Servant of the People in Kyiv

Soon the militia company formed a standard square formation, and each soldier held the automatic rifle in his hand in front of his chest and held his head high, just like the soldiers in the Red Square parade.

Belanov stepped in front of Haniyev, who was riding on horseback, and rolled down, saluting, "Please allow Secretary Haniyev to review!"

Although Haniyev felt that it would be a joke if the news got out that he, a small secretary of a forest farm, was reviewing the militia company in the style of a leader of a great country, since Belanov was willing to flatter him in this way, it was also a good way to establish his prestige. Haniyev got on the horse with the support of Belanov, and then Belanov pulled the reins, and the two walked to the front of the militia company.

The incident happened suddenly, and Haniyev didn't know what to say. He could only improvise: "Comrades, spring logging is coming soon. Our country is not having a good time in Afghanistan. This year's logging volume may increase compared to last year. Our forest farm's operations will move north, which will increase the probability of encountering wild animals..."

So we need to be more vigilant this year. For the sake of our own safety and the safety of our comrades, I think it's necessary to conduct a hunting exercise to effectively and effectively strike at wolves, bears, and other ferocious beasts in the forest. We can all share some meat. Is that okay with you?"

All the militiamen were excited when they heard they could hunt and eat meat. They shouted, "The secretary is right!"

Haniyev looked at Belanov, who also looked excited, and then he led the horse and took Haniyev to the outpost.

After dismounting and entering the sentry post, Belanov whispered, "Mr. Secretary, every year's hunting is carried out according to the documents of the higher authorities. We also need the approval of the regional forestry committee and apply for bullets. The hunting exercises you mentioned are a private action. If Korchagin finds out, he will definitely make a fuss about it. If it gets out of hand, we will..."

Haniyev smiled mysteriously and said, "Don't worry. Although this hunt was a spur-of-the-moment decision of mine, I will get the documents directly from the State Forestry Committee. But you can't pretend to be ignorant of this news. I'm going to make Korchagin think that I don't understand the grassroots work mechanism and am acting recklessly. We're going to make Korchagin dig his own grave."

Belanov took a deep breath, secretly fearing the cruel methods of Secretary Haniyev, but also admiring his intelligence. He secretly decided in his heart that he must obey the secretary's arrangements.

"We should have enough ammunition in our warehouse. I'll make arrangements when I get back. Bring someone to get it and keep a record. When I get back from the meeting in Chernobyl on Thursday, we can pick a time for the spring hunt. Remember, don't be stingy with your ammunition and kill plenty of prey. I'm counting on making a fortune from this spring hunt."

Haniyev chuckled, and Belanov knew as soon as he heard it that this leader from the capital was no novice at all. He wanted to organize a spring hunt, and the meat would naturally be distributed to everyone, but the precious fur would obviously have other uses.

Belanov knew that Haniyev was young and promising with a bright future, and guessed that he would not engage in corruption and give rise to criticism. He was just afraid that he had deeper plans for those superficial things.

"Don't worry, Mr. Secretary. I'll take these guys through some serious training these next few days. We each have 300 rounds of ammunition for target practice each year. I'll go get the ammunition and practice my marksmanship for a few days."

At this point, Belanov noticed that Haniyev didn't seem very happy, so he hurriedly explained, "Having good marksmanship will also ensure safe logging. If something goes wrong, it will be bad for both you and me. As for hunting animals with valuable fur like bears and foxes, I'm the best hunter. Now that the ice and snow have melted, we can set up traps that will be more effective in a few days."

Seeing that Belanov was very smart, Haniyev nodded with satisfaction, then gave him some detailed instructions and rode his draft horse Heiguang slowly back to the Gaopo Village office building.

Seeing that there was a pile of firewood in the kitchen behind the office building, Haniyev tied Hei Guang there and asked the people in the kitchen to look after it.

After entering the building and returning to the office, there was a knock on the door shortly afterwards, and then Korchagin walked in.

Haniyev has not paid much attention to Korchagin these days. Korchagin also knows that the situation is serious and his own situation is critical. He now only wants to know Haniyev's attitude so as to prepare a response strategy.

