Servant of the People in Kyiv

"Your colleague brought you back."

After pouring another glass of water for Haniyev, Tatiana fed him the drink herself and snorted, "Don't drink like this anymore. Look at how many times you've been drunk in the past two weeks. I don't want my husband to be an alcoholic."

Haniyev scratched his head a little embarrassedly, hugged Tatyana's soft body, and said, "Don't worry, my dear wife, I've been drinking recently for the future of the Soviet Union, not because I like drinking. Don't worry, after these few days, I won't drink even if you ask me to."

Chapter 178 Going with the Flow (2)

April 25, Monday, Sunny

I haven't written a diary for a long time. Today I finally met with several old Soviet traitor professors from Kyiv University, Polytechnic University, and University of Science and Technology.

I treated them to dinner and drinks, and the guys were very welcoming.

Even when I met the traitorous professors Su for the first time, they liked me very much and respected me.

Because I am a celebrity of reform and because I had done favors for the citizens of Kiev during the Chernobyl incident, university leaders and professors have been quite welcoming to me recently. These professors and intellectuals who had completely become staunch anti-Soviet elements because of the Chernobyl incident are also very close to me.

I turned myself into a Soviet bureaucrat who was willing to be corrupt and respected "tradition". The directors, bureau chiefs and directors in charge of various departments were also very close to me. Thanks to everyone's help, I have become a good guy in the education system.

My deliberate attempts to make friends with these old Soviet traitors paid off. These intellectuals are actually quite easy to deal with. As long as I treat them with generosity, courtesy, respect, and flattery, they will treat me as a close friend. After all, from their perspective, I'm a deputy director of the Education Commission with considerable power. I don't need them, nor do I need to curry favor with them. The only time they need me is when they ask for help, and I treat them with the utmost respect. Naturally, they think I truly appreciate them and feel grateful to them...

Under such conditions, I could quickly become friends with the traitorous Soviet professors. Regardless of whether they were subjective traitors and reactionaries or simply fooled by foreign countries, they were actually doing things to undermine socialism. These old professors all hoped that the Soviet Union would be completely westernized and even abolish the leadership position of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and implement a multi-party system. Even the more radical ones, such as Ivanov, Ivan Drak, Gonchar, and Makar, set up their own organizations, calling on the Soviet Union to shut down all nuclear power plants including Chernobyl, and demanding that the Soviet government compensate all Ukrainians who were harmed by the Chernobyl incident.

I think these old professors are actually the initiators of the "Rukh" (people's movement) that will attract millions of people to participate in the future. I realized that this is a very powerful force. If this force is allowed to grow stronger, it will be able to shake the political foundation of Ukraine.

I was the official who made the greatest contribution to the Chernobyl incident. Draco, Gonchar and others were very grateful to me and respected me. They also expressed their hope that I would join them in pushing the Soviet Union to shut down the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and compensate the affected Ukrainians. I guessed that this was just a test of their willingness to participate in and influence politics. If they gain enough momentum and prestige, they will definitely become the cradle of Ukraine's national independence.

However, my current status and prestige surpass theirs. I want to recruit the future "Rukh" for my own use. Everyone has agreed to join them. I estimate that it won't be long before I can become the leader relied upon by the old Soviet professors. By then, I will promote the birth of a "Rukh" that nominally supports reforms and calls for attention to Ukraine's interests, but in fact I want to use Rukh to accomplish my many ideas and let this force become the driving force for me to control Ukraine.

Since Yeltsin was able to use Russia's radicals to become the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Russia, competing with Gorbachev, I can also use Ukraine's "Rukh" to become the most powerful and influential person in Ukraine.

......"

After finishing his diary, Haniyev put away his notebook and pen, lay down on the bed and said, "Honey, please help me cut my nails. I'm so tired lately."

Tatiana smiled softly, found the nail clippers, sat down next to him, and said, "Okay, your nails are a little long."

After cutting the nails of one hand, Tatyana picked up Haniyev's other hand and felt it was heavy. She looked down and saw that he was snoring.

"I really want to sleep. I wanted to tell you today that I seem to be pregnant."

Tatiana muttered something and then lay down next to Haniyev and fell asleep.

