Struggle in Soviet Russia

The Nikolai Alekseyevich mentioned by Comrade Zhdanov naturally refers to Voznesensky. Although Viktor does not have a good feeling for this person, but to be honest, this person’s The level is definitely there. In today's Soviet Union, in the economic field, it is estimated that there will not be too many people who are really better than him.

Sure enough, Comrade Zhdanov immediately said: "If the Bretton Woods agreement promoted by the Americans can be reached, then the world will become closer after the war, and stable global trade will become possible. This may be very unfavorable for those of us who have not joined it."

At this time, the service staff began to deliver a variety of drinks and snacks before meals, and asked everyone what drinks they needed.

Victor didn’t want to drink, he asked himself for a cup of coffee, and asked the waiter for a lighter—in fact, he also carried a lighter, but until now, only Comrade Stalin was smoking. He didn’t know if it was right. Smoking is forbidden here, so I did a trial.

Fortunately, Comrade Stalin, who was sitting diagonally across from him, listened to his request and threw the lighter in front of him directly, and then said: "Maybe Nikolai Alekseyevich can be prepared later. After submitting a report, we can also get a comprehensive view of this information."

The Bretton Woods meeting is still in progress, and the final terms of the agreement have not yet been reached. Even the representatives of the alliance have not yet obtained all the content of the agreement. Therefore, there is not much that Moscow can understand. As for the content that Voznesensky understood, it was figured out based on the previous American initiative, and it was not the actual content of the agreement.

Victor lighted a cigarette for himself. He didn't know if he was thinking or was smoked. He squinted his eyes and was silent for a while. Then he said: "The Foreign Intelligence Agency has obtained some relevant information, and has been People’s plans and ambitions also have a certain degree of interpretation."

"Oh?" Comrade Stalin cast his concerned eyes on him.

In fact, the Foreign Intelligence Agency did get a series of specific agendas for the Bretton Woods conference, but there is absolutely no interpretation, but for Victor, it doesn’t matter. He has a better understanding of this thing than in the world. The vast majority of people must be clear, if you count its subsequent development, I am afraid that the creators of the entire Bretton Woods system did not have a thorough understanding of him.

"As Comrade Nikolai Alekseyevich said, this agreement represents the ambitions of the Americans. They really intend to solve a problem of currency and monetary system. However, it is not the United States as a country. Yes, but on a global scale," Victor said calmly with a cigarette in one hand.

Under the gaze of everyone, Victor briefly explained what he had learned about the Bretton Woods system in his previous life, and finally brought out its most fundamental essence, namely, the establishment of a dollar-centric system. International currency system.

"In other words, once this agreement is reached," after listening to Victor's account, Comrade Stalin was silent for a moment, and said with a serious expression, "then from now on, at least in the trade between the 44 countries participating in the meeting, the U.S. dollar will Will it be at the center, equivalent to a unified currency shared by 44 countries?"

"It is the clearing currency in the trade of these countries, and at the same time, it will be their main reserve currency," Victor explained further. "The foreign exchange used by these countries to participate in international trade will be mainly U.S. dollars, and they sell export materials. It also mainly charges U.S. dollars as a means of payment."

"This means that in the future, if we trade with these countries, we must also pay them in US dollars?" Comrade Molotov asked with a frown.

"It is not necessary," Victor said, "but the prerequisite is that they can accept our currency, or that we have enough of the country's currency, considering the complexity of currencies around the world and the complexity of international trade. It’s not easy to do this."

"What you mean is that through this agreement, Americans have defined the U.S. dollar as an international standard currency," Malinkov interrupted. "If we want to trade with a certain country, we must first have our currency Converted into U.S. dollars before you can trade?"

"It's not about converting our currency into U.S. dollars, but we must earn enough U.S. dollars," said Victor, spreading his hands. "In other words, we must reserve enough U.S. dollars as foreign exchange. Otherwise, we can only use it. It's gold."