Haniyev is not one of those Slavs who only know how to speak directly. He is an old bureaucrat who has worked in the agency for nearly six years. He knows very well that at this time he should appease Korchagin instead of provoking him to prevent him from taking risks and doing something desperate.

So in the face of Korchagin's temptation, Haniyev simply picked out some unimportant economic problem reports and showed them to Korchagin, and said that he had already appeased the masses, and he had to find a way to compensate the masses and resolve the conflict.

Seeing that Haniyev's attitude was so good, Korchagin felt relieved. At the same time, he guessed that Haniyev was also new in the company. As long as he was willing to support his work, he would not turn against him just because of a few employees' complaints. After all, it would not be good for him, an outsider, to fall out with him.

Korchagin, realizing he had guessed Haniyev's mentality, laughed and said, "Thank you, Secretary Haniyev. I will not let you down."

Haniyev shook Korchagin's hand and said, "Don't worry, I will do my best to cover up for you, but if you do something wrong and don't change, I won't be able to save you in the future."

Korchagin heard the threat from Haniyev, which made him feel relieved. He agreed with a smile, thinking that as long as he waited for Ivanov to come back and regained control of the militia company, he would only need to lead the militia company on horseback and carry guns for a ride in the forest farm, and those employees would not dare to even fart.

After leaving Haniyev's room, Korchagin once again called Ivanov at the Third People's Hospital in Kiev, but was told that Ivanov and the patient were being examined elsewhere. Korchagin had no choice but to send a telegram asking when he would be back.

An hour and twenty minutes later, Ivanov's telegram came back with a short line of text: "Go back at the weekend."

Korchagin pondered for a moment and felt that Thursday was the standing committee meeting of the Chernobyl region, and Haniyev would definitely go. He would have a meeting all day, have a working lunch in the evening, and then be arranged to stay. He would not be back until Friday.

This way, I would have two days to free up my hands to slowly deal with those disobedient guys. When Ivanov comes back to take charge of the militia company at the weekend, he will naturally be able to suppress the employees. Even if Haniyev comes back, I won't have to be afraid.

Thinking of this, Korchagin felt like he had returned to the days when he was all-powerful. His mood suddenly brightened, and he murmured to himself, "You guys can continue to be so arrogant. I'll tolerate you for five more days at most. By the weekend, I'll let you return to the palm of my hand..."

Chapter 011 Standing Committee

Time flies, and it's Thursday in a blink of an eye.

Haniyev got up early, and Belanov delivered several complete fox skins before dawn as Haniyev had instructed him a few days ago.

Haniyev ate something quick while the union chairman Grigory went to pick up the car.

Because he was going to a regional meeting, Haniyev had already arranged for Grigory to go with him as his driver.

A moment later, Grigory drove the only bus in the forest farm with Haniyev out of the forest farm gate and headed for Chernobyl.

Since the timber felled by the state-owned forest farm on the high slopes is collected by paper mills, furniture factories, woodworking factories and other enterprises uniformly allocated by the state government with receipts, the Bison 200 produced by the Minks Automobile Factory in the forest farm has only been used for ten years and is still in good condition.

The trucks produced by the Minks Automobile Plant are the most common vehicles that Haniyev has ever seen. Since Minks in Belarus is very close to Kyiv, the trucks in Kyiv Oblast are basically products of the Minks Automobile Plant. However, this car has considerable horsepower and can effectively solve the transportation problems on farms and forests.

It is more than 80 kilometers from the state-owned forest farm to the city of Chernobyl. Due to the poor road conditions and the occasional appearance of horse-drawn carriages, flocks of sheep, etc., it is basically impossible to drive fast.

After driving swayingly to the center of Chernobyl, Haniyev, who was sitting in the passenger seat, found that there were many cars parked in front of the regional government administrative building today. Most of them were agricultural vehicles and trucks, and there were less than 1/3 cars. However, dozens of cars had blocked half of the street. Fortunately, there were not many people in Chernobyl and even fewer cars, which did not affect people's travel.

Today is the standing work meeting of the Chernobyl region. The content of the meeting will summarize the work of the whole year of last year and assign tasks and requirements for this year's work. This is the summary and planning work that must be done every year in order to improve the five-year plan after the Soviet system formulated the five-year plan.

