Since the end of November, the Bolshevik Politburo has held almost every once in a while to hold plenary meetings, and sometimes even enlarged meetings of the Central Committee.

So when the bigwigs received a notice from Sverdlov that a new enlarged meeting of the Central Committee was about to be held, not too many people took it seriously, wasn't it just a meeting? We're used to it.

However, when the bigwigs from all walks of life arrived at the venue and saw the six Politburo members sitting solemnly on the stage, they realized that this meeting was very unusual, and it seemed that something big was about to happen.

Something big was about to happen, and it was a good thing, and when the participants had arrived, Sverdlov cleared his throat and spoke in a tone that was both serious and cheerful: "Comrades, the main reason for calling you today an enlarged meeting of the Central Committee is that there is important news to inform you of, and to invite you to vote on it...... On 28 November, significant progress was made in the armistice negotiations between us and Germany, and by mutual agreement, a provisional armistice was reached, and in the coming month we will have a general armistice with Germany, Austria and Turkey......"

Sverdlov's words greatly shocked the bigwigs present, an obvious storm brewed and grew in the audience, all kinds of whispers came one after another, for the sudden armistice agreement, some applauded, some opposed, but more bigwigs just want to know what price Russia paid in order to reach this agreement.

Rykov immediately said: "We welcome the armistice, but in view of the wolf ambitions of the Germans, I doubt that they will readily agree to the terms of peace that we have proposed." I suspect that this paper contract was bought by betraying Russia's national interests. For such a humiliating treaty. I strongly oppose it! ”

When this voice came down, a group of party henchmen sitting around him immediately echoed the voice, and Rykov even looked directly at Lenin sitting on the stage, which had the meaning of forcing the palace. But Lenin sat very firmly, did not even lift his eyelids, and did not seem to have taken Rykov in his eyes at all.

In fact, the mentor really didn't take him seriously, and it was enough for Sverdlov to clean up such a little minion. Sverdlov on the stage snorted not very noticeably, although not loudly. But all the bigwigs sitting in the audience obviously felt Comrade Xiao Si's disdain.

"I'm curious, Comrade Rykov, how did you come to this ridiculous conclusion?" Sverdlov asked slowly, "What is a treaty of shame?" What does it mean to betray Russia's national interests? Are you accusing the Politburo? ”

Rykov was not intimidated, and during this period the topic of the Constituent Assembly was hyped up, as the Social Revolutionaries, the Cadets and the Mensheviks began to make a big fuss about it. Originally, as a dead dog faction in the party, the Kamenev clique seems to have a tendency to resurge.

Indirectly, Rykov also has confidence, and he no longer keeps a low profile like some time ago, and even dares to call the board again. He said in a big way: "If the interests of the country are not betrayed, the Germans should agree to an armistice." Isn't it obvious that there is a lot of stuff in this? ”

Sverdlov sneered and sarcastically said: "As long as an armistice can be reached, it is a traitor." I must say, Comrade Rykov, according to your meaning, we will never be able to put an end to this imperialist war, right? ”

Rykov ignored this big hat and replied unwillingly: "I haven't said that, but the Politburo must clearly answer my questions on this, otherwise, I resolutely disagree with this so-called truce!" ”

"So, as long as the armistice is fair and reasonable," Sverdlov scoffed, "you will support it unconditionally?" ”

Rykov was generalized, and in essence, he opposed the armistice agreement regardless of whether it was fair and reasonable, not only for the reason of the mountain, but more importantly, the temporary armistice agreement may be fair, but the treaty that ended the war at the end of the war is not necessarily fair and reasonable.

In his view, Lenin wanted to get out of the present crisis by reaching a temporary armistice, even if it was temporary, and would greatly please the soldiers at the front and the grumbling workers in the rear.

Lenin wanted to use this small victory to cover up the reality that he was about to betray Russian interests, and if he agreed to an armistice, even if it was only temporary, Lenin would have brandished this great achievement to gain personal prestige for himself, and then he would have forced those who opposed him to accept his opinion, and the final result would be the cession of land and reparations, which would be humiliation.

Therefore, in Rykov's view, the most effective and direct way to break Lenin's conspiracy was not to agree to even a temporary armistice. As long as there is no one day without fighting, the pressure on Lenin will be greater and greater day by day, until it collapses at the last moment!

And now, Sverdlov has set him a low-level full set, at least in his opinion, this set of tricks is childish, so he will not be fooled.

"I didn't say that!" Rykov replied categorically, "I am just exercising the basic rights of a party member, and I just want the Politburo to make it clear whether there is an exchange of interests behind the armistice agreement, and whether there is any cattiness!" ”

Sverdlov smiled contemptuously, and he replied: "I see what you mean, in fact, your meaning is very simple and clear. You're against an armistice, even if it's fair and doesn't have any of the shady things you call it, but you just don't support it, right? Comrade Rykov! ”

How dare Rykov admit this, even if this is what he thinks in his heart, he does not dare to say it clearly. After all, inside and outside the party, the overwhelming majority of party members and the masses sincerely want to end this war. If he jumped out and yelled regardless of it, I am against the truce, I am against ending the war, then he will definitely be slapped in the face by the onlookers.

