Senior staff should indeed receive high-level treatment. When I think about how I will be treated with a pound of beef every day in the future, I feel a sense of guilt.
When it comes to eating, it’s not just beef, but also many high-end ingredients.
Nowadays, the most basic food issue related to the national economy and people's livelihood, the common people in the Soviet Union rely on monthly food stamps in exchange for it, and occasionally buy high-priced food provided by the state. Therefore, as a general, my daily food expenses are very high.
Yang Mingzhi continued to ask: "What else is there for dinner?"
"Bread, beetroot soup, and wine if you like." Anne mistakenly thought that the general wanted higher treatment. She couldn't help but puff up her chest: "Don't worry, I don't have the right to serve you just because of my face.
Yes, I am a very good cook."
"You? Okay, okay, I just want to eat lighter. I also hope that my wife can get better treatment. There is too much flour and meat on the table. Can you get some fresh vegetables?"
"This... you are really making things difficult for me."
"Don't hundreds of state-owned stores in Moscow sell vegetables? Is it a matter of money? I have to buy them even if they are expensive, and I have to ensure my wife's vitamin intake."
In just a few words, the maid Anne truly felt the general's love for his wife.
Purchasing fresh vegetables is really a huge difficulty for her!
"I'm sorry, Comrade General. State-owned stores really don't sell vegetables. Even if they do, they will be supplied to the army as soon as possible. If there is a substitute for vegetables, it is potatoes. As far as I know, you can still cope with the price of potatoes.
of."
"Just buy some fresh potatoes and buy me five kilograms to put in your kitchen. I will give you whatever funds you need."
"Yes! Then after buying the ingredients, should they be baked or boiled?"
"Don't worry, I'll go take a look at your kitchen later."
Yang Mingzhi came up with the idea of cooking himself. It stands to reason that ordinary Soviet generals simply do not have the ability to cook. There is no other reason. In Tsarist Russia and even the current Soviet Union, cooking is considered to be women’s obligation, even if the law does not
Support this tradition. Because of this tradition, there are very few men in the entire Soviet Union who can cook.
Yang Mingzhi's idea really shocked Anne. She had a look of panic on her face: "General, do you have any objections to me? If you are not satisfied with the dishes, I will work hard to adjust them."
"That's not what I meant! But your guess is somewhat true. We still like oriental food. Just like this tableware, we are more accustomed to operating two wooden sticks. You are a gourmet, and I also have the skills of a chef.
.
I have a lot of ideas after meeting you! In the future, you will stay with us and my wife for a long time, and your role may be similar to that of a housekeeper. Therefore, you must learn our way of eating, and in exchange, I will pay you a special sum of money."
"I understand, I will study hard. Oriental noodles for example? I promise to complete the task."
Yang Mingzhi nodded, thinking that this woman did have the potential to become a secretary.
While this world war will bring catastrophe, it will also bring opportunities to many people. Maybe this woman will have a bright future by following her?
Yang Tao listened carefully to the conversation between the two. Just because she didn't speak didn't mean it went in one ear and out the other. Her husband's love for her made her nose sore. Thanks to her strong inhibition, she didn't let her tears drip on the dinner plate.
middle.
Suddenly, three crisp whistles were heard outside the door, accompanied by the roar of a gasoline engine.
"Ah! Your car has arrived! Comrade General!" Annie approached the glass window overjoyed.
Yang Mingzhi also had no time to chew pickled cabbage slowly. He walked towards the bed with half a piece of sour black bread, and saw a black car parked in the courtyard, and his guards had already surrounded it.
"Go down and have a look."
"As you command, Comrade General."
Owning a private car is one of the symbols of a man's status. This is true in later generations, and its significance is even more significant in this time and space.
Yang Mingzhi knew that the automobile industry in Tsarist Russia was very weak. Later, the Soviet Union began to develop its own automobile industry. Since the alliance had always faced military threats from hostile countries, almost all the vehicles manufactured by the factory were for military use.
The number of cars purely for civilian use is rare, and only those with noble positions can enjoy them.
Standing on the second floor and looking down at the dark car, he found the appearance of the vehicle unattractive. "This car should be imported from the United States or the United Kingdom."