Victor’s explanation is thorough enough. Everyone present can understand. There is no doubt that this agreement is an absolute event for everyone present. The league must figure out a way to deal with it, otherwise In the future, the alliance will face absolute passiveness in future international trade unless Moscow is willing to hand over its position as an international leader to the Americans.

For today’s alliance, an unsolvable passive situation is: this war has brought huge losses to the alliance, and as potential opponents of the alliance, the Americans have reaped substantial benefits in this war, and they have not Among other things, the league itself is still owed huge debts to the Americans, but these debts need to be repaid in U.S. dollars.

Yes, in this war that involved almost the world, although the Soviet Union was the victor, it paid a huge price. Almost half of the country was destroyed, and most of this country was the elite zone. The implied economic loss is difficult to calculate.

As for the United States, they were also the victors of the war. Of course, they also paid a huge price. However, the war was conducted in a place far away from the United States, and their homeland was hardly affected in the war. On the contrary, through Having made war fortune, they have now become the richest country in the world. Three-quarters of the world's gold reserves are in the hands of the Americans. What does the alliance compare to them?

If you look at this issue with an optimistic attitude, someone might say: The United States holds the wealth, and the Soviet Union holds the faith. But let’s be honest, how long can this belief be maintained even in a poor situation?

Victor squeezed out the cigarette **** in his ashtray, took the coffee in front of him, took a sip, and the corner of his eye looked at Comrade Stalin diagonally opposite. In Victor's view, although the current alliance seems to be in a good situation, it is actually difficult step by step. He is really curious about how the leader on the opposite side will lead the alliance out of this predicament.

Of course, Victor is more curious about whether this leader will still have illusions about the future Soviet-US relations in this situation, or will he directly choose a tougher confrontation?

In fact, including Victor, everyone in the high-level power in Moscow now understands that with the progress of the war, the current alliance has come to a crossroads. At this invisible intersection, the Kremlin must make many new decisions. , To determine the development direction of this country after the war. In other words, it is not only to determine the development direction of the alliance, but also to determine the development direction of many countries.

"Now, we must not only consider the centralization of the U.S. dollar, but also the impact of the economic aid program on the entire post-war European political landscape." After a long silence, Comrade Molotov said with concern. "After all, this The Bretton Woods Conference also clearly mentioned the issue of aid development."

Comrade Stalin was silent, and the atmosphere at the table became more and more dull.

Even Victor can feel Molotov’s worries. Indeed, the diplomatic issue is not a simple question of wealth, but the party with a large amount of aid always has the advantage. Time can not be ignored.

"Let's take a look, what is going on?" Seeing that the atmosphere on the scene was dull and unreasonable, Comrade Zhdanov stood up and laughed. Lead to work?"

Speaking of this, he looked at Victor on the side and said, "Yes, it is Victor. Victor's joke brought the topic to work."

"Is that so?" Victor was a little dazed, how could he remember that it wasn't the case?

"I remember it was you." The gloomy expression on Comrade Stalin's face also eased a lot. He pointed to Asahi Danov with his pipe-holding hand, and retorted with a smile, "You asked about the Polish spies. "

"Yes, I agree," Malenkov agreed with Voroshilov, who had been silent.

"Well, I plead punish," Zhdanov didn't insist. He chuckled, took the wine glass in front of him, drank the wine inside, and said, "Those next, Comrade Malinkov's turn is for us. Tell a joke."

Seeing everyone at the table turned their target to Malinkov again, Victor pursed his lips and smiled, but the thoughts in his mind drifted away for an instant.

This is the first time he has participated in this type of gathering, and it is also a private gathering between Comrade Stalin and his close associates. As far as his current feelings are concerned, Viktor finds it unimaginable, especially among rivals like Zhdanov and Malinkov. Between, how can they get along so harmoniously?

Moreover, as far as he is concerned, he did not feel any hostility from Comrade Zhdanov. It seems that as long as he is in front of Comrade Stalin, the Leningradist leader can always behave kindly to him. The posture is like treating a junior. But Victor could feel that Comrade Zhdanov really did not have the slightest affection for him.