……

In a blink of an eye, Haniyev has been working at the State Committee of National Education for more than two months.

Working from nine to five makes Haniyev feel that time flies. Although he is only the ninth deputy director and is in charge of a few departments and bureaus, compared with his time in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has more or less regained some of the feeling of being a leader.

Last week, through Nevsky's introduction, Haniyev met some old professors from Kyiv National University, Kyiv Polytechnic University and other universities who had participated in the textbook reforms. After a week of contact, Haniyev has become a close friend of these old professors.

These arrogant old professors originally recognized Haniyev as a responsible and courageous hero in the Chernobyl incident. In addition, Haniyev showed optimism about the reform of comprehensive Westernization and was quite yearning for the United States. As the ninth deputy director of the Education Committee, he had long become the most valued friend and confidant of famous scholars, poets and professors such as Ivan Drak, Gonchar and Makar.

Thanks to Haniyev's efforts, the directors and editors of the textbook editing center, such as Nevsky, Gonchar, and Ivanov, were also moved by Haniyev's enthusiasm to participate in the editing of textbooks.

At the end of April, Haniyev took Nevsky, Gonchar and others on a plane to Moscow to meet with the leaders of the Soviet State Textbook Editing Center. They also put forward opinions and suggestions on the shortcomings of the current textbooks, such as their failure to fully reflect the General Secretary's reform line and to help Soviet youth keep pace with the world.

The Soviet National Textbook Editing Center was composed of supporters of reform advisers such as Ligachev, Mlynnazh, and Yakovlev. For many years, Soviet textbooks from primary schools to middle schools and universities were edited and promoted by these intellectuals and officials who hoped that the Soviet Union would reform into a capitalist country like the United States. Among them, the Moscow Editorial Center was the main editor, and the editorial centers of republics with outward motives, such as the Republic of Ukraine, were participants.

Haniyev's principle in working in the Education Committee was "no venture, no gain". He originally wanted to get deep into the ranks of Soviet traitors and infiltrate the enemy, and then help these anti-Soviet activists do "anti-Soviet" things together by adhering to the principle of high standards. However, these people's anti-Sovietism was real, while Haniyev's was fake.

Haniyev has always believed that since some fake socialists and revisionists can use the red flag to oppose the red flag, and can rely on layers of tightening measures and excessive policies to use bad intentions to ruin good things, then why can't he, a rare true socialist member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in contemporary times, use the blue flag to oppose the blue flag and be overly anti-Soviet to do bad things with good intentions?

"Excessive anti-Sovietism" was the working principle that Haniyev insisted on participating in when compiling the poisonous textbooks. He firmly believed that this method of "saving the country in a roundabout way" would definitely achieve miraculous results.

Author's words: I wish all my readers a happy Dragon Boat Festival. Xia Chong went out to visit relatives last night. It is not convenient for me to write these two days and I have a lot to do. I can't guarantee the update volume and update time. I can only do my best. Sorry, old friends!

Chapter 179 Going with the Flow (3)

There is essentially no difference between people. The differences between most people are reflected in their acquired circumstances and external differences.

There is not much difference between people when they are naked, so many times people rely on dressing up and accumulating reputation to improve their status in the group to reflect different levels. Many mediocre people will treat others differently based on their appearance.

This theorem applies to any country or nation, and senior intellectuals in Moscow are no exception.

Haniyev was a celebrity known throughout the Soviet Union. "Learn from Moscow when reforming large cities, and learn from Yalta when reforming small cities" was a slogan that everyone was familiar with. As an advanced reform model promoted by the General Secretary last year, Haniyev already had a golden body in the Soviet political arena.

Because of this golden image, after Nevsky, Gonchar and others brought Haniyev to the National Textbook Editing Center in Moscow, these gravediggers of Soviet ideology trusted him after just a brief exchange with Haniyev.

Because of Gorbachev's constant struggles within the party in recent years, Andropov and Chernenko's reformist reforms have been swept into the past, and those who only support this type of reform are suppressed as conservatives. At present, there is only one voice in the Soviet Union, and that is to promote Gorbachev-style reforms.