"I didn't say that!" Rykov hastened to deny it.

But how could Sverdlov let him go, Kamenev and his ilk were very proud of it during this time, especially on the day of the opening of the Constituent Assembly, when the Politburo was quelling the rebellion. These people are actually standing on the side of the enemy and talking cool things. The impact was devastating. It also made him and his mentor very passive, and he had already wanted to take revenge for this revenge.

"But that's what you think in your heart, don't you?" Sverdlov quipped, "Otherwise, you wouldn't have jumped out so impatiently to make accusations, even though I didn't read out the specific terms, you just talk nonsense there, shady, what does this mean?" Isn't it just trying to discredit the armistice agreement and negate the armistice. Refuse to negotiate peace, isn't that what you are talking about! ”

Rykov's face turned pale, he didn't expect Sverdlov's counterattack to be so sharp and swift, let alone that the other party would blatantly button his hat. However, he is not good at stubble, and immediately began to cry out: "Comrades, you have all seen it, this is the attitude of the Politburo? Opposing opinions are not allowed to exist, I just raised doubts, and they will be put on the line. You're going to persecute me......"

"What a joke!" Sverdlov interrupted Rykov with a pronounced sneer, "When did the Politburo not allow dissent." How did he persecute you? Did it deprive you of your right to speak, or did it physically harm you? I must warn you, Comrade Rykov, that your pretense is disgusting. The Politburo has always welcomed comrades to speak their minds freely, but speaking freely does not mean talking nonsense, and without any basis, you have come to an inexplicable conclusion through your own conjecture, and you still want to impose this conclusion on the head of the Politburo. You're just making a fuss! Isn't it right to criticize you and expose your true thoughts? I now warn you unequivocally that if you continue to mess around, the General Assembly will only deprive you of your standing and drive you out of the country! ”

Rykov was certainly not convinced, and he wanted to argue, but Sverdlov immediately said: "Don't talk about that useless nonsense, I will ask you once at the last time, if the armistice agreement is fair and reasonable, and there is no so-called cattiness, do you support the armistice!" If your answer is no, then stop talking, that kind of boring nonsense, we don't have time and no interest in listening! ”

Rykov was immediately blocked from coming to the stage, but he really had to refrain from speaking, otherwise, wouldn't he admit that Sverdlov was right, and that he was against the truce?

"Of course I am for peace, and my meaning is clear, that is, I am against the use of ways to sell national interests......"

"That's it!" Sverdlov interrupted him unceremoniously, "You've been talking nonsense, and there's nothing useful in saying it. I will issue the text of the armistice agreement immediately, all the terms are clear and unambiguous, and there is no money to betray the interests of the country! ”

As soon as he spoke, Sverdlov waved his hand, and the staff issued the terms of the armistice agreement to the bigwigs one by one, and no one was interested in paying attention to Rykov at this time.

It should be said that the bigwigs from all walks of life are still very unpleasant to the eyes of Rykov's impatient behavior of jumping out and picking thorns, even if you want to question the Politburo, wait until you catch the real material before firing it. If you don't have anything, you just shoot indiscriminately, and you're just running out to sabotage the peace talks, right?

Anyway, at this moment, Rykov's face was completely exposed, as mentioned earlier, most people still support peace talks and want to end this war through peace talks. What they objected to, or had misgivings and doubts, was only how to avoid German blackmail. Kamenev and Rykov and their ilk, in essence, are opposed to peace talks, and they simply want to continue this war, that is, they want to lead the party down the dead road of nationalism in disguise.

After more than ten minutes of silence, as some people took the lead in applauding, the Central Committee's attitude towards this temporary armistice agreement was very clear, and the big guys were very satisfied with this agreement, judging from the existing text, it was indeed fair and reasonable, and there were no conditions attached - from the day the treaty was signed, within one natural month, the two sides would have an unconditional truce on the existing front, and the validity of the agreement could be extended unless either side proposed to cancel the agreement seven days before the expiration of the agreement.

This temporary armistice agreement is very fair, anyway, even the most critical opposition cannot find anything wrong, and even a hardcore opposition like Rykov cannot raise any questions about the text itself, but can only look around the bush to find out what is wrong.

