Chapter 39: The Fair Distribution Hoax

If the speech broadcast on the 27th by Soviet President Bagrov, in which he calmed the coup, was encouraging, then the speech made by the same Bagrov on the 30th was a shock to the nation, as on this day he announced his resignation and suggested that the Communist Party be dissolved.

'This coup d'état is the result of my own negligence in the area of personnel. As President of the country, I have failed to notice these ambitious people within the party and the country. We have everything: land, oil and gas and other natural resources; our intelligence and talent are not bad either, but our lives are much worse than those in developed countries, and we are falling further and further behind them.

'The root cause of this is that our society is suffocating under the weight of bureaucracy. This cannot continue. Everything must change fundamentally. The totalitarian system that has long prevented our country from becoming a rich, well-off and prosperous nation must be eliminated, and society must be freed.'

'However, making these changes requires tremendous effort and will encounter resistance from outdated and reactionary forces. This coup d'état is obviously the result. I personally take full responsibility, so today I announce my resignation here and propose the dissolution of the Central Red Party. Local party organisations should find their own way out. Back then, the Red Party led the country towards prosperity, so now I also hope that the Red Party will not become an obstacle to the country's development.'

Baghchov's speech reverberated across Krisco thanks to the radio, and everyone who heard it was momentarily stunned. They either looked blankly at the radio in their hands or looked up at the broadcast, just as they had a week ago when they heard about the establishment of the State of Emergency Committee. They couldn't believe it.

Could it be that this was another coup? Just like last time?

People wanted to comfort themselves with this, but the key fact was that last time President Bagrov did not show up, but this time, it was Bagrov who announced his resignation after taking control of the entire Krisco situation and defeating the coup plotters.

He did not look like he was being threatened in any way. But if Bagrov's resignation could be understood as him personally wanting to take responsibility for this incident, his suggestion that the Red Party be disbanded completely confused people.

The Red Party had been the only legal political party in the Soviet Union for more than 70 years, and its authority had long been deeply ingrained in everyone's hearts. Now it suddenly wanted to dissolve the party, how could that be acceptable?

Not only was the people unable to accept it, but also people from all the factories and government offices, as the central government had not issued any corresponding policies regarding the placement of local party organisations, etc., they had no idea what kind of farce this was, and it had all come so suddenly, even more so than the previous coup.

A car drove down Gele Street. A beautiful pair of eyes watched the behaviour of the people in the street. She said indignantly, 'Look, seventy years of high-handed rule have turned the people into slaves of the Red Party. Now the Red Party, the slave owner, suddenly announces its departure, and these slaves don't know what to do. This is truly the sorrow of our country and nation.'

This indignant person is Kareina. Zhou Ming sat next to her and saw the behaviour of the people in the street. However, compared to Kareina, he was not so emotional. He just said to her, 'There is no other way. People have become accustomed to a certain pattern. If you suddenly ask them to change, it is indeed difficult for them to accept. Just as in your country's previous referendum, everyone still supported the Soviet Union.'

'The country and the nation are fine, but the problem is with the bureaucrats in power,' said Kareina, but her tone was not as certain as it had been a moment ago.

In fact, the collapse of the Soviet Union was also a very incredible thing. Many people thought that the Soviet Union had entered a dead end and was disbanded after losing the support of the people. But in fact, the Soviet Union and the Communist Party both had high support rates in the country. Even in the referendum, more than 80% of the people still supported keeping the Soviet Union. But in the end, it still collapsed. It can't be said not to be a joke.

However, Zhou Ming was not a political researcher, and naturally he had no interest in delving into this issue. He said to Katerina, 'Instead of looking at this, let's go see how the reforms are going over there.'

Katerina nodded vigorously, and then their car drove to the headquarters building of the United Bank near Red Square, which was their destination for the day.

The headquarters building of the United Bank was designed by a Western designer, so it has a little bit of a Gothic style of Northern Russian architecture. Zhou Ming's car drove up to the door, and he got out and walked with Katerina into the building. Because the first privatisation reform in the Northern Russian Republic would begin here, this was also Zhou Ming's first shot against the tower plan, stealing money from the Western countries' tower plan.