When Haniyev worked in the Kyiv State Forestry Committee, he often wrote work summaries and documents assigning tasks to regional committees after meetings for Comrade Lukachikov, the secretary of the state committee. Therefore, he was very familiar with this kind of standing committee meeting from the Soviet Central Committee to the member states, and then to the states and regions.

The meeting time is 10 o'clock in the morning. I looked at my watch and it was only around 9 o'clock.

Haniyev adjusted his leather jacket, arranged for Comrade Grigory to wait in the car, and went into the conference room on the third floor of the municipal building to wait for the meeting to begin.

The conference room in the Chernobyl administrative building is similar to that of many other countries. The entire venue has a podium above it and seats for participants below it.

Haniyev casually counted and found that there were more than 100 seats in the venue, and at this time, about 60% to 70% of them were occupied.

Many people were wearing Lenin suits or leather jackets, and only a few wore suits and shirts, but no ties.

They sat together, happily sharing cigarettes and talking about this. Haniyev had just arrived and didn't know anyone, so he could only sit alone in a corner.

After about 10 minutes, he suddenly saw Simonenko, the first secretary of the regional forestry committee, and Kartov, the second secretary, walk into the meeting room. He hurriedly stood up and shook hands with them.

Simonenko had a good impression of Haniyev. After briefly inquiring about his work, he encouraged him, "Comrade Haniyev, the state-owned forest farm is the primary business unit of our Forestry Commission and a major revenue-generating unit in the Chernobyl region. You are a key figure in our forestry department. If you encounter any difficulties in your work, please communicate with me and Kartov promptly."

After Haniyev expressed his gratitude, Simonenko said with a hint of meaning: "Although Comrade Korchagin has a somewhat tough work style, he is indeed a good comrade. Over the years, he has managed many tasks at the forest farm in an orderly manner and has made great contributions to our forestry department. I hope you can cooperate well and make more contributions to our forestry department."

When Haniyev heard this, he knew that Korchagin must have already met with the First Secretary. Although he had already decided to remove Korchagin, he could not show it until he actually took action.

So Haniyev continued to smile at Simonenko and said, "Thank you Secretary Simonenko for your guidance. Comrade Korchagin and I work very well together. This is all thanks to your care and guidance for the forest farm. If you have time, please come to the forest farm to guide our work. I will treat you to some game."

Simonenko was somewhat surprised by Haniyev's attitude towards Korchagin, which was different from what he expected, but he knew that although Haniyev was young, he was an old hand who was well versed in the ways of the world. He smiled and patted him on the shoulder, then walked up to the podium and sat in a corner on the edge.

Kartov pulled Haniyev to sit in the fifth row, near the corridor, and whispered to him about the forest farm. Finally, he said meaningfully, "Korchagin has had a very good relationship with our Comrade Simonenko for many years. The previous secretary and Korchagin had such a bad relationship, and it was Comrade Simonenko who used his connections to transfer him away. If you want to do a good job at the state-owned forest farm, you must maintain a good relationship with Comrade Kodakin."

Haniyev nodded and whispered, "Secretary Kartov, thank you for your reminder. I brought some local specialties for you and Secretary Simonenko. Could you both have a meal tonight?"

Kartov raised his eyebrows, stroked his thinning hair, and asked, "What's the specialty?"

"It's the fire fox fur that's unique to our forest farm. It's fiery red and smooth to the touch. You can make a scarf for your wife and a pair of gloves for yourself."

Kartov smiled slightly and said, "Very good. I'll tell Simonenko about it at lunch. He'll agree."

"Thank you very much."

As the two were talking, leaders of the Chernobyl Regional Party Committee and Regional Executive Committee came in one after another.

Although Haniyev didn't recognize any of them, he knew that the old man sitting in the middle was the first secretary of the regional party committee. On both sides of him were the second secretary, secretary, and deputy secretary. The secretary of the regional party committee also served as the director of the executive committee, that is, the number one head of the regional administration. Therefore, the middle-aged man with glasses who presided over the meeting must be the director of the executive committee, Piotrov.

Haniyev doesn't know any of these leaders, and if he can't promote them, it will be difficult for him to get to know them in the future.

Because of his level, he only needs to be responsible to Simonenko, the first secretary of the Forestry Committee, and he usually never meets these secretaries and deputy secretaries.