"I think this agreement is problematic," the cargo saw that the situation was about to turn one-sided, and did not oppose it again. The armistice was about to be adopted unanimously. Quickly stood up and talked nonsense: "I see that there is such a clause - 'In order that this agreement does not harm the interests of the people of the Entente.'" The Council of People's Commissars will prohibit Germany from transferring troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front, and this Agreement will not help one imperialist country against another'. ”

Sverdlov raised his head and sneered: "What's wrong with the clause?" Opposing imperialist wars is the consistent aim of our Party, and doing so will help to safeguard the image and status of our Party in the hearts of the people of all countries participating in the war. Are you ready to allow the Germans to transfer troops to the Western Front? ”

Rykov raised his head and retorted proudly: "Please Comrade Yakov, please don't misinterpret what I mean, I personally oppose the imperialist war, and I am extremely sympathetic to the situation of the peoples of the countries participating in the war. The reason why the provision was considered problematic. That's what kind of means should we use to supervise the German invaders to implement this clause, and what if they do it? ”

I have to admit that Rykov still has certain means to engage in diplomacy, otherwise he would not have served as the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union in the future, and after the military conflict between the Soviet Union and Japan in the thirties, this devil was very tough and forced the devil to make concessions.

The loophole he picked out did exist, and the treaty was just a piece of paper anyway, and the Germans really had no means to curb it if they violated it. Even if he knew that the Germans had violated the agreement. I'm afraid Russia won't go looking for trouble, and it's not him who suffers anyway.

And the reason why Rykov picks on this. It is to use this to completely negate the entire armistice agreement, and if there is no means to contain this big loophole, then what is the use of this paper treaty?

Anyway, after raising this loophole, Rykov was very proud, he felt that the problem was unsolvable, and believed that Lenin had no way to prove to the bigwigs present that the Germans would definitely abide by the agreement, and as long as he grasped this point, he could make the armistice agreement go away.

However, Rykov really underestimated the political wisdom of his mentor, and all the words on the armistice agreement were written by him after careful consideration. Although the loophole was indeed unsolvable, almost impossible to prove, it was not a problem for him at all.

Seeing that he glanced at Sverdlov, Comrade Xiao Si cleared his throat and replied to Rykov in an official tone: "If the Germans disobey the Germans, if it can be proved that the Germans have indeed violated the armistice agreement, the agreement will naturally be null and void immediately." If this happens, we will revert to the previous combat state! ”

Belch? Rykov was dumbfounded, he never imagined that Lenin would reply to him like this, it should be said that this reply was answered as well as not answered. Because what Rykov wanted to question was not the Germans' violation of the agreement? Rather, they wanted to question how to guarantee that the Germans would honestly implement the agreement.

You must know that these are two completely different concepts, the former is just a remedy, and the latter is a precautionary measure. What Rykov wanted to do was to negate the agreement by taking precautions, that is, to question the reasonableness of the agreement through assumptions, thereby negating the agreement. But Lenin told him that Lao Tzu did not guarantee that the Germans would abide by the agreement, so how can I guarantee what did not happen? The only thing I can guarantee is what we'll do after it happens!

Is the answer given by the tutor correct? From the point of view of the spirit of the contract, there is nothing wrong with it. How can you question that an agreement has not been implemented, and that the other side will not abide by it?

If Rykov's hypothesis can be established, then the world will be chaotic, and all normal young men have the ability to commit crimes committed by strong women, and it is not excluded that they have subjective thoughts in this regard, so should all men be castrated or locked up in cages? All in all, it is useless to investigate the liability for breach of contract, and then talk about it after the other party breaches the contract, and it is useless to say it in advance.

In fact, what Rykov really wanted to question was the discipline of the Germans, the suspicion of their credibility, and he meant that the other party was suspicious and should not make an agreement with them. The reality, however, is that Russia does not have the right to choose its negotiating opponents, and if it denies everything just because the Germans are unscrupulous, then it will never be possible to negotiate peace.

So, the fact is that Rykov put forward a very stupid hypothesis, which is not worth mentioning at all, and he has not yet discovered it, and he still thinks that he has a reason, and after being slapped in the face by the answer thrown by the tutor, this thing suddenly became angry.

"When it happens, it will be too late, and by then the Germans have actually harmed the interests of our allies, and such an act will never be allowed......"

Before he finished speaking, there was a large number of boos from the audience, and the vast majority of the bigwigs felt that Rykov was unreasonable, and Comrade Lenin had already given a clear and acceptable answer, you kid is still unforgiving, what do you want to do? Sverdlov was right, you kid is essentially against peace talks!

In the face of group ridicule, no matter how thick-skinned Li Kefu was, he couldn't stand it, he didn't have the courage to point a cold finger at Qianfu, and seeing the anger of the public, he could only choose to take a step back: "Since everyone's opinion is the same, I can only keep my own opinion." However, I strongly demand that the Central Committee must make a resolution that in the event of a clear violation of the armistice by the Germans, effective measures should be taken immediately to protect the interests of our allies! Otherwise, this agreement will inevitably lead us into a new passive diplomat! (To be continued......)