Chapter 33: More crazy and crazier

The hotel where Ming Zhou lived was not far from the White House, so it was only a few minutes later before Ming Zhou and the others arrived at their destination.

Compared to the daytime situation, when the entrance was surrounded by all kinds of army tanks, ordinary people and cars, the front of the White House looked much more empty at night. There were only a few soldiers here and there, and the original tanks, armoured vehicles and machine gun towers were all gone. The people had also let the municipal workers tow away the trams and other cars that had been used as barricades. Only the bomb casings on the messy ground that had not yet been cleaned up showed what had happened here.

Apparently, Nikolaevich's speech from the tank during the day had an effect, and the State of Emergency Committee was forced to withdraw some of the troops under pressure, leaving only some of them behind as necessary for surveillance.

With the main forces withdrawn, the remaining troops were no different from window-dressing. Zhou Ming and the others entered the White House without any obstacles.

Jino斯基 took Zhou Ming directly to Nikolić's office and knocked on the door. Jino斯基 said, 'Mr. Nikolić, I have not let you down. I have brought Mr. Zhou Ming.'

On hearing the secretary's report, Nikolic jumped up from his seat as if a spring had been installed under his buttocks. He walked quickly to Zhou Ming, shook his hand, and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I have been waiting for you. Come, please sit down.'

With that, Nikolic invited Zhou Ming into his office, asked him to sit on the sofa in the reception area, and told Kineski to bring three cups of coffee for Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming accepted Nikolajevich's politeness very unceremoniously, because Zhou Ming knew very well that this person was a real bastard, especially when he was asking for something. If you are polite to him, he will be very apprehensive, thinking about this and that, afraid that you will not help him, and he will feel very insecure. On the contrary, if you put on an air of superiority, he will feel at ease. So Zhou Ming just sat on the sofa so casually, picked up his coffee with sugar and creamer.

Sure enough, Nikolaevich over there felt much more at ease when he saw Zhou Ming like this. Seeing him like this, Zhou Ming very appropriately put down the cup in his hand and said, 'Mr. Nikolaevich, I think you must have something very important to tell me if you were in such a hurry to get me here.'

'Of course, if it wasn't important, I wouldn't have bothered you,' Nikolic said to Zhou Ming. "Today at noon, after listening to your advice, I went out and gave a speech, and it had a very good effect. Not only did the army and the people stand on my side, but what should we do next? I have no idea at all...'

Before Nikolic could finish speaking, Zhou Ming asked him in return, "Are you really at a loss?'

Zhou Ming's words made Nikolajevich freeze for a moment, and he said apologetically, 'Of course I have some ideas, but they are all very immature, which is why I want to hear your opinion, Mr. Zhou Ming.'

'You can try to say it first, because my ideas may be even crazier and more unbelievable,' Zhou Ming said.

If someone else had said this to Nikolic, Nikolic would have dismissed it as nonsense. What could possibly scare the president of the Republic of North Russia? But this was Zhou Ming, and the situation was different. Nikolic clearly remembered that at noon, in a similarly critical moment, when no one knew what to do, it was this young man who had persuaded him to walk out of the White House and give that speech.

The speech was a great success, but it was also very crazy, because it was the army of the coup! If they had any orders, or if there were snipers hiding in the buildings on both sides, then his life would be over here today. A life is really not worth much in a coup like this, and the same goes for the President of the Northern Russian Republic himself, as long as the other party succeeds in the coup in the end.

More importantly, just before he left the house, he had just received news that the army might attack the White House. Coupled with the fact that he had drunk a little, his mind was not as clear, so he listened to Zhou Ming's words and decided to take a gamble.

Nikolaevich thought for a moment and said, 'My idea is very simple. I very much doubt that this coup does not have the support of the president at all. It is all the spontaneous actions of some senior Soviet officials. We should first contact the president and find a way to dissolve this coup.'

Nikolaevich finished speaking and looked at Zhou Ming, waiting for his answer. Zhou Ming did not disappoint Nikolaevich, and quickly expressed his thoughts, although Zhou Ming's ideas were indeed a bit unacceptable to him.

Zhou Ming said, 'My thoughts are generally consistent with yours, Mr. Nikolaevich, but my ideas are more radical than yours. I think you can directly call the president, who is on vacation, and ask him to resign and disband the Red Party, and hand over military and political power.'