Sitting in the center of the rostrum were the four main regional leaders, and on both sides of these leaders were the main leaders of various departments.

Those sitting in the audience were naturally the heads of various departments and departments, units and offices at all levels directly under the Party Committee and the Executive Committee. Haniyev was fortunate to sit below, proving that he was already one of the middle-level leaders in the region.

Chapter 012 Chekhov

Haniyev was completely in the dark about the leadership of Chernobyl, but fortunately he was sitting with Kartov, and after listening to his whispered introduction, Haniyev also had a clear impression of the regional leadership team.

Chekhov, the First Secretary of the Chernobyl Region, was a veteran of the Red Army who had been working there before World War II. He had served as the region's secretary for 10 years.

This secretary is a close comrade of a major leader of the Central Executive Committee of the Republic of Ukraine. Although he is over 60 years old this year, he still looks energetic.

Haniyev got a piece of news that was beneficial to him from what Kartov said, that is, this old Red Army soldier had firm beliefs and would never condone or tolerate subordinates who violated laws and discipline. His decision, which he had originally planned to use this meeting to cause some trouble for Korchagin, might become an important helper because of Chekhov.

After some brief opening remarks, the director of the regional executive committee, Peterov, reviewed the work of the previous year and spent another hour after his speech to quantify and set requirements for each department involved in this year's work.

A meeting involves all aspects, and all major leaders have to make speeches and exert pressure. However, the content of Secretary Chekhov's speech was mainly to convey the spirit of the meetings of the provincial party committee, the republic, and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, especially the important speech of General Secretary Comrade Gorbachev.

It was already dusk when the meeting was over.

At noon, everyone had a simple meal of bread with caviar in the conference room.

After the evening meeting, most people left the meeting room in a hurry. Haniyev carried his briefcase and went to the office on the east side of the third floor.

After asking Kartov, Haniyev already knew that the first secretary of the region, Chekhov, was in this office.

Haniyev thought that there was no one in the office, and wanted to secretly slip the letters of complaint he brought into the crack of the office door of the First Secretary Chekonenfu. Because these letters were all reports from forestry workers in their real names, even if Chekonenfu was not an old Red Army soldier who hated evil, as long as he was a leader who had no interest in transferring benefits to Korchagin, he would definitely take it seriously and deal with it.

What's more, the secretary's thoughts and style are still stuck in the Second World War era, so Haniyev felt that as long as Chekhov saw the letter of complaint, he would send an investigation team to the forest farm, and might even go there in person.

However, Haniyev did not expect that when he stood in front of the office door, he found that the light was on inside. Although he was a little timid and nervous, Haniyev thought of the purpose of coming down from the capital to be an official, so he coughed lightly and knocked on the door.

Chekhov's cold voice rang out: "Come in!"

Haniyev hurriedly pushed the door open and saw Chekhov correcting a document with his reading glasses. He was filled with admiration for the old revolutionary.

Walking up to Chekonenfu's desk, Haniyev bowed and said, "Hello, Secretary Chekonenfu. I am Viktor Vladimirvich Haniyev, the secretary of the state forest farm."

Chekhov took off his reading glasses and said, "I know you're a cadre sent by the State Forestry Committee. I've had a drink with Lukachikov from the State Forestry Committee. He's a pretty good guy..."

Chekhov talked endlessly about drinking and Lukachikov. Taking advantage of his pause, Haniyev said hurriedly, "Secretary Lukachikov told me many times before I took office that you are the old comrade who loves to take care of the younger generation and asked me to visit you. If the employees of the forest farm hadn't kept coming to me to complain and I couldn't get away, I think I would have come to visit you a long time ago."

Chekhov smiled and said, "You're a young man from Kiev. You're willing to come from the wealthy capital to the poor grassroots to train yourself. This is the style of us Soviet Communists. Young people nowadays just can't endure hardship, unlike us back then..."

Chekhov resumed his conversation by recounting his youthful battles against German invaders. After a moment, he nodded with a hint of lingering regret and asked, "You said the workers at your forestry farm all came to you to complain? What's wrong? Is there any difficulty you need me to resolve?"

