Servant of the People in Kyiv

"I have read all the articles you published in the People's Daily. Although I disagree with some of the views, I fully agree with your criticism of Gorbachev's reforms. I also basically agree with the 'History of the Development of the Ukrainian Nation' that you established.

In this new era, denying the Ukrainian nation and ignoring its development is self-deception. The sooner we establish a history of Ukrainian national development independent of Greater Russia, the better our position and control in Ukraine. My position prevents me from publicly discussing your "History of Ukrainian National Development," but I am well aware that establishing this national historical perspective will help resolve the division between the east and west, which is one of the reasons I sent you to Volyn.

Chapter 232 I trust you when you do things

The Mariinsky Palace is magnificent. Artworks from various Slavic periods and artifacts from various Eastern and Western civilizations are displayed on both sides of the corridors, and various oil paintings from the Middle Ages to modern times are hung on the walls. Every detail highlights the long history of the Mariinsky Palace and its unique position in history.

The Mariinsky Palace, also known as the Mariin Palace, is a Baroque palace built in Kiev between 1744 and 1752 by Elizabeth Petrovna, the heir of Peter the Great. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it was the Governor-General's Palace of Ukraine. In the 1920s, it was built as an agricultural school, and soon after, it became a museum.

During World War II, the palace was severely damaged. After the war, the Soviet Communist Party restored it and used it as the highest political center of power in Ukraine. The palace also became the property of the people from a private palace.

In the former king's conference room, now the office of Ukraine's first secretary, the scent of essential oil incense fills the air.

After Shcherbitsky was reinstated, many of his old friends sent him various gifts, and his office was filled with antiques such as large globes, Japanese swords, and ancient Khitan porcelain.

To refresh himself, Shcherbitsky keeps a bottle of refreshing essential oil perfume on his desk.

At this time, there were only three people in the huge office: Sherbitsky, Haniyev and Nikolay.

Nikolay remained silent while Sherbitsky and Hanyev were talking. After they finished talking about work, Nikolay turned around, took out a sandalwood box from the bookshelf, and carefully placed it on the table.

"I know you've always been very knowledgeable about Khitan culture, and I'm sure you also like Khitan art. This is a Khitan gold Buddha statue someone gave me. It's said to be a cultural relic from around 800 AD. I'm giving it to you today."

As he spoke, Sherbitsky opened the wooden box and took out a palm-sized golden Buddha statue. The statue was exquisitely crafted and was obviously a Khitan cultural relic.

Haniyev took it in his hands and examined it carefully. He saw Chinese characters on the bottom, hammered in by a goldsmith. After a moment's thought, he whispered, "This script might be Tangut script. Considering the era you mentioned, this golden Buddha statue might be a treasure of the Tangut Dynasty."

As Haniyev spoke, he carefully observed the details. Seeing that he was obsessed with the golden Buddha statue, Sherbitsky smiled slightly.

Nicholas reminded in a low voice: "Victor, do you like the gift my grandfather gave you?"

Haniyev quickly put the golden Buddha back and said with a smile, "Thank you, my dear father. Your gift is so precious that I am a little embarrassed to accept it."

"I gave you the golden Buddha for a reason."

Shcherbitsky said in a deep voice, "When I was young, I once heard a story about an Eastern Buddha..."

Shcherbitsky's story was essentially a tale of Buddha's selfless practice. After he finished, he said solemnly, "After hearing that story, I felt that the members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were in some ways very similar to the Buddha of two thousand years ago. However, we are keen on reforming the backward phenomena of the material world, while the Buddha only advocated acceptance of all phenomena in the material world. In this respect, we are far superior to all religious and philosophical thoughts. I give you the golden Buddha in the hope that after you reach Warren, you will use the Buddha's thinking of the equality of all beings to balance the differences and contradictions between the West and the East, and between the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian nationalists..."

Haniyev bowed and said, "Thank you for your kindness, my dear father. When I arrive in Volyn, I will definitely keep your teachings in mind, integrate the Ukrainian national independence forces, and handle various issues well..."

Shcherbitsky laughed heartily. "I have confidence in you. I can trust you to do things."