Today, the United Bank is closed for business, and all the bank employees have gathered in the lobby. Zhou Ming and Katerina have come at the right time, and everything is about to begin.

A middle-aged man with a receding hairline walks up to the makeshift podium. This man is known to Zhou Ming and Katerina: he is the president of the United Bank, Ilbedov.

He still spoke with his characteristic accent and said to everyone, 'Comrades, according to the first decree of the North Russian Republic and the wishes of the former president, Mr. Bagachev, our United Bank will be the first to undergo privatisation reform. However, we are a social state, so in accordance with the principle of fairness, the entire property of the United Bank will be equally divided among each of you.'

Irbeldov's words immediately caused the bank employees below to cheer and jump for joy, because in recent years the Soviet economy had really been in a slump, and their lives had become increasingly difficult. Now if they could evenly divide the bank's property, that would definitely be a great thing!

But then the question arose: how should this property be divided? Should everyone get a share of the bank's money? Was this a joke?

This question had obviously been well thought out by Irbeldov. When he saw the puzzled expressions on the faces of the staff below, he immediately explained: 'In order to carry out the reform of privatisation and to demonstrate the superiority of our fair distribution, we will use securities to distribute this time. That is, the assets of the bank will be converted into securities and distributed to each of you, so that you will be the owners of the bank.'

Ilbeidov's words once again caused the staff present to cheer, but Ilbeidov's next words raised everyone's hearts. He said, 'But I would like to remind everyone here that this security is only a negotiable security within our bank and cannot be circulated outside. Put simply, it is proof that everyone holds the bank's assets, but they cannot go out and buy things with it.'

Due to the single economic model, the people present did not understand what the difficult-to-pronounce asset certificate meant, but they understood what it meant that they could not buy things. So someone immediately asked, 'If you can't buy things, what's the point of this security? How can you prove that we own the bank's assets? Mr. Irbedov, you're not trying to trick us by saying these things and not paying us, are you?'

Someone took the lead, and the others immediately chimed in, 'That's right! Mr. Irbedov, we didn't go to school much, so you mustn't trick us!'

Looking at the excitement below, Irbedov immediately raised his hands and said, 'Everyone, don't get excited, just hear me out.'

'It is like this. Originally, these securities were issued to everyone to give them proof of ownership of the bank's assets, so that everyone could receive the dividends from the bank and prove that everyone is part of the bank. However, since everyone has doubts in their hearts, or is not at ease, then you can choose to sell these securities to me. However, since I am paying out of my own pocket, these securities must be discounted, and after I buy these securities, I will be the real owner of this bank. What do you think?' Irbedov asked.

In response to Irbedov's question, someone immediately replied, 'Of course, if this is really how the privatisation reform is to proceed, then since you, Mr Irbedov, are the one who paid for these securities, you are of course the owner of the bank! As long as you, Mr Irbedov, can really afford to buy these securities, we will recognise you as the owner!'

Il'berdov seemed very happy when he heard the answers given by everyone: 'Very well, please go to your respective offices after the meeting to sign the letter of intent, stating that you are voluntarily selling the securities to me. Once you have signed, you can go to the finance department to receive your money.'

As soon as Il'berdov finished speaking, all the staff of United Bank cheered and ran to their respective offices.

On the stage, Irbedov watched their movements, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, because he knew very well that once today's work was completed, this Union Bank would officially become his private property.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, this seems a bit off!'

Looking at the situation in the hall, Katerina turned to ask Zhou Ming. Her puzzled expression was obviously just a hunch, and she couldn't say specifically what was wrong.

'Of course it's not right, because he is blatantly embezzling state-owned assets,' said Zhou Ming. 'And the money he used to buy back the securities was all borrowed from the bank. He played this trick without spending a dime and took over the entire Union Bank for himself. He even got the consent of all the employees of the Union Bank. He is worthy of being a Jew, he is really smart, and he was able to pull off such a scam of fair distribution.'

'But Zhou Ming, those aren't loans, do they have to be repaid? Even if the Union Bank really becomes his in the future, with the government there, he still can't get away with this money, right?' Katerina is still very confused.

'This is the key,' Zhou Ming said, 'as long as the Union Bank becomes the private property of Irbeldov, and as long as this privatisation reform continues, then this money will not be a problem at all.'