Haniyev opened his briefcase, took out the letter of complaint, and placed it on the table. He said with deep sorrow, "Alas, it was the staff of the forest farm who came to me to report the First Deputy Director, Andrei Korchagin. Comrade Korchagin seems quite nice and has good work ability. I didn't expect that he would..."

Haniyev randomly mentioned a few things that he thought violated work discipline and Party member style. Chekonen's face turned very ugly. He picked up a pile of letters and carefully looked through them. After a long time, he put the letters aside and said, "I seem to have heard that Korchagin had a very unpleasant quarrel with the then forestry secretary last year. Humph, I didn't expect this person to be a criminal. Don't worry about it. I will set up an investigation team to station in your forestry farm to investigate his problems."

Haniyev was secretly delighted, thinking that perhaps he would not have to use his other methods. After bowing, Haniyev retreated.

Looking at his watch, Haniyev found that it was already 6:30 in the afternoon. Remembering that he had a dinner appointment with Simonenko and Kartov, and that he wanted to give them fox furs, Haniyev hurriedly quickened his pace.

After going downstairs, Haniyev woke up Grigory, who was fast asleep in the car, sat in the passenger seat and said, "Drive quickly. Let's go to Black Forest Village south of Chernobyl. Secretary Simonenko, Secretary Kartov and I are going to have dinner there."

Because of General Secretary Gorbachev's ban on alcohol, Haniyev didn't know how officials from other regions were doing, but he heard from Kartov today that if Chernobyl officials wanted to eat, they would eat in the state-owned restaurants in the city. If they wanted to drink, they would go back to the restaurants secretly opened by farmers in the countryside. There were very secluded restaurants and not many people knew about them, so they could drink and talk without worry.

Now Haniyev is going to a farmer's house in Black Forest Village with good cooking skills. It is a private kitchen open only to the leaders of the Forestry Committee. That's because the man in this family died in Afghanistan, and the hostess and chef is Kartov's lover.

After entering the village and walking around for a while, Haniyev saw the Volga car that Kartov had driven before and hurriedly said, "Park the car, park next to the Volga."

Grigory naturally recognized the only official bus belonging to the higher authorities. After parking it, he whispered, "Secretary, when are we going to get the fox fur? Will they remember it when you're drunk later?"

Haniyev patted Grigory on the shoulder and said with a smile, "I've already told you in advance that I'll give you the car keys later. Just put the two furs in the car. Come on, come in and have a drink with the leader."

Grigory nodded and said, "Okay, Secretary Haniyev."

Chapter 013: Expensive Food and Drinks

I knocked on the door and it opened after about a minute.

A charming woman in her thirties opened the door. She first looked at the car outside, then smiled at Haniyev and Grigory and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Haniyev pointed inside and whispered, "I'm Haniyev, the secretary of the Gaopodi State Forest Farm. I'm having dinner with Secretary Kartov."

The woman's hairstyle was very fashionable, it was the wavy beach hairstyle that became popular in Paris this year. Her permed hair was tied with a yellow scarf, which made her look more elegant.

The woman smiled as she pulled Haniyev and the other man inside, closed the door, and said, "Ivan and Secretary Simonenko have been waiting for you."

"Are you from Kiev? Kyiv is a big city, right?"

"It's okay. It's the capital after all."

“I haven’t been there yet…”

"Will have the opportunity next time."

……

While dealing with the conversation with the woman, Haniyev felt secretly uneasy.

He knew that this woman might be someone who relied on men for a living. She must have received various benefits from Kartov, and now she was obviously targeting him.

However, no matter how the woman's eyes tried to seduce him, Haniyev followed her politely without looking away, and pretended not to understand the woman's subtext when she spoke.

Seeing that Haniyev was a fool, the woman curled her lips, led the two into the room, and snorted coldly: "Ivan, your friends are here. I'll go see if the beef and borscht and roast suckling pig are ready."

The woman said this and walked away, swaying her waist. After Haniyev and Grigori sat down, Simonenko said with a lewd smile, "Kartov, your Sasha seems angry."

Kartov shrugged and smiled, "Maybe she wants to eat the sausages I made for her."

The two men burst into laughter, and Haniyev and Grigory laughed along.

Simonenko, who was sitting here, seemed like a different person. He and Kartov kept telling dirty jokes and drinking.