Chapter 37: The Boss of Bullshitters

'Hello everyone, I am your President Baggioff. I have taken control of the situation in Krisco, and here I would like to make a few statements to all the citizens.'

'First, the Committee's assumption of presidential responsibilities on the pretext that I was too ill to fulfil my duties is an attempt to deceive the people, and as such can only be described as a coup d'état! Second, since this is in itself an act of deception, it means that all actions arising from it are illegal and have no legal effect. Neither I personally nor the People's Assembly has granted anyone such power.'

'Finally, on behalf of the Central Committee, I demand that all activities of the State Emergency Committee be immediately suspended until the decision mentioned above is made by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Assembly of People's Deputies. The continuation of the actions and further escalation of measures by the State Emergency Committee will ultimately prove to be a tragedy for all peoples, it will further worsen the situation and even destroy the joint efforts of the Central Committee and the republics to get out of the crisis.'

'The arrest of the coup perpetrators has now begun, and the country will return to normal. Please return to your respective posts for a better tomorrow.'

These were the words of Soviet President Bagrov, his voice echoing over Red Square as his speech ended with an immediate and enthusiastic cheer from the 20,000 supporters of Nikolayevich.

Some of these opposition supporters had gathered here from the beginning, while others had followed Nikolic's call to arms in front of the White House and had come here. They had been demonstrating here in front of the Kremlin, demanding the release of President Bagotov and an end to all persecution of the leaders of Northern Russia, and demanding that the Committee withdraw the troops besieging the White House.

The entire Red Square suddenly became a sea of joy, with everyone shouting and laughing, and some dancing in a festive manner to celebrate this miraculous victory of the revolution.

Just as these people were cheering, Bagachov's voice resounded once again: 'In view of the impact of this coup on the country, and in order to quickly put the country back on the right track, after dealing with this coup, I will choose to restructure the government and I will make new choices myself.'

Compared to the previous news, Bagachov's latter remark did not attract much attention. Only some people who understood clearly knew that the actual latter remark had a deeper meaning than the former.

Because simply from Baggio's safe return to Krisco, the rapid quelling of the coup is a matter of course, and the purge of the coup plotters is even more reasonable, there is no doubt about it.

As for the latter sentence, ending the coup and reorganising the government seems reasonable, but the key lies in why Baggio would say that there are new options, which is very puzzling.

In a café on the west side of Red Square, Zhou Ming** and Katerina sat here. Through the glass of the café, they could intuitively and clearly feel the enthusiasm that was blowing in Red Square. Listening to the content of the broadcast, Katerina smiled and said, 'I didn't expect that Baggioff was really a man of his word. When he said that, he was really hinting that he would take the blame and resign.'

Kaleina took a sip of coffee and pointed to the cheering people on the Red Square, saying to Zhou Ming, 'You can see how happy everyone is, because our motherland is about to emerge from the shadow of this coup d'état and be reborn.'

Kaleina finally looked at Zhou Ming and said, 'And Mr. Zhou Ming, you are our country's great hero in this rebirth!'

Zhou Ming gave a wry smile and said, 'I'm not interested in being this hero, because in the future, you might hate me for bringing your country and your people not a new life, but even heavier suffering.'

'Why?' Katerina said innocently with wide eyes, 'I believe in you, Mr. Zhou Ming. You are a great hero who specializes in creating miracles. You said you want to fight against Project Tower, and you will definitely succeed!'

Faced with Katerina's unconditional belief in him, Zhou Ming didn't know what to say. After all, the kind of nationwide economic collapse where there were bankrupt people all over the streets, the kind of scene where the rich feast while the poor freeze to death, and the kind of depression to the extreme, if you haven't seen it with your own eyes, you simply can't imagine it.

At this time, the phone on the table rang. Zhou Ming picked it up and connected, and when he heard Russian coming from the other end, he handed the phone to Katerina.

After communicating with the other end, Kalenina told Zhou Ming, 'This call is from Mr. Genosky. He said that the presidents of several major banks in the Soviet Union and the officials in charge of trade have already arrived at the White House, and Mr. Nikolayevich invites you to go to the White House now.'

Zhou Ming nodded and asked Katerina to reply on his behalf that he would go right away. Katerina quickly finished and happily asked Zhou Ming, 'I didn't expect Mr. Nikolayevich to act so quickly. Is it possible that this time, as long as these banks and officials are united, the battle against the Dota Project can begin?'

Zhou Ming shook his head slightly and said, 'If only it were that simple. I'm afraid these guys may not be willing to do it!'

Katerina looked at Zhou Ming with some confusion, but Zhou Ming did not explain much and simply stood up and led Katerina to the White House.

