Chapter 68: Cherv, your hope

In a high-up presidential office in the Mulin Palace, Nikolavich, President of the North Russian Republic, is standing by the bright window. From this position, he has a clear view of the wide Gele Street, including, of course, the North Russians on the street, who are leaning over the curb like a beggar's gathering.

Suddenly, the office door is knocked on, and his secretary leads a tall North Russian in, who is Kasia, the director of the North Russian presidential office.

Kasyanov first greeted Nikolayevich, then, with Nikolayevich's permission, came up to him and reported: 'Mr President, very bad news. Just an hour ago, tens of thousands of rioters stormed the stock exchange and the White House. Several major markets were also looted, and more than 10,000 people are currently demonstrating at the racetrack.'

Nikolaevich gave a soft nod, and his eyes glanced to the right, where the Securities Company building was located. From the President's office, you couldn't see the Securities Company building, but Nikolaevich could see the plumes of smoke rising from the street. Even though Nikolaevich couldn't see the scene there, he could guess a lot from the smoke and the report of the Chief of Staff behind him.

Kasia continued, 'Mr President, according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of the Interior, this week more than a quarter of the entire Khrushchev district will go hungry, and the security pressure on the capital will be very high. The Ministry of the Interior hopes that the President can come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible.'

Nikolaevich sighed, waved his hand at him, and said, 'I know all of this. Tell the Ministry of the Interior to hold on for a while longer. This country needs to transform, and some things will always have to be experienced.'

Kasia nodded silently. As Nikolic's chief of staff, he knew full well that Nikolic's main focus was currently on fighting against former Soviet officials and the Communist Party.

Although Bagachov had previously announced his resignation and proposed the dissolution of the Communist Party, and Nikolajevich had finally moved into the Mlin Palace as he wished, but the Soviet Union was so big and was one of the two superpowers in the world, so how could it fall so easily?

The Communist Party had been the ruling party of the country for more than seventy years, so how could it be dissolved just like that? To solve all this, Nikolajevich still had a lot of fighting to do, so he couldn't bother about the economic situation in the country, which was of course the result of his consistent pursuit of shock therapy.

The so-called shock therapy means that when faced with domestic economic problems, the most drastic means of reform are used, which may cause great turmoil in the process.

However, as long as they can get through it, once all economic policies begin to run automatically, the country's economic situation will improve. Now whether it is privatisation reform or the liberalisation of the financial market and the ruble exchange rate, allowing Western capital to wreak havoc is all part of shock therapy. Otherwise, as long as the government intervenes a little, the ruble would not have devalued to such an extent.

But now that the whole of Krisko is starving, all the people of Northern Russia no longer need reform, but a saviour who can feed and clothe them.

These words swirled around Kasia's mind, but in the end he was unable to say them, because he had not failed to say them to Nikolayevich, but the president only had his reforms in mind and turned a blind eye to the earnest aspirations of the millions of people in Krisko.

Kasia thought for a long time, and finally just told Nikolajevich, 'Mr. President, according to the news from Petrograd, the 10,000 tons of daily necessities shipped by Mr. Zhou Ming and Mr. Irbedov through the Harbor City Shipping Group have arrived in Krisko.'

Kasia's last words still didn't matter to Nikolajevich, who was more concerned about whether there would be any large-scale riots in Krisko. If that happened, would the fledgling North Russian Republic be able to establish its authority? He didn't want to be driven out of the Kremlin Palace just after moving in, even if Zhou Ming had brought him a lot of surprises.

Nikolaevich's worries were certainly not unfounded, because at this moment, unimaginable riots were taking place in front of the White House, at the securities company, and in several major markets in Krisco.

'This damned securities company is the root of our woes. If it didn't exist, our ruble would never have been devalued, and our lives would not be so difficult! Everyone knows that the securities company was originally a place in the West where wealth was plundered, and that's why the war started in the first place. We were able to become a superpower that attracted the attention of the world because we eliminated the securities company. Now that it has resurfaced and caused us so much suffering, we must unite and defeat it once again!'

'Now, please gather together all the North Russians, and let us once again use our hands to break the shackles that enslave us!'

In front of the Securities Company, a young man stood tall on the steps of the building, shouting at the thousands of North Russians below, who, under his guidance, also let out angry roars.