As a reform pioneer praised by the General Secretary, Haniyev naturally gained the trust of the reformists in the education system who advocated complete Westernization, because Haniyev's behavior and interviews had already shown that he was not a conservative, but a reformist.

The simple thing is that these people were not sure at the beginning whether Haniyev's reform proposal was rapid and complete Westernization like Yeltsin's or gradual and complete Westernization like theirs.

When communicating with these education system officials and professors who were determined to promote complete Westernization, Haniyev naturally could not reveal his true thoughts. He also tried to please them by praising Americans and American culture, and seemed to be even more fanatical than these people.

"Any civilization in history has been formed through the accumulation and sedimentation of time and the integration of various ethnic groups. The greater the civilization, the more time it needs to accumulate and settle.

We cannot deny that the Soviet Union was a very great civilization when it was first established, but this greatness was built on the basis of Eastern European civilizations such as the Russians and Ukrainians, and was a great civilization born out of capitalist civilization.

Moreover, since the Soviet Union was the first socialist country in the world, as a pioneer, we exposed many problems during decades of operation. This is because our socialist country is a new type of country and the first socialist system and civilization in the world. The more the Soviet Union developed, the more difficult it fell into. General Secretary Comrade Gorbachev wisely realized that we had reached a turning point where we had to reform.

Besides socialism, the best system in the world is capitalism. The United States is the newest, most advanced, and most powerful capitalist country born out of thousands of years of capitalist civilization. Only by learning from the advanced experience of the United States can we save the Soviet Union...

I believe our education sector has a heavy responsibility. If we continue to educate our next generation to cling to outdated socialist traditions that have proven unworkable, then our 40 million minors in the Soviet Union will become rigid and have outdated mindsets. How will they be able to build our new Soviet Union in the future, and how can they contribute to the General Secretary's reforms?

After listening to Haniyev's impromptu speech, thunderous applause broke out in the conference room and lasted for a long time.

Officials and professors at the Moscow State Textbook Editing Center were moved by Haniyev's words.

An old professor wiped his tears and said, "Deputy Director Haniyev, you have expressed my feelings. I seemed to think so before, but I never had a clear explanation. Your honest words today have really given me some guidance..."

Sukhomlinsky, director of the National Textbook Editing Center, said solemnly, "In 1966, the Soviet Union carried out a decade-long education reform. It was not until 1974 and 75 that all textbooks and teaching methods for all people, from kindergarten to elementary school, middle school, technical school, and university, were finalized. Before Comrade Gorbachev became General Secretary, he was in charge of education. I remember it was in 1984 when Comrade Gorbachev began to promote a new round of education reform.

This new reform stipulated that children should start school at the age of 6, strengthened labor education and vocational training in ordinary schools, improved the level of general cultural education in vocational and technical schools, and adjusted the current textbooks. At that time, our National Education Commission took the lead and contacted the Soviet Academy of Educational Sciences and professors from various universities to reorganize the National Textbook Editing Center. It took about nine months to compile the current textbooks for each grade. However, due to the advancement of the reform, our textbooks will indeed be adjusted every year.

Deputy Director Haniyev is a leading figure in our reform efforts. He must have a deeper understanding of the General Secretary's speech on reform than we do. So I think his original intention in wanting to participate in our textbook editing work is good, and his participation will definitely help our work..."

Sukhomlinsky's words made it easier for Haniyev to participate in the editing of national textbooks. Several subsequent deputy directors and academicians of the Academy of Educational Sciences also welcomed Haniyev's joining.

According to their levels and division of labor, there is nothing wrong with Haniyev and Nevsky's participation in the editing of national textbooks, but the extent of their participation depends on the degree of cooperation of officials and professors and academicians of the National Editorial Center.

After Haniyev's deliberate performance and his original reputation, the officials and professors of the National Textbook Center were indeed very welcome to his joining. Then, after the meeting, Director Suhomlinsky personally led Haniyev and his party to the offices of academicians, professors and other front-line personnel who edited textbooks, and let Haniyev exchange experiences with the professors and academicians.

Before coming here, Haniyev had looked at Ukrainian textbooks, and this time he looked at Russian textbooks. He found that the primary school textbooks of the two countries are basically the same, while there are some differences in the middle school and university textbooks. However, the changes are not significant in essence. Most of the content of patriotism education and socialist ideological value education has been deleted, and replaced by works of American writers and American stories.