It was already half past midnight when the conversation ended. Shcherbitsky's nutritionist had already called twice to urge him. Nikolay looked down at his watch and said, "I've asked the kitchen to order more food. Victor, you should have lunch with the old man today. I have something else to do, so I'll go."

After saying this, Nikolay nodded and left, while Sherbitsky went to the restaurant with Haniyev.

After having a not-so-rich but nutritionally balanced meal in the restaurant, Haniyev went home. It happened that the Yushchenko family came to visit Tatyana and Paul that afternoon.

Haniyev drank tea and played chess with Yushchenko, while Tatyana and his sister took care of the children and chatted.

When it was almost evening, the Education Commission Secretariat called Haniyev's home, informing him that the Central Political Department would visit the Education Commission tomorrow to inspect Haniyev, and asked the deputy director to attend on time tomorrow.

Haniyev had just hung up the phone when Yushchenko, who had caught his meaning, said with a smile, "Secretary Shcherbitsky is incredibly quick. He met with you this morning and started the process of promoting you this afternoon."

Haniyev knew that for Sherbitsky, promoting a provincial or ministerial-level cadre was very simple, and it could be said to be a matter of a word, so as long as he wanted, he could inspect it tomorrow and issue the organizational appointment the day after tomorrow.

With a slight smile, Haniyev said, "If the old man hadn't been concerned about the reformists, I would have been the governor of Kharkiv by now, and that's not too soon."

As a senior executive in Ukrainian banking and finance, Yushchenko's insights far exceeded those of ordinary Soviet cadres. He had also traveled abroad many times to see the Western world. He was originally a staunch reformer, but after coming into contact with Haniyev, especially after being influenced by Haniyev's ideas of "rational reform", he also became disenchanted with the reformers.

"It doesn't matter. As long as your Ukrainian people's movement dies down for a while, no one will care if the old man promotes you. You just have to be patient."

"Yeah, just bear with it."

Haniyev said and nodded.

Tatiana came over holding the child and said, "Dear, my sister and brother-in-law are here. Shall we go out for dinner tonight?"

"Okay, what do you want to eat?"

"How about going to that French restaurant again? I haven't had high-end food in a long time."

Haniyev knew that his wife was talking about the restaurant opened by Pinchuk. After the last meal with Tymoshenko's family and Poroshenko at Pinchuk's restaurant, Pinchuk had tried to curry favor with Haniyev. Not only did he become friends with Poroshenko, but he would also send some high-end ingredients and French red wine to Haniyev's family from time to time.

Haniyev originally wanted to recruit Pinchuk for his own use, so he accepted all attempts to befriend Pinchuk.

Through many interactions, Pinchuk has become a newcomer in Haniyev's sphere of influence, so it is very easy for Haniyev to go to Pinchuk's restaurant for dinner. Pinchuk has also instructed the manager to be very respectful and enthusiastic to Haniyev's family and to make sure that whatever they eat and drink is free of charge.

Thinking that it was really hard for his mother to cook for such a large family alone, Haniyev nodded and said, "Okay, let's wait until Sidlov and his father get home from get off work, and until his sister comes back too, then we can drive there. We have two cars at home, plus Yushchenko's car, so there's just enough space for us."

Chapter 233 Inspection

That evening, the Haniyev and Yushchenko families sat in a private booth of an upscale French restaurant in the city center.

Because Pinchuk was not in Kiev, it was only the hotel manager who provided services to Haniyev and his party.

While cutting the pizza, they learned that Haniyev would be inspected the next day and that Sherbitsky had decided to send him to Volyn as the second secretary. His younger brother Sidlov, mother, sister, and others were all happy and raised their glasses to congratulate Haniyev.

But his father, Vladimir, frowned slightly. "Warren isn't big, but it's been very close to the West in recent years. After the reforms, it's also been keen on doing business with the West, selling its coal to West Germany. You won't achieve much there, but the cost will be no less than in developed states. It's not a good place."

Haniyev whispered Shcherbitsky's considerations to his father. Vladimir finally relaxed his brow and said softly, "If it's just a transition, then it doesn't matter. Volyn is not big, the population is small, and you're the second secretary. Just do your job and wait to be transferred to another province as the first secretary."

Haniyev didn't explain, but smiled and nodded. "Father, don't worry about my career. I will make our Haniyev family go down in history and become an indispensable presence in Ukrainian history."

