"It's not a big problem, I may need to rest for a while." Andropov still smiled and said, "If you get old, your self-cultivation will get better, if you don't, it will get worse and worse. We are all of the same age group. The comrades know that. At least what the doctor said is still optimistic, I just don’t participate in public meetings, and I will still work in the chairman’s office.”

   But this is an act of courting death. If you start training now as the doctor said, maybe you will really live a few more years. If you are still working in the chairman's office, your energy may be exhausted soon. Serov still did not open his mouth to dissuade them. The illnesses of these old men have accumulated over decades, and today there is no cure.

Andropov's general secretary's office is still reserved. In the future, Andropov will treat the condition and guide the work through reports. In the end, Andropov proposed that Romanov, the first secretary of Leningrad, be the secretary of the Central Committee. Ustinov and Serov also agreed, and Romanov, the first secretary of the Leningrad City Party Committee, is indeed very capable.

   In the eyes of the General Political Commissar, Romanov is much more reliable than Ryzhkov. At least Romanov, Serov met very early. At that time, the first secretary of the Leningrad Municipal Party Committee was still Tolskykov, Shelepin's iron. Even if he is not a complete cadre of the Communist Youth League, from Torskykov's mouth, he also knows some information about Romanov, not to mention that he himself is also investigating.

   "Yura, what do you think of Ryzhkov?" Ustinov asked after leaving the general secretary's office. He is also observing the new members of the secretariat. In fact, many veteran members of the Central Presidium are watching the appearance of these new members with cautious eyes, because they are already used to being surrounded by familiar faces.

"What's this person's attitude towards the intelligence department and the military?" Shelov tilted his head and asked, "Will it hinder our confrontation policy? You also know that this is a critical moment, so don't be a hindrance. people."

  Any young cadre that Andropov is optimistic about, as long as the KGB and the Ministry of Defense are not satisfied, don’t even think of becoming the heir, not to mention the last batch of leaders of the Soviet Union, except for Ligachev. That's the case with the rest of the people, Ge Tutu is just the stupidest one among them, it doesn't mean that the others don't have traitor potential.

   "This is a very important issue, and we must be satisfied." Ustinov's eyes flickered under his lens. We, of course, were referring to the two powerful departments of the Ministry of Defense and the KGB.

The most unacceptable thing for Ustinov is to operate on the army for the sake of national development, so he also dislikes Khrushchev. Khrushchev held a high nuclear stick and performed on the world stage, which indeed fooled the United States enough. The real strength of the Soviet Union is uncertain, but the Soviet Union's successive disarmament at that time made the military's evaluation of Khrushchev very low.

   Since Brezhnev's death, there have been some remarks that we should reduce the size of some troops, save military expenditures to develop the economy, and invest in places that need to be built. This kind of remarks just made Ustinov's heart vigilant. The commander-in-chief of the army and the chief of the general staff have on different occasions hoped that Ustinov would suppress such remarks.

  Suppressing speech is something that cannot be done without the help of the KGB. The Soviet armed forces are divided into two sets of command systems. The armed forces are commanded by the Ministry of Defense, while the command of the police and gendarmerie forces is in the hands of the KGB. On the issue of opposing disarmament, Ustinov believes that he and the chairman of the KGB have a common language.

   "Not bad!" Sherof replied simply, patting the blue rim hat. The two do not need to go back and forth to test the disarmament speech. The two of them are on the same front, even if he led the Third General Bureau to monitor the disarmament of the Red Army twenty years ago. At one point or another, unilateral disarmament is absolutely not feasible. The United States is expanding its military, how can the Soviet Union turn back?

  Andropov began to assign some work, which in Serov's view was a sign. And it's not a good sign, it seems that Andropov's body must be deteriorating rapidly. But for at least half a year, Andropov was able to solve problems with the Soviet Union remotely from his office. Ligachev, Ryzhkov and some new faces will report to him.

   He now has to think about some of the current situation on his own, and it's almost time for a one-shot decision. In terms of qualifications, as long as Andropov dies, there are many secretaries in the Secretariat who are older than him, but the most threatening one is Chernenko. In terms of the qualifications of the members of the Central Presidium, who is the most qualified? No one else, but himself.