Haniyev asked questions from time to time while looking at the textbooks and communicated with many professors and academicians.

After learning that most of these professors and academicians were corrupt and even resentful of the Soviet Union, Haniyev smiled slightly, knowing that his plan should be able to be implemented perfectly.

With a light cough, Haniyev slowly spoke, "You are all national treasures of our Soviet Union, veteran professors and academicians who have worked in the field of education for decades. Logically, I can't offer any opinions or suggestions on your work. However, as the Deputy Director of the Ukrainian National Committee for National Education, and in charge of textbook work, I do have some opinions on our textbook editing process. I'm not here today to find fault, but to share some ideas with you. If I'm wrong, I welcome your criticism and correction."

After Haniyev's classic opening remarks, everyone naturally welcomed his opinions and suggestions.

After a pause, Haniyev said, "Our wise General Secretary Comrade Gorbachev has been pushing for an end to the Afghan war since taking office, and has achieved great results. We have now begun withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. We do not want war, but peace; we do not want a Cold War, but development. This is the General Secretary's thinking. Therefore, over the years, under Comrade Gorbachev's leadership, our relations with NATO countries, led by the United States, have made tremendous progress. In this era that requires peaceful coexistence and cooperative development, our textbooks should include more articles about the win-win cooperation between the Soviet Red Army and the Allies during World War II, and more heroes who emerged from both the Allies and the Soviet Red Army in the fight against fascism..."

Furthermore, our country's reforms require Western assistance, so our children need to have at least a basic understanding of Western people and events. We should include prominent Western figures, especially American politicians, scientists, military strategists, and economists, in our textbooks. This way, they and their achievements can be reflected in our various teaching materials. This way, our children and grandchildren will become more familiar with and understand the United States through education, which will facilitate our future cooperation with the United States. Furthermore, our middle schools, technical schools, and universities should also focus on increasing the amount of English classes and cultivating the English-speaking ability of our young people. This will allow the future Soviet youth to produce more outstanding talents who speak English and understand the United States. Only then can they contribute to future Soviet-American cooperation...

Our next generation is very important, and our reform will not be successful in three to five years, or even five to ten years. It requires the joint efforts of one, two, or even three generations.

Our generation's understanding of the United States is insufficient, and this has seriously affected our judgment of the United States and our interactions with it. If we communicate more with the United States and maintain closer ties, we can overcome the conflicts and misunderstandings caused by poor communication, and achieve win-win cooperation and close unity. The Soviet Union and the United States are the two most powerful countries in the world. If our two countries work closely together, we will completely change the world and lead the people of the world to a greater and brighter future...

If we were high-minded enough, we should have promoted the Soviet Union's decades-old backward educational methods and textbooks more thoroughly and advanced. If our efforts led to earlier cooperation between the Soviet Union and the United States, and if the Soviet Union's reforms succeeded sooner, we would all be the creators of great achievements, and our contributions would all be written in the history books..."

Chapter 180 Going with the Flow (4)

Haniyev's opinions and suggestions were the result of his careful consideration for many days and his painstaking efforts to find them through communication with old Soviet traitors. He believed that he had discovered the preferences and weaknesses of the Soviet traitors and supporters of Gorbachev's reforms, and then he polished and wrote a speech. After the draft was completed, Haniyev polished it repeatedly for many days before he finally memorized it.

The effect of this speech was exactly as Haniyev expected. Many old professors, academicians and scholars who participated in the editing of national textbooks felt that Haniyev pointed out their thoughts and said many things that they had not figured out at the time.

The old academicians and professors and scholars applauded spontaneously with awe, and the applause lasted for seven minutes.

The editor-in-chief of the national textbooks was Baninkov of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, a white-bearded old man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. After the applause died down, he directly stated that Haniyev was not an outsider in the field of education, but an expert who could guide the new direction of Soviet education reform.

With the editor-in-chief's decision, Haniyev and his team became an important part of the National Textbook Editing Center, and Haniyev's opinions also became the direction of the National Editing Center's future work.