Yushchenko interrupted appropriately and said, "Uncle, you may not know that Victor is very famous in Ukraine. He became a deputy ministerial-level cadre before the age of 30, which is rare in the past 20 to 30 years."

Vladimir laughed heartily. "That's right. Since the founding of Ukraine, apart from Pavel Korchagin and Secretary Brezhnev in the novel, there hasn't been a 29-year-old deputy provincial-level official. If you can become governor next year, son, you'll be governor even earlier than Brezhnev..."

Haniyev smiled slightly and said nothing more.

The two families had a delicious dinner together, and the atmosphere was very relaxed and pleasant.

Even though Volyn Oblast is so remote, Haniyev was promoted to be the second secretary there. As his closest family members, Yushchenko, Vladimir and Natalia were all very happy. Only Tatyana was a little unhappy, and she was obviously reluctant to see her husband leave home to take up a post in another place.

After dinner, Haniyev returned home and noticed that his wife was in a bad mood. He gently hugged her from behind, rested his chin on her head, took a deep breath of her hair, and asked, "Don't you want me to go to Warren?"

"No, it's not."

Tatiana shook her head slightly, turned around and kissed Haniyev: "I just gave birth to a child, and I don't want our Paul to be too far away from his father, and I don't want you to leave my side either."

Haniyev gently stroked Tatyana's smooth face. "It's okay. I should be familiar with the work and settled down in about two weeks. Then I'll bring you and your son to live with me. My level of service allows me to provide a personal secretary and a nanny. You can get better care than at home."

Tatyana whispered, "But I'm more comfortable in Kiev. But I'm willing to do it for you. You have to pick me up quickly."

Haniyev turned around and saw that his son was already asleep in the crib. He picked up Tatiana and walked towards the big bed: "I promise you, I will pick you up as soon as possible. I will make it up to you tonight..."

……

The next morning, Haniyev got up very late because he had been working hard until late at night. Not long after, his son who was crying at night woke him up again. In the end, Paul fell asleep while drinking breast milk, while Haniyev couldn't sleep for almost an hour before he fell asleep.

If he had not been examined today, Haniyev would not have wanted to get up at all. He got up at 8:30 and changed into a suit. Then Haniyev drove to the office building of the State Commission of National Education.

As soon as Haniyev appeared, the staff of the Education Commission came forward to greet him enthusiastically. Obviously, as people from Kyiv, everyone was well-informed and had already known the news that Haniyev was going to be promoted.

Haniyev was a humble person. He responded with a smile and came to the meeting room a moment later.

At this time, most of the leaders of the Education Commission had arrived. When they saw Haniyev coming in, eight deputies and some middle-level leaders stood up in unison to congratulate Haniyev.

Obviously everyone knows that today's so-called inspection is just a formality.

Haniyev looked over and asked, "Why don't I see Director Sergey Kovit?"

Kovit is the head of the Education Commission and an old man promoted by Sherbitsky. Because the Education Commission is not a key department, it has never been removed by Gulenko. When Sherbitsky has made good efforts, he will naturally be able to work steadily as the director of the Education Commission, and even have the opportunity to be transferred to a better department as the head before retirement.

This inspection and promotion of Haniyev was a formality of the Ukrainian Central Committee. The leaders from the Political Department and Kovit himself must have received instructions from Sherbitsky, so it stands to reason that this inspection must have been presided over by Kovit.

Hanieva, the head of the Secretary's Office, said, "Director Kvit has gone to meet the leader from the Political Department. It's First Deputy Minister Weisridov."

Vesridov is one of Sherbitsky's confidants and an old friend of Haniyev. It was Haniyev who asked Vesridov to help Gennady Tymoshenko jump two levels and be promoted to the secretary of the Kirov District Committee of Dnepropetrovsk.

When he learned that the person coming was his old friend Haniyev, he felt relieved again: it seemed that there would be no unexpected situations.

Ten minutes later, Kvit led a group of ten people including Westridor into the conference room. Since they were acquaintances and the process was well known to everyone, the inspection ended quickly.

