goods are widespread? Did I wake up one morning and find myself in a communist society?"

I saw people queuing up for bicycles yesterday, and today it's already 95—comrade, did our country secretly achieve a massive material abundance last night without telling me, or did the reports show that it got rich first and then helped the rest of the country get rich?

Director Nian chuckled on the other end of the line: "Intellectual loyalty: 85."

"So loyal!"

This time, Slava really couldn't hold back anymore. He wiped his hands, crumpled the paper into a ball, and flicked it into the wastebasket. Leaning against the windowsill, the barely concealed amusement in his voice could be felt even through the phone:

"Loyalty cannot be spoken of, loyalty cannot be spoken of! After more than a year of Gorbachev's misdeeds, those intellectuals in the country now wish they could tie me to the front of a T-80U and drag me around Red Square twice, and after that, they'd write an obituary for me in Spark magazine—"

You call this 85% loyalty?

Director Nian's voice drifted over unhurriedly: "With your height, you can't even reach the chassis of a tank if you stand up straight. What are you going to do? I think we should tie you to the front of a combine harvester. That thing is low, perfect for you."

"...You can't stand not saying something to me, can you?" Slava rubbed his forehead, resigned to the fact that he would never get the upper hand when it came to height.

"Keep reading, finish reading all those nice words."

The annual report was read out one by one, like announcing good news: ecological environment, high; citizens' self-actualization, high; light industry level, high; service industry level, high; heavy industry level, even higher.

The entire report was a sea of ​​red from beginning to end, looking even more festive than the banners held up in the Labor Day parade. It was as if this country, with its empty store shelves, border residents crossing the border to make purchases, and gradually falling behind, had quietly ascended to the pinnacle of human civilization on some morning that Slava hadn't noticed.

As Slava listened, the initial amusement he had felt slowly faded, because he knew all too well what lay beneath this facade of prosperity.

“Wait a minute,” he interrupted Director Nian, “aren’t there any lower-ranking ones here?”

“Yes,” Director Nian snapped the last sunflower seed, “just one, the radical opposition forces, number fifteen.”