These North Russians were not sworn party members. They were ordinary citizens who had been hit by the financial crisis. Due to the crazy devaluation of the rouble, these citizens of the superpower suddenly felt like their lifelong wealth had evaporated for no reason. Their wages and savings, combined with their family assets, could not even buy a full meal. Some people even sold their homes, but they could still only beg on the streets for food.

When people are pushed to the limit, they will do the unthinkable, not to mention that these Northern Russians were originally the victims of the Northern Russian reforms, and their grievances are even more severe.

Led by the young man, these Northern Russians all rushed towards the securities company. In their view, the securities company was the devil from hell. Otherwise, how could they have suddenly gone from being wealthy middle class to becoming beggars who could not even eat enough to fill their stomachs?

Da da da!

With a series of popping sounds, the mob rushing towards the securities company immediately let out heart-wrenching screams. It turned out that at the entrance to the securities company, riot police had blocked the way. Each of them was holding a gun and was firing rubber bullets at all the people rushing over, non-stop. The bullets didn't kill people, but they hurt like hell, and many people were crying out for their mothers and fathers. The impact of the team was therefore delayed.

'Don't be afraid! These people are the lackeys of the ruling class! They are collaborating with foreign capitalists to suck the blood and flesh of our people! We must unite to defeat them, just as we did at the White House! We must not retreat!'

The young man in the lead saw the crowd slowly retreating, so he raised his arms and shouted again.

But at that moment, two high-pressure water jets suddenly poured down from the second floor of the securities company and smashed directly onto the young man. The force of the high-pressure water gun pushed him directly into the air.

The high-pressure water jet was aimed at the young man leading the way, but after knocking him down, it did not stop, and continued to smash into the crowd, making the already unorganized line even more chaotic. Some people tried to rush forward, but more just wanted to retreat.

But the military was not finished yet. After the high-pressure water gun continued for a while, there were several bangs and the sound of gunshots, and several tear gas canisters were fired into the crowd.

The already chaotic crowd was finally completely destroyed after these tear gas bombs, and it fell into a total collapse. All the North Russians either covered their faces and wept, or cursed the authorities loudly. Some simply ran around with their heads down. In short, no one could muster the courage to continue attacking the securities company.

'Why are you doing this to us? We are North Russians. This is the North Russian Republic, which was once the Soviet Union and is now the capital of Krisko, where the president lives. But why do you let us go hungry? Why do we have to end up sleeping on the streets after working so hard all our lives?'

'The current authorities are utterly corrupt. Have they sunk so low as to sell out their country? This securities company is clearly a tool for officials to collaborate with foreign capitalists to plunder our wealth. It is a bloodsucking demon. We must uproot this cancer. Why are you authorities' dogs still blocking us? Do you want to watch this country become a domesticated animal of the Western countries?'

'We just want to eat our fill. We just don't want to live like this, exposed to the elements. Is that such a luxury to wish for? What's wrong with this country?'

'This must be the end of the world, at least the end of our Soviet Union and the Northern Russian Republic. We no longer have the status of a superpower, and the money in our hands is no longer worth anything. Those in power are all animals who deserve to go to hell. Now who can save us? Do we still have faith in God?'

...

Everyone cursed and cried out, filling the streets in front of the securities company with noise. It wasn't just in front of the securities company, but also in front of the White House, in the racetrack, and in several important markets in Krisco. All the citizens of Krisco who were facing off against the riot police were issuing these desperate cries.

They couldn't help but despair. Not only had their lifelong wealth been inexplicably looted and emptied, they had suddenly fallen from being citizens of a great power to beggars. This kind of disparity would make anyone collapse and despair.

Now they have found the culprit, the officials in the Mulin Palace, and this suddenly emerged securities company. They want to take all these places over, as long as they can expel those foreign capitalists from the country and arrest those officials who have colluded with the foreign capitalists, then they can restore the kind of peaceful life they had in the past.

These people are the educated middle class in Krisco, they shouldn't be so ignorant, but now they are truly desperate and can only carry this hope.

However, this foolish hope was mercilessly crushed by the riot police's rubber bullets and tear gas. They really didn't know who else could save them, and they were left wondering if they were doomed to live out this story.

As despair gripped the whole of Krško, a loudspeaker suddenly announced: 'The Chelf market is open, and there is hope for you there!'

!!!