After the meeting, Kvit and Haniyev personally saw Vesridov and his party off. Watching their car drive away, Kvit smiled and said, "I congratulate you in advance, Victor. Your new appointment should be announced tomorrow. At the very least, you'll be appointed Chairman of a State Soviet or Second Secretary of a Party Committee."

The state chairman is also known as the governor. The governor and the state second secretary are the second and third in command of a state. Sometimes the governor also serves as the second secretary, so generally the second secretary is a state-level cadre.

Haniyev was not being unreasonably modest. He smiled and nodded: "Everything is for the cause of the Party. I will follow the arrangements of the First Secretary."

"You're very capable. Although you've only been working at our Education Commission for a year, you've achieved considerable success. I originally wanted you to take over my position, but now that I see you'll be heading to the provincial level, Secretary Shcherbitsky has high hopes for you, so I'll train you well."

Haniyev said with emotion: "Thank you for your support and training. Although my time in the Education Commission is not long, I have learned a lot and grown. No matter where I go in the future, I will never forget you and our Education Commission..."

Chapter 234 Arrival

On January 21, the Political Department of Ukraine inspected Comrade Viktor Vladimir Haniyev, the Ninth Deputy Director of the Education Committee.

On the 22nd, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine removed Haniyev from his post as deputy director of the Education Committee, and then appointed Haniyev as the second secretary of the Volyn Oblast Party Committee, in charge of ideology and party building.

On the 23rd, Haniyev returned to the Education Commission to hand over his work and returned the bus allocated by the organization. Although several leaders told Haniyev explicitly or implicitly that he could drive the bus away without returning it, Haniyev was not greedy for money, and it was even less likely that he would be greedy for such a small amount of property and tarnish his reputation.

So Haniyev resolutely returned the car allocated to him by the Education Commission and treated all his colleagues to lunch at his own expense.

On January 24, 1989, upon learning of Haniyev's promotion, many of his old subordinates, old colleagues, old classmates, and friends came to visit or call to congratulate him, and many of them also gave him gifts.

Haniyev treated people differently according to their relationship level. He accepted congratulations and gifts from all his old colleagues and subordinates from the Chernobyl and Yalta periods.

As for his colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Haniyev simply accepted congratulations and expressed gratitude, and refused to accept any gifts or cash gifts from them.

As for the confidants of his faction, such as Poroshenko, Vyshevsky, Sergei, Pristin, Potanin, Tymoshenko and others, Haniyev not only accepted the gifts and money they gave without hesitation, but also arranged and deployed the work they were responsible for and took care of it.

As for the members of the Ukrainian People's Movement, Haniyev maintained his integrity. Not only did he not accept any congratulatory gifts, he also said that after he got to know Warren, he would ask everyone to visit him on a tour and carry out subsequent people's movements in the western states.

The leading members of the Ukrainian People's Movement Committee all understood that Haniyev was preparing to shift the focus of the development of the "people's movement" to the western provinces of Ukraine in the next step.

Most of these members are senior intellectuals. Many of them come from the western states. They also know that the national independence consciousness of the western states is much stronger than that of the eastern states. If the focus of the development of the Ukrainian people's movement is placed in the west, perhaps it can get better and faster development space.

Although Haniyev had repeatedly assured that Sherbitsky would not suppress or restrict the Ukrainian people's movement after taking office, Haniyev also summarized and reported Sherbitsky's past work achievements through the People's Daily in order to awaken the people, especially intellectuals, to be grateful and objective towards Sherbitsky.

There was some effect, but after all, Sherbitsky had previously arrested and persecuted national independence activists and intellectuals who promoted liberalism, and many intellectuals were still very wary of him, and even feared, hated, and resented him.

Therefore, the Ukrainian People's Movement temporarily shifted its development focus to the west, far away from Kyiv, and many members agreed and supported this.

On the 26th, Haniyev gathered with his relatives and friends, had a reunion dinner, and then set off on his journey west to take up his post.

Due to the concerns of the Haniyev family, Yushchenko, Tatyana and others, and the fact that Haniyev had a high rank and had offended many people, he really needed to pay attention to his own safety. Finally, after their strong request, on the 24th, Haniyev asked the First Minister of Internal Affairs Novikov to bring in a 25-year-old elite soldier from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to serve as his driver, bodyguard and personal secretary.