This idea really dumbfounded Nikolaevich. Although when Zhou Ming gave him a heads-up, he had hypothesized countless possible ideas of Zhou Ming's in his own mind, he never imagined that Zhou Ming's idea would be this.

Crazy!

At this time, Nikolaevich could not think of any other word in his mind to describe Zhou Ming's idea except for this word.

Resign the Soviet president and dissolve the Communist Party? The Soviet president was the supreme authority of this superpower, and the Communist Party was the only party that had firmly controlled this superpower for more than 70 years. Wouldn't this be like asking the emperor to step down of his own accord, and then asking the imperial family to abolish imperial power of their own accord? This was even more outlandish than a fairy tale!

At this time, Nikolajevich also understood why Zhou Ming had said that before, because what he said was the truth.

'Mr. Zhou Ming is indeed very thoughtful, but asking the President to resign and dissolve the Red Party seems like the wrong time to do so. Isn't this a bit too risky?' Nikolaevich asked tentatively.

'Some risks are definitely necessary,' Zhou Ming said. "There is a common saying in my country that goes, "the bold die young, the timid die old'. And I don't think the reforms carried out by this president since he came to power have been very popular. You can see this from the coup. Perhaps he himself also feels that he no longer wants to do it and wants to let the Red Party off his bloated and exhausted burden. So, Mr. Nikolic, I think there is at least a 70% chance of success.'

Nikolaevich looked at Zhou Ming in a daze. He felt that his mind was no longer thinking. What Zhou Ming said should be the ravings of a madman, but coming from Zhou Ming, it was so convincing, especially after his other crazy suggestion at noon had succeeded. Nikolaevich simply couldn't think.

Not only Nikolajevic, but also Kalelina, who was taken by surprise and looked stunned, stuttered when translating his words. She stared at Zhou Ming with her beautiful big eyes, wondering if Zhou Ming had become paranoid due to being provoked.

As for Nikolajevic's secretary, Kinesky, he had frozen on the spot and even forgot to make coffee for Zhou Ming and the others.

Looking at these people, how could Zhou Ming himself not know how crazy this idea was?

Because the political models in China and the Soviet Union were exactly the same, if someone in China said that the chairman should resign and dissolve the party, then that person was definitely crazy.

But Zhou Ming would say this not because he was really crazy, or had become extreme after being subjected to some kind of shock, but simply because the whole thing was so crazy. Zhou Ming remembered that in his previous life, things had developed in exactly this way.

The first and last president of this superpower seemed to be at war with his own country from the day he took office. Apart from tearing the superpower apart, the most memorable thing he did was to resign as president, dissolve the Communist Party, and abdicate all supreme power to Nikolayevich, the president of the North Russian Republic.

Even the most fantastical online novels would be criticised if they were written like this, but reality is so ridiculous that many people in later generations said that this president was an American spy or an insider in Nikolayevich's camp, otherwise there is no way to explain what this president did.

These claims seem to be reasonable and well-founded, but they are only appearances. Because does a person in control of the supreme power of one of the world's two superpowers need to spy on other countries? Could it be that the identity of an American spy would be higher than that of the Soviet president? Does a Soviet president need to be an insider for the leader of a federated republic?

Zhou Ming no longer knows what this president was really thinking, but he is certain of one thing: if he was able to do this in his previous life, he will definitely do it again in this life.

With this in mind, Zhou Ming waved his hand and said, 'Well, Mr. Nikolayevich, I don't think there is any need to discuss this matter anymore. If you really want to quickly resolve this coup and seize power in the Kremlin as soon as possible to achieve your own goals, you should call that president as soon as possible and ask him to resign. Otherwise, if you wait too long, anything could happen.'

After Zhou Ming finished speaking, he saw that Nikolic was still hesitating, so he added, 'Or do you need a bottle of vodka, Mr. Nikolic?'

Zhou Ming said this on purpose, to provoke him. After hearing this, Nikolic obviously couldn't hold his pride. After all, he was the president of the Northern Russian Republic, and could he really only rely on alcohol to get things done? This was an insult to him personally!

So Nikolajevich immediately said, 'How is that possible? As long as this really works, I'll make that call, no need for any vodka.'

After saying this, he told his secretary, Genoski, to get the phone. Zhou Ming saw that his goal had been achieved, so he smiled and said to him, 'Then I wish Mr. Nikolajevich every success.'