Servant of the People in Kyiv

Thinking of this, both Kartov and Korchagin became more enthusiastic towards Haniyev.

After a while, the eight-member leadership team including Kartov, Hanyev and Korchagin received grilled meat, fried fish, pickles, vegetable salad and other dishes sent by the forest farm chef.

An hour later, after having eaten and drunk their fill, Haniyev used the great drinking culture of his previous life and, with the help of alcohol, he quickly built a close relationship with Kartov, Korchagin and others, and they started calling each other brothers half an hour ago.

Before the meeting ended, Korchagin and the others patted their chests to express their loyalty. Kartov even whispered to Haniyev, "Dear brother Haniyev, there will be a regional executive meeting in February. All the leaders of the region will attend. My wife's brother is the mayor of Pripyat, and his words carry a lot of weight. I'll introduce you to him then."

Haniyev smiled and thanked him. After about ten minutes, someone took Kartov to bed. Haniyev also felt a little sleepy, so he was led by another deputy director, Prishtin, to the large office that had been prepared for him to rest.

This is a suite. Outside is an office with a large desk, sofa, filing cabinet, and bookshelf, and inside is a bedroom with a separate bathroom. There is a brand new quilt on the bed, and you can tell it is made of fabric imported from India just by touching it.

A few hours later, Haniyev had just sobered up and was drinking tea when there was a knock on the door.

When he opened the door, he saw Korchagin. He first praised Haniyev's drinking capacity, and then said, "It's time for dinner. I specially asked someone to shoot two red deer in the woods. Let's try them tonight."

Haniyev nodded and said, "How is Secretary Kartov?"

"I'm awake and having afternoon tea."

Although Korchagin and Haniyev had only known each other for less than half a day, they had already figured out their leader's temperament. He smiled slightly and said, "Secretary Haniyev, Secretary Kartov is the direct leader in charge of our state-owned forest farm. We must always try to maintain a good relationship with him. When he leaves tomorrow, I suggest that he not go back empty-handed, otherwise it will be disadvantageous to you."

Haniyev took a sip of hot tea, feeling much better in his stomach, and asked, "What have you done in the past?"

Korchagin said with a smile, "You can pack up the other antler deer and put it on his cart. He can tell him when he returns tomorrow. From my experience, Secretary Kartov will be very happy."

Chapter 004: Undermine me?

After listening to Korchagin's words, Haniyev knew that giving fresh wild animals as gifts was a unique advantage of the state-owned forest farm, and perhaps this kind of "courtesy" was also an old custom of the forest farm.

After figuring this out, Haniyev nodded and said, "Let's do this. If we still have some homemade wine, we can put some in small oak barrels and put it in Secretary Kartov's car."

Korchagin nodded. "Secretary is right. Wine wasn't worth much before, but now is a critical period and it's a scarce commodity. Secretary Kartov would be very grateful if we gave him some wine."

Ukraine's food culture is influenced by European customs after the Middle Ages, and people always like to eat the most sumptuous meals at night.

So there was more variety in the meat dishes that night: sausages, bacon, steak, venison chops, lamb shanks cooked with parsnips, boiled venison hearts...

In addition to a wide variety of meat dishes, there are also two large plates of borscht and cream of mushroom soup.

As the glasses clinked, whether it was Haniyev, Kartov, Korchagin or the others all became even more thoroughly drunk.

The next morning, after eating some bread with caviar, Haniyev and others personally escorted Kartov out of the office building.

Ukrainians in the Soviet era were not very subtle about giving gifts. When he arrived in front of the car, Korchagin gently opened the rear door of the Volga sedan.

When Kartov saw the two small oak barrels and a fawn, he was very happy and gave warm hugs to Haniyev, Korchagin and others. Then he drove the large and spacious Volga car out of the forest.

After seeing Kartov off, Haniyev was not in a hurry to familiarize himself with the situation. He first returned to the office building and took a nap.

At lunch and dinner, he drank heavily with Korchagin and others.

The next morning, Haniyev clutched his head, feeling a splitting headache from the hangover. He angrily declared, "No matter what, I won't drink any more!"

But a few hours later, Haniyev and Korchagin sat opposite each other in the restaurant, each still with a full glass of red wine in front of them.

Korchagin picked up his glass and said, "A hangover is unpleasant, but a little more wine will make it better."