In order to achieve his goal of being "excessively anti-Soviet" and "overdoing things", Haniyev had already contacted the Education Committee in Kiev and was preparing to live in Moscow with his team for a period of time.

This time, Haniyev came here with the intention of mixing a lot of poisonous chicken soup and perfumed dog shit into the latest version of the Soviet textbooks. He also wanted to become a good friend of senior intellectuals, anti-Soviet elements, and national independence activists in the Soviet Union and Ukraine by participating in the compilation of the textbooks.

After a dinner, Haniyev and his party checked into the Diplomatic Guesthouse in Moscow. Although Haniyev no longer works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he had previously given the gold bars that Gaddafi had given him personally to Director Kuzhugaitsky and Minister Shevardnadze, so he still had the connection by asking them to arrange accommodation for them.

What's more, these two old leaders of Haniyev also need to rely on Haniyev now.

Because the first batch of gold ore had been mined from the gold mine in Burkina Faso a few days ago, Haniyev asked Potanin to start raising funds in Moscow to prepare for mining other mines. At the same time, he personally called Foreign Minister Shevardnadze to report the good news of the gold mine.

Although Shevardnadze did not contribute a penny, Haniyev had already given him a share. Although it was not much, it was given for free. Shevardnadze was naturally extremely happy.

In order to win over Shevardnadze and Kuzhugaitsky, Haniyev also asked the minister and the director whether they were willing to invest some money before the second batch of gold mining began.

Shevardnadze and Kuzhugaitsky both knew that opening a gold mine was a lucrative business, so they readily agreed. Soon after, they met with Potanin and invested 10 rubles and 6 rubles respectively.

Therefore, Haniyev, Shevardnadze and Kuzhugaitsky are no longer just former colleagues, but a deeper relationship as business partners, which is much more solid than that of so-called colleagues.

With this relationship, no one will drive Haniyev away even if he lives in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Guest House forever.

Thanks to Haniyev's face, Nevsky, Ganur, Ivanov, Ivan Drak, Gonchar, Makar and seven or eight others who came with him also stayed in one of the best hotels in the Soviet Union for the first time.

These Soviet traitors and radical elements who were greedy for pleasure and valued material life were very happy. They said that following Deputy Director Haniyev would not only ensure their lives, but also allow them to participate in great undertakings. They would definitely follow Deputy Director Haniyev's lead in the future.

Haniyev didn't dare to believe a single punctuation mark of these guys' excited assurances, but he knew that as long as he could continue to take care of and help them, these guys who only cared about practical interests and had no ideals would definitely remain obedient and supportive of him.

Haniyev and his delegation arrived in Moscow on April 28. They spent two days getting acquainted with the officials, professors and academicians of the Moscow State Textbook Editing Center, and then it was the weekend.

Haniyev and his group each had relatives and friends in Moscow. During the two days, everyone either rested in the hotel or went out to visit relatives and friends. Haniyev also made an appointment with Potanin to meet for a drink.

As the two original major shareholders of First Mining, it has been a long-established rule that Potanin does the work while Haniyev makes the decisions, and it has also been an effective policy for the past year.

After meeting Haniyev, Potanin couldn't wait to report to him on the results of his fundraising.

"After our gold mine produced gold, the valuation of First Mining immediately soared. It is currently valued at 12 million rubles. I used 12 million rubles as a base and attracted 12 million rubles from the market as shares. Many ministerial officials in Moscow are very interested. Now that Gorbachev has allowed private capital to operate businesses, these ministers have also found representatives to come to me to buy shares.

Victor, although it's only been less than 700 days, I've already raised 7 million rubles. I estimate that in another ten days or so, we'll be able to raise over 1000 million in equity capital. This amount of money is enough for us to build seven mines at once..."

Haniyev has always admired and recognized Potanin's work ability. After all, as a Russian oligarch in later generations, his excellence is unquestionable. Moreover, after spending two months together day and night, Haniyev also highly praised Potanin's execution and comprehension. At least in Haniyev's cognition, among the Soviet officials below the bureau level that he had come into contact with, there was no one who was better than Potanin.

Therefore, Potanin was very relieved when Haniyev handed over the specific affairs of the First Mining Company to him. It was precisely because of Haniyev's complete trust in Potanin that Potanin was very moved and cherished his friendship with Haniyev even more.