This young soldier named Seryosha Raev was the top soldier in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and had extremely high personal qualities. If Haniyev had not made such a request, Novikov would never have assigned him to Haniyev as a driver.

After two days of getting acquainted with each other, Haniyev was very satisfied with Seryosha Raev, who was efficient, serious and taciturn. The two of them left Kiev and headed west in the Mercedes-Benz sedan that Poroshenko had given to his boss to congratulate him on his promotion to the second secretary of the state.

Kiev is about 390 kilometers away from Lutsk, the capital of Volyn Oblast, and there is a direct highway. Seryosha, who is an excellent driver, drove for 4 hours (rested twice during the period), and the two finally arrived in Lutsk.

As the car entered the city, Haniyev discovered that there were very few high-rise buildings in Lutsk. All that could be seen were low-rise bungalows. However, the houses were very unique, the streets were clean, there were not many cars, and pedestrians mainly used bicycles, motorcycles, and even horse-drawn carriages as a means of transportation. It was not until entering the city center that Haniyev saw some three- or four-story residential buildings in the distance. The tallest of them was a state-owned reception hotel, followed by the Volyn State Party Committee and Supreme Soviet Office Building, the Lutsk City Party Committee and Supreme Soviet Office Building, etc.

Volyn was established as a province in 1939 with Lutsk as its capital. It covers an area of ​​2.02 square kilometers. The terrain of the province is low in the north and high in the south. The north is the Polesye swamp lowland and the south is the Volyn hills. The mineral deposits include coal and peat.

The industries are mainly agriculture and industry. The main agricultural products are wheat, corn and sugar beets. The main industry is coal mining, followed by food processing, light industry, machinery manufacturing and metal processing.

The industrial layout of the small Volyn Oblast is not simple. Agricultural planting has a tradition and custom of thousands of years, and industrial development is relatively late. However, thanks to the institutional advantages of the Soviet Union, it has formed an efficient industrial system over the past few decades, with coal mining as the main industry, and other industries mostly revolve around coal mining and agricultural processing.

Haniyev had done his homework before coming. In order to better understand the situation, he asked Seryosha to drive him around the city several times and randomly asked some citizens about the situation.

Although Lutsk is the capital, it is not an economic center. Kovel's economic status is completely comparable to Lutsk. After personal inquiries, Haniyev finally formed a first impression of Volyn Oblast and Lutsk. After comparing the information he learned before coming with what he saw and inquired on the spot, he felt more confident in quickly controlling the situation and doing a good job as the second secretary.

After getting in the car, Seryosha asked, "Secretary Haniyev, where are we going?"

Haniyev took out the mobile phone from his pocket and looked at several missed calls from Lutsk City. He realized that it was the Volyn State Party Committee who wanted to receive him.

Closing his phone again, Haniyev smiled faintly and said, "Turn the car around and go to the Provincial Party Committee and Supreme Soviet Office Building."

Watching the street scenes outside the car window constantly disappearing behind him, Haniyev was full of confidence in the future. He murmured in admiration: "1989, a key year for the international communist movement, and also a key year in my political life..."

Haniyev suddenly recalled an ancient Khitan poem from deep within his memory, and murmured it in standard Mandarin:

"When the going gets tough, be brave... When the going gets tough, be brave..."

Chapter 235: Grasping with both hands, both hands are strong

On the evening of January 26, 1989, Haniyev took office in Volyn Oblast.

The Volyn State Party Committee and the Soviet, which had been waiting for him for most of the day, had no complaints about Haniyev's failure to answer the phone, and did not even mention it.

The entire Volyn Oblast Party Committee, led by First Secretary Kharchenko, warmly welcomed Haniyev, held a meeting with the leadership team overnight, and treated Haniyev to a delicious drink in the evening after the meeting.

After a meal and a drink, Haniyev got to know his new colleagues and also became familiar with his two leaders, Alexander Kharchenko, the first secretary of the Volyn Oblast, and Alexei Batlakov, the chairman of the Oblast Supreme Soviet.

Alexander Kharchenko is a man in his seventies. According to him, he has followed Sherbitsky for more than ten years. He has served as the first secretary of the province for about ten years and has worked in Volyn Province for more than five years.