Haniyev clinked glasses with Korchagin and took a sip, then said, "Comrade Korchagin, I'm new to our forest farm and I'm not familiar with many things. You need to show me around so I can get familiar with every aspect of the farm."

Korchagin had worked at the forest farm for over twenty years, rising from a temporary employee to first deputy director. No matter who came, they were always sidelined. Although he had a good impression of Haniyev, he was still a little unhappy when he heard him ask about work. He said with a sullen face, "It's winter now, and there will be a lot of hungry animals roaming the woods. I don't think your idea of ​​visiting, Secretary Haniyev, is a good one."

Haniyev didn't get angry. He nodded and said, "I don't understand the specific work of the forestry unit. Can you give me a verbal introduction?"

As Haniyev spoke, he pulled Korchagin aside and asked him in detail about the daily work that each department of the forest farm needed to do.

Comrade Korchagin was not at all bored this time. He introduced everything to Haniyev in detail and took him on a tour of the office area and rest area after dinner.

Three days passed quickly, and Haniyev was now certain that he was being sidelined by Korchagin, or rather, every secretary was sidelined by Korchagin.

Korchagin was in charge of all business and financial work, and was also the father-in-law of the son of Ivanov, the company commander of the forest protection militia company. Therefore, even without a secretary, Korchagin could arrange all the work in the forest farm.

However, in theory, the forest protection militia company, the only armed force in the forest farm, can only be mobilized by the secretary and obey the secretary's orders. Because the company commander Ivanov has been disobeying the successive secretaries and colluding with Korchagin, the secretary is actually unable to mobilize the forest protection militia company at all.

It was also because the secretary of Gaopodi Forest Farm was a difficult position to handle, and no secretary could serve for more than two years. At the same time, when they were transferred, they would definitely recommend to the higher-level party committee not to allow Korchagin to take over as director and secretary, so Korchagin's relationship with every secretary was harmonious on the surface.

Haniyev had good food and drink every day, and he could basically mobilize everyone in the office building. However, when he went out of the office building, whether to use the bus, go out to visit, or look at financial accounts and military supplies, etc., he would always be told by the employees that he had to get orders from Director Korchagin.

Haniyev was very upset. He also heard that the previous secretary even insulted Korchagin when he was drunk, and only quit after being beaten up.

Haniyev regretted his decision. He didn't want to be beaten, but after getting along well with Korchagin, since Haniyev didn't show much desire for power, Korchagin felt that he might have firmly established himself as the emperor. So he was not as respectful to Haniyev as before, but he was not as wary of him either. However, he was still afraid that Haniyev was a high-ranking official appointed by the State Forestry Committee, so he didn't dare to go too far and mostly behaved respectfully.

After becoming familiar with Korchagin's working style, Haniyev began to drive his own car to visit seven employee settlements every day to understand the employees' production and life and their impressions of the forest farm leadership team and Korchagin.

After a week of visits, Haniyev gradually gained a clear understanding of the state-owned forest farm and was no longer confused about the future. He now felt that he had grasped the clues to overthrow Korchagin and only needed to wait and see and bide his time.

Ukraine has 30% of the world's black soil. Two-thirds of the entire land area of ​​the Ukrainian Socialist Republic is fertile black soil, which means that Ukraine can live a prosperous life relying on its unique agricultural resources without doing anything.

Therefore, since the establishment of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been the main grain producing area of ​​Russia, and can be called a granary. This is because its grain is supplied to all Soviet people, which has made Ukrainians more or less psychologically unbalanced for many years, so they will be the first to break away from the Soviet Union in the future.

However, there is no fertile black soil in the Chernobyl area. This area is vast and sparsely populated, and the industry relies entirely on forestry. Now there is a nuclear power plant, and more than half of the population in the entire area are actually employees and families of the nuclear power plant.

The entire northwestern Chernobyl region and southern Belarus form a vast forest, home to a rich variety of wildlife. Therefore, besides logging and gathering, hunting is another important means of livelihood for farmers in state-owned and collective forest farms in both countries.

However, due to Soviet legislation protecting wildlife, forestry workers were limited in the number of animals they could hunt, and the government only permitted them to hunt for a short period each year. State-owned forestry farms, however, enjoyed greater autonomy than collective forestry farms, largely due to their extensive authority and the size of their territories.