Haniyev chuckled. "Vladimir, you're fantastic. I think you can start purchasing equipment and hiring engineers now. Don't wait until you have all the money. Time is money. We need to see First Mining flourish in Burkina Faso as quickly as possible. Only then can we generate long-term benefits..."

Potanin nodded and said, "I've already started contacting the equipment manufacturers in Moscow, Leningrad, Kharkov, and Dnipropetrovsk. This time we're ordering a large quantity, so we can let them bid and then purchase..."

The states Potanin mentioned were the most industrially developed regions in the Soviet Union, and they could all produce the most advanced mining equipment and engineering vehicles.

"I trust you to do the job, just do it as you see fit."

Haniyev exclaimed in admiration and asked, "Man, what happened in Moscow again?"

Chapter 181 Going with the Flow (5)

Haniyev was very concerned about any changes in the Moscow Central Committee, but he was far away in Kiev and could not learn about the changes in Moscow in time. However, Potanin was a third-generation red in Moscow. He had unique channels and could even be said to be more informed than the retired vice-state-level Sherbitsky who was far away in Yalta. Therefore, Haniyev always kept abreast of the specific changes in the Central Committee of the CPSU through Potanin.

Potanin chuckled: "You asked what happened, it's really a big deal.

I don't know if you've heard in Kiev that Yeltsin's membership in the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet has also been removed by the General Secretary. Now, Yeltsin has been expelled from the Central Committee and is now only a Deputy Minister of Construction. It's said that he's finally learned to fear and has begun to confess his mistakes to the General Secretary. He plans to do so at the 19th Party Congress next month. However, he's seriously offended the General Secretary and Ligachev this time, so I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to be forgiven...

"Another piece of news is that our General Secretary believes that economic reforms have yielded considerable results and is ready to continue pushing for political reform. All Party leaders know that at the 19th Party Congress next month, the General Secretary will present the political reform plan he and his senior advisors have developed."

Haniyev's face changed slightly after hearing this. As the only person in the world who knew the process of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Haniyev clearly remembered that a milestone marking the disintegration of the Soviet Union was that Gorbachev promoted political system reform, imitating the United States to establish parliament, president, and multi-party rule, which eventually eliminated the supreme leadership position of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

After chatting with Potanin for a while, the two started drinking, and before they knew it, Haniyev was drunk.

Weekends and holidays always pass quickly, and by the time Haniyev woke up from his hangover, it was already Monday morning.

Touching his still dizzy head, Haniyev sighed softly: "My alcohol tolerance seems to be not as good as before..."

When Haniyev was washing up, there was a knock on the door, and Ganur's voice came from outside the door -

"Deputy Director Haniyev, are you ready?"

According to the date agreed upon by Haniyev with professors, academicians and leaders of the National Textbook Editing Center last Friday, today is the day when the Ukrainian team led by him will discuss with the editors how to reform the textbook content in accordance with the latest reform spirit.

It can be said that Haniyev had good intentions for this textbook reform. He was already impatient and quickly agreed and pushed the door open with his briefcase.

Today is Monday, May 2, 1988. Logically, since yesterday was Sunday and May Day, Moscow should have been very lively. However, perhaps it was because of Gorbachev's reforms, or perhaps it was because Russians were no longer proud of their workers. In any case, there were no Labor Day celebrations in Moscow as in previous years yesterday, at least Haniyev did not see any.

Sitting in the car and looking at Moscow, which was not decorated for Labor Day, Haniyev felt a little sad. He knew that the Soviet Communist Party and the government headed by Gorbachev no longer cherished all the traditions of the Soviet Union. The era of supreme glory of the proletariat and working people was gone with the decline of the Soviet Union.

Around nine in the morning, Haniyev and his delegation arrived at the editorial office. After speaking with many senior professors, academicians, scholars, and poets, Haniyev smiled and pointed at Ganur, Nevsky, and others, saying, "I've recently read many excellent books and articles from home and abroad with the help of the leaders and editors of our Ukrainian National Education Press. I've found that many articles are very consistent with the General Secretary's reform spirit in the new era and are most suitable for inclusion in our primary and secondary school textbooks..."