Before Khrushchev retired,    Shelov entered the Soviet Central Presidium on the recommendation of Mikoyan. It is used to ensure the normal operation of collective leadership. Of course, the General Political Commissar did not do this. Today, including Andropov, there is no one in the Soviet Central Presidium who has been in office longer than him.

"Are you sure? No. 1 and No. 2 are both in poor physical condition?" Egolychev, the former first secretary of the Moscow Municipal Party Committee and now retired, lightly tapped his forehead with his fingers, thinking while saying, " You are the oldest member of the Central Presidium, but your time in the Secretariat is too short, and Brezhnev was deliberately suppressing you."

"Both of them are in poor health. I think it is difficult to maintain health for more than a year." Serov nodded. After the incident of food poisoning in the Black Sea, Chernenko's physical condition is even weaker. From the appearance, it is said that He might die before Andropov, but Andropov's situation was actually worse.

"Among the members of the Central Presidium, the first secretary of the Moscow Municipal Party Committee and the first secretary of the Leningrad City Party Committee are already official members, and they cannot be compared with when I was leading the work in Moscow. As long as Grishin and Romanov don't do anything, they will be completely You can compete with Chernenko." Yegolychev glanced at Sherepin and said, "Shurik, what do you think?"

"Romanov, let's let Torskikov test it. He turned out to be Romanov's boss, but I'm not familiar with Grishin." Shelepin was silent for a while, "We are in The cadres in Moscow were cleaned up by Brezhnev long ago when Yegolychev was replaced."

   "Grishin, I have a way to deal with it, you don't have to worry about that." Shelov said suddenly, Grishin's hobbies are similar to his own, male and female, and he likes to personally guide female subordinates. Corruption? Corruption, but the Soviet cadres of this era, just as Serov said, have not been influenced by capitalism, and the **** have never seen the world. Many states of corruption exist in kind.

  For example, he used the privilege to save a batch of decoration materials to build a house for himself, which was what Furtseva did. Find a way to scrap the car assigned to you, and then give it to your children in a grand manner. The Soviet cadre class has learned the skills of corruption, and it becomes difficult to check it out. At that time, the cadres of the Soviet Union were deeply ashamed of their previous behavior. How could they still be so greedy?

   Now, for the corruption of many Soviet cadres, the KGB will file a case in the morning, and the sentence will be pronounced in the afternoon. Once caught, you will get all the stolen goods. It was the house that Grishin had arranged for his mistress, and the job he had arranged for his illegitimate daughter. Finding it out is not a piece of cake.

   "We still need Ustinov's acquiescence!" Shelepin thought for a long time and said with a hint of regret. One of the important reasons why he was hesitant to face Brezhnev and did not dare to showdown at the beginning was that he had influence in almost all fields, but only lacked supporters in the military.

   Shelepin has enormous prestige among the party committee, government, propaganda, and even reserve cadres and security cadres. But for the old marshal of the military at that time, Xie Lepin was completely a newcomer. With the support of the military, Brezhnev has an absolute advantage, and no matter what Sherepin does, it cannot be changed.

   "My uncle is still alive, and he is one of the few old marshals still alive." There is another point that Serov did not say. As long as Ustinov died, the Soviet Red Army would definitely prefer itself. How to say that he is also a marshal, the second special agent marshal after Beria, and a national defense commissioner. General Political Commissar of National Security. In the worst case, there are still dozens of front-line commanders who are supported by themselves.

"The first thing you should do is, don't leave Moscow during this time. Because anything can happen." Shelepin solemnly warned that in many layouts, it is because of the emergence of emergencies that the people who should be present most are not there. This eventually led to a total disintegration of the layout.

   Think about if Andropov died suddenly, but Serov was not in Moscow. At that time, no amount of layout and the most advanced remote control command could prevent others from occupying the upper and lower positions.

   "I understand!" This is an important matter, and Serov can't take it lightly.

Shelepin, a group of retired senior cadres, can no longer use their forces to help themselves, but these people are equally experienced in fighting. In other words, if Brezhnev hadn't forced Shelepin to retire, if Shelepin had endured until now, the Central Presidium would have Of these commissioners, none of them were his opponents.

"Volodya, I think we should talk about the children." Serov, who was holding the phone, shouted Shcherbitsky's nickname, "Even if you and I are not in a hurry, consider the children's problems. opinion, isn't it?"

   "Call me by my name next time!" After a while of silence, the second sentence came, "I will go to Moscow next week."