After consulting Deputy Director Korchagin and other comrades, Comrade Kharyev learned that every year the state-owned forest farm would hunt some wild game and send it to the secretaries of the municipal party committee for their tasting.

This is a "task" outside of the mission. The special gifts delivered every year are generally antlered deer, and occasionally there are black bears, wolves, lynxes and other animals with rare fur.

In addition to animals, there are also some honey and mushrooms that can be collected. These are also registered specialties of the state-owned forest farms. Some are collected every year and allocated uniformly by higher-level departments.

However, a certain share will be retained, and part of the retained share will be divided up by the senior management of the factory, and the remaining part will be kept as precious gifts.

Haniyev was not stupid. He knew very well that the secretary of the state-owned forest farm had such a lucrative salary. No wonder Korchagin was so authoritarian, because tens of thousands of rubles of interests were involved.

Although Haniyev had decided to find an opportunity to overthrow Korchagin and get rid of his puppet secretary status, he knew that he could not break off relations with Korchagin now. Therefore, with his deliberate friendship and patience, he developed an excellent relationship with Comrade Korchagin, and the two also maintained a strange tacit understanding in the division of power.

Haniyev does not ask about personnel and finances or interfere with specific work, and Korchagin will also ensure Haniyev's life and a comfortable office environment. He is respectful to Haniyev in work meetings and follows the procedures in daily work arrangements to let Haniyev review and sign every document. He will only execute the opinions that agree with his own wishes, and ignore those that do not.

Korchagin's autocratic rule could not convince everyone. The employees who had suffered losses were naturally extremely angry, but they dared not speak out. According to the information Hanyev knew, Korchagin had more than one mistress in the seven employee settlements, and they were lovers in an open and aboveboard relationship. Some of the husbands of these seven women had tried to retaliate, but after Korchagin and a dozen of his confidants in the militia company broke four or five of their ribs, all the voices of resistance disappeared.

The workers' anger and resentment towards Korchagin grew deeper and deeper. When Haniyev visited, he was invited to the room by the workers more than once to cry and complain about Korchagin's bullying of men and women and looting of people's property.

Haniyev didn't know how many people were Korchagin's spies, but he just said verbally that he would investigate and did not dare to show any anger.

However, Haniyev gradually understood Korchagin's ruling situation for more than 20 years, and he also had great confidence in overthrowing him. He was just waiting for the right opportunity, and these public opinions and grievances would turn into a sharp dagger that would pierce Korchagin's back.

In addition to following the mass line, Haniyev also actively maintains good relations with members of the forest farm leadership team and builds relationships with various middle-level leaders. This has earned Haniyev a good reputation among forest farm employees and leaders. After all, if you don't do your work, you won't offend anyone, and at the same time, you treat people kindly. Such a leader is a good leader for middle and low-level employees who don't understand politics.

Chapter 005 Militia Company

Because Korchagin had been autocratic and had the final say for many years, other members of the forest farm leadership team did not have much power and did not get many benefits.

For many years, Korchagin had sidelined the secretary and deceived the higher-level party organizations, which made every deputy director dare not speak out against him, and they were afraid of him and disgusted with him.

Haniyev was sent from the State Forestry Committee. His status and possible powerful connections in the state government made several deputy directors who had the greatest objections to Korchagin actively unite around Haniyev. They hoped that Haniyev could use his connections to get rid of Korchagin.

Of course, Haniyev did not have the connections and power to take away Korchagin, but he acted ambiguously in his communications with other leaders, making them think that Secretary Haniyev had strong connections behind him.

In a blink of an eye, it was two weeks after Haniyev took office. At this time, Haniyev had mastered all the information in the forest farm and understood how the various departments of the state-owned forest farm operated.

Even though Korchagin tried to stop him in many ways, Haniyev was the secretary after all, and half of the team members supported him. Even though Haniyev could not intervene in important departments, he could already do many things as the secretary.

Haniyev held several party group meetings and reviewed all the information of the state-owned forest farm in previous years.

If Korchagin could cooperate fully, the power in Haniyev's hands in the forest farm could basically be said to be close to infinite.

Among them, the important department for maintaining rights and the one that can really do something is actually the 120-person forest protection militia company.