Zhou Ming was greeted at the door by Genosky, who took him to the lounge first. The President of the Northern Russian Republic, Nikolavich, had just returned from a meeting with Baggioff at the Mulin Palace and was resting here.

Upon hearing the secretary's report, he quickly got up from his chair and came over to shake Zhou Ming's hand and say hello. 'Mr. Zhou Ming, you're here. As you suggested, I've invited the presidents of several major domestic banks and trade officials. They are now in the conference room on the eighth floor.'

Zhou Ming saw that Nikolajevic's face looked a little unnatural, so he asked, 'Is there anything else that you can't tell me, Mr. Nikolajevic?'

Nikolajevic nodded and said, 'That's right. I have discussed similar privatisation reforms with them before, and they were unwilling. Now that they know they have to compete with Western countries, they are even less willing.'

'Why are they unwilling? Isn't this the best opportunity to realise their value? Do they just want to hold onto the power in their hands until the end? Then what's the difference between what they are doing and those bureaucrats?'

Katerina said angrily, without even bothering to translate to Zhou Ming first. Nikolajevic didn't say anything in response, while Zhou Ming, although he couldn't understand Russian, could guess from Katerina's angry expression that it must be those people who disagreed with the cooperation. Katerina felt that those people were selfish bastards.

'Okay, Miss Karina, I told you that this matter is not as simple as it seems,' Zhou Ming said to Karina.

Then Zhou Ming said to Nikolajevic, 'Let's go to the conference room first.'

Nikolaevich was a little surprised by Zhou Ming's confident appearance. He had no idea where Zhou Ming got his confidence from, but he didn't think much of it and just nodded, leading the way to the conference room.

The conference room on the eighth floor of the White House was a small one. When Nikolaevich led Zhou Ming and the others here, he first asked Zhou Ming a very strange question: 'Mr. Zhou Ming, do you need to see what's inside before making a decision?'

This made Zhou Ming feel very puzzled, but then he understood after Kalina's explanation. The White House is actually a very embarrassing presence in the Soviet Union. As the power building of a union republic, it naturally has to be supervised by the union. And in some extraordinary times, in order to avoid rebellion, this meeting room for senior White House officials also has seats for the public.

'It's good to listen, after all, knowing yourself and the enemy can prevent a hundred battles from going badly!' Zhou Ming said this, and then followed Nikolajevich into a small room next door.

This small room was not a special listening room like in the movies, it was just an ordinary room, the only difference being that there was a one-way glass in front of the room, and beyond the glass was the meeting room, where the people invited by Nikolajevich were talking. Due to the special design of the room, Zhou Ming could hear everything clearly from here.

'Hey, Smog, do you think Mr Nikolic is crazy? How could he possibly listen to the advice of a Chinese guy and go against the Western countries' DOTA project? We don't even know what the project is or what the Western countries are going to do.'

'I don't think Mr Nikolic is crazy, I think he's just been carried away by his success. I heard that at a Central Committee meeting, President Bagrov already mentioned resigning.'

'No wonder Mr Nikolic is doing this. He can't wait to assume supreme power in the Mlin!'

'But he can't do it at our expense! The privatisation reforms and the Tower programme are just made-up stories designed to strip us of our rights and take the property from under our feet, so that he can pocket the money.

'No, gentlemen, the Nikolaevich I know is not that bad. I think all of this must be the work of the Chinese behind the scenes. He deliberately bragged about the Dota Project in front of Mr. Nikolaevich just to find a way to plunder our wealth.'

'Yes, I know the Chinese are disgusting. They are all selfish and greedy devils. We must not let them succeed and must protect our wealth!'

'Although I have never advocated struggle, this time, I hope to fight together with everyone. We must not let the Chinese get away with it!'

...

Hearing this, Zhou Ming suddenly smiled and said softly to Nikolaevich, 'It seems that these gentlemen have put on a good show for us over there.'

Nikolaevich was stunned at first, and then he reacted: 'Mr. Zhou Ming, are you saying that they know we will be listening to them over here and they said that on purpose?'

Zhou Ming nodded and said, "I think so. If they didn't have to worry about us, their words would have been even more offensive. But this also shows their attitude very well, and it's not a bad way to go about it. Let's go over there first.'

'Mr. Zhou Ming, you're going over there, are you sure you can convince them?" Nikolaevich asked in surprise.

'Of course,' Zhou Ming said matter-of-factly. 'As a master of rhetoric, I still have a lot of confidence in my mouth. Since they have adopted this attitude, I don't think it will be difficult to convince them.'