The forest ranger militia company has guns and is an armed force. Korchagin was able to act so tyrannically and even squeeze out four secretaries because he relied on a dozen militia confidants and his son-in-law, the militia company commander Ivanov.

Haniyev knew very well that he would not have complete control over the state-owned forest farm until he had the forest ranger militia company under his control.

However, there is actually a fire brigade in the state-owned forest farm whose armed forces far exceed those of the militia company.

However, they are only under the management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the administrative hierarchy, the captain of the fire brigade is at the same level as the secretary of his own forest farm.

The forest farm provides them with military camp sites, and they also rely on the state-owned forest farm to purchase supplies, so most of the time they still cooperate with the state-owned forest farm to carry out their work.

Haniyev's goal was not to stay in the state-owned forest farm and cut wood. He wanted to take control of the entire forest farm as soon as possible. In addition, he wanted to take advantage of the nuclear leak incident in a few months, so he set his sights on the fire brigade next to the forest farm.

Haniyev

The forest ranger militia company consists of 120 people, and their weapons and equipment are 50% AK47 and 50% Ak74, with an additional rocket-propelled grenade, also known as RPG. These weapons are considered to be good, inexpensive and durable. Even decades later, they are still the most common and well-received weapons and equipment in Chechnya, Somalia, Syria and other regions.

These weapons were nothing to Ukraine, which had countless military-industrial enterprises, and even less so to the Soviet Union, one of the two great powers. It was a bit shabby for a militia company in a state-owned forest farm to be equipped with so few conventional weapons.

The equipment of the Gaopodi State Forest Farm militia company may indeed be better than that of forest guards in other countries. After all, the geographical location here is too important.

Haniyev was well aware that the Soviet Union and Ukraine would face severe tests again and again in the future.

No matter what level of official you are, you must grasp all the resources you can get, use the power you can use well, and control the armed forces in your hands. Only in this way can you obtain the greatest benefits when the building collapses.

It can even be said that the lower Haniyev's rank, the more he needs to seize all power. Otherwise, let alone becoming an oligarch when disaster strikes, he will be obsessed with luxury and even trying to stay out of trouble may not be possible.

So Haniyev has been thinking about how to overthrow Korchagin first and take control of the forest ranger militia company.

Time quickly came to the end of January. Perhaps it was God's will, or perhaps it was because Haniyev came to the forest farm at the right time.

There was a heavy snowfall on the first day of February. By dawn, the entire forest was covered in white, and the cars were buried deep under the thick ice and snow.

After the snow stopped, the forestry workers came out of their wooden houses to clear the ice and snow in the settlement. Haniyev, who had nothing to do, also took a shovel to clear the snow.

Everyone actively participated in the labor, but the militia company commander Ivanov was the only one missing. Haniyev didn't need to ask. After listening to everyone's discussions, he learned that his mother had suddenly fallen ill at night and was now being treated in the forest hospital.

After understanding what was going on, Haniyev had no intention of working. He dropped his tools and returned to his office. Sitting on the sofa, Haniyev began to think about what he was going to do.

It turned out that the sudden drop in air temperature caused by the heavy snow caused Captain Ivanov's mother to suddenly suffer from asthma. It is said that the old lady suffers from asthma every one or two years, but this year's condition is particularly serious. It is said that the doctor at the forest hospital said that he was helpless and could only give her glucose for conservative treatment. At the same time, he recommended that she be transferred to a large hospital for treatment as soon as possible.

Haniyev felt that perhaps God was blessing him. Of course, it was not because the old lady was sick, but because of the timing. If Ivanov wanted to send her mother to a big hospital for treatment, he could do something again.

The poor conditions of the forest hospital and the glucose injections did not alleviate the old lady's condition. Everyone knew that delaying it would endanger her life, so Ivanov found Haniyev at noon and asked for leave to take his mother to a large hospital in Kiev for treatment.

Medical treatment was free during the Soviet era, but this free treatment was only available in local hospitals. For example, forestry workers could only enjoy free medical care in the forestry hospital. If they needed to go to a higher-level hospital, they had to obtain a certificate from the local department or hospital.

If you go to a large hospital in the capital Kiev, it can be said that you don’t have strong connections, and even if you have a certificate, you will have to wait for a long time.

In any case, Captain Ivanov, who had originally ignored Haniyev, now needed a certificate from the forest farm secretary, and he also needed to borrow the forest farm bus to send his mother to Kiev.

Regarding the use of the public bus, Ivanov can just go directly to Korchagin, but to ask the secretary to issue a certificate, he must have the party constitution of the forest farm party committee, and this seal is in the hands of the forest farm secretary Haniyev.

Korchagin took Ivanov to find Haniyev and submitted an application. Haniyev had been waiting for them to come when he learned the news in the morning.

Chapter 006 Disintegration

Although Ivanov and Korchagin were of one mind and did not obey his orders, Haniyev was not going to make things difficult for him. After all, their demands were reasonable. The more they targeted him, the closer he would be to Korchagin.

After comprehensive consideration, Haniyev decided to do a favor and not make it bigger.

After Korchagin and Ivanov came to his office and stated their demands, Ivanov stared at him with his bloodshot red eyes.

Haniyev smiled slightly, took out the newly written letter of introduction from the drawer, stamped it in front of the two people, and signed his own signature - "Victor Vladimirvich Haniyev".

Shaking the letter of introduction, Haniyev said sincerely, "Comrade Ivanov, although it's just after winter and our forest farm has no logging tasks, the regional department committee will be convened soon. The official bus cannot be allocated at will and must be reserved for public use."

Korchagin frowned, and Ivanov's face turned red instantly. He was about to yell, but he heard Haniyev slam the table, raised his hand and showed a pair of car keys. Ivanov was stunned.

Haniyev wanted to build momentum by killing two people, so his words and actions were carefully planned after several hours of consideration. He coughed lightly and said, "I am the secretary of our Gaopodi Forest Farm. I have an obligation to take good care of every comrade. Ivanov, please drive my personal car to take your mother to Kiev. It will be more convenient that way."

Ivanov felt warm in his heart, thinking that Haniyev would not come from the capital. It seemed that the higher authorities were right to send him. This young secretary was of high quality.

Reaching out to take the letter of introduction and the key, Ivanov smiled and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Secretary Haniyev. My mother will be back from her illness and I'll definitely treat you to a drink!"

Haniyev had long known that Ivanov was a straightforward person who clearly distinguished between gratitude and resentment. He stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and said a lot of heartwarming words, which moved Ivanov so much that his eyes turned red.

Seeing that the situation was almost settled, Haniyev looked at Korchagin and said in a deep voice, "Comrade Korchagin, something serious has happened to the Ivanov family. If his mother needs treatment at a large hospital in Kiev, it will not only be very troublesome, but will also require a lot of expensive imported medicine and special drugs. I think he'll be in great need of money. Call the financial accountant immediately and have him bring 500 rubles. I'll write a receipt. Ivanov will need this money very much."

Five hundred rubles were equivalent to five hundred US dollars in that era. This amount of money was half a year's salary for Haniyev, the secretary of the forest farm, and was also equal to Ivanov's salary for one and a half years. It was a huge sum of money.

Ivanov wanted to refuse. He glanced at Korchagin, but moved his lips and did not say no, because he had heard that one could not enjoy free medical care at the Kiev Grand Hospital, and that medical treatment would cost a lot of money, so he really needed to bring more money.

Korchagin's eyes flickered a few times, and he grinned and said, "Okay, Secretary Haniyev, I'll go right away."

After that, Korchagin went out to the office next door to make arrangements by phone. Seeing that Korchagin was not there, Haniyev took out a personal letter from his pocket and said, "There are many hospitals in Kiev. Have you decided which one to go to?"

Ivanov shook his head and said, "I heard there are the Ministry of Internal Affairs Hospital, the National Model Worker Sanatorium Affiliated Hospital, the Air Force Affiliated Hospital, and the First People's Hospital... These have the best medical conditions. I definitely won't consider them. Other people's hospitals are fine. I'd be thankful if I could go to the Third People's Hospital."

Haniyev smiled slightly and said, "If you really want to send your mother to the Third People's Hospital, I think I can help you."

Ivanov was surprised and asked, "Secretary, do you have connections in the hospital?"

"My cousin is a neurologist at the Third People's Hospital. His name is Baktsev Nikolayevich Pristin. This is the letter I wrote to him. When you get there, find him and give him the letter. He should be able to arrange a ward for your mother as soon as possible and help you find the best respiratory specialist for treatment."