Yang Mingzhi has a little understanding of the development of the international automobile industry. It can be said that the United States and Germany quickly established their own automobile industries at the beginning of the full use of gasoline engines, with the United States being the strongest.
Not to be outdone, Germany has announced that it will use policy measures to enable every German family to buy a private car.
This plan was indeed exciting when he first became Prime Minister! In this context, the low-priced Volkswagen Beetle came into being. When Germany invaded Poland in 1999, the number of motor vehicles had reached 890,000, and the streets of Berlin were already busy with traffic. , private cars are everywhere!
Germany is so powerful, and the United States is even more of a giant in the automobile industry.
The Soviet Union, on the other hand, wanted to use its limited industry to fight the war while expanding industrial production capacity. Especially vehicle production. In addition to the large-scale production of tanks and armored vehicles, there were only a few factories that could produce civilian vehicles, such as "Nizhny Novgoro" German Automobile Factory", all producing transport trucks!
Yang Mingzhi is very happy to have the right to use a car, and the happiest person is Star Tao.
After the two got out of the car, they saw a very familiar figure standing next to the car door - Captain Larin, why did he come suddenly? Could it be that he had an important order?
Apart from this familiar guy, Yang Mingzhi paid more attention to this car.
Inlaid on the front of the car are four very small artistic letters, which together represent Ford.
It's a Ford car, obviously imported from the United States.
The appearance of American cars in what is now the Soviet Union is really humorous.
During the Great Depression, the two major American automobile companies, Ford and General Motors, were facing huge financial pressure. Due to the lack of consumers for the cars they produced, they obviously lost money the more they produced them. They urgently needed overseas markets to consume their production capacity, so they It hit it off with the Soviet Union, which continued to build its own automobile industry.
Today, there are hundreds of thousands of imitation American trucks, and they are serving as steel mules for the Soviet army!
It's interesting to say that although Germany's automobile production capacity is much stronger than that of the Soviet Union, in terms of military vehicle equipment, the two sides are almost the same. There is no other reason. In addition to the fact that the Soviet Union is working hard to produce, the United States and the United Kingdom are still working hard to deliver!
As if playing with a big toy, Yang Mingzhi muttered a few perfunctory greetings from Captain Lalin and continued to play with the two cars.
"Hey, Comrade General, look, this is your car."
"I've seen it all."
"What do you think?"
"Very good. I even saw its Peugeot. It's an imported car, and it's imported from the United States."
"Yes!" the captain asked curiously, "how do you know it is imported from the United States?"
"Ford. This kind of car is sold all over the world. Although China is poor, I still saw it when I was in China."
Captain Larin nodded, even keeping the general's words in his mind.
"Tell me now. Did you come suddenly this morning to deliver the car in person? Or was there something else? Did your superiors give you an order?"
"Not yet." The captain shrugged, "Did you sleep well last night? Are your guards still working hard? And that..."
"Comrade Androva, the cleaner and cook? She is excellent. And the security personnel assigned to me by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they are all excellent."
The captain let out a long sigh of relief: "That's great. I see you look good and you are obviously well adapted to life in Moscow. I feel relieved."
Before he finished speaking, the captain motioned Yang Mingzhi to approach the trunk of the car and opened it with the key. Two wooden boxes were placed in it.
"What is this? A new gift?" Yang Mingzhi asked.
"It's food! It's also a gift from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, including this car. The car was given to you by the leader, and these two boxes are the whim of my top boss."
"Is it Beria?"
"It's really him."
When he heard this name, Yang Mingzhi was confused on the spot. Why did that guy who wore small glasses and sometimes had a sinister look on his face give him gifts?
Alas, I don’t care about that much anymore. You can’t refuse a gift stupidly!
Yang Mingzhi reluctantly accepted the special gift and immediately asked: "What exactly is in it? It can't be full of cigarettes? I have stopped smoking now."
"It's a good thing, a precious specialty of the great Soviet Union, and it's something you have the right to enjoy."
In front of the general, the captain opened the wooden box.
There were eight glass bottles placed in a small box, and the bottles were filled with black substances. Yang Mingzhi instinctively realized that they were edible things, and when he took a closer look, the result was very clear.
"It's amazing, it's black caviar!"
"Haha! You know this too!"
"Of course, they were already expensive, wouldn't they be even more precious now?"
The captain shook his head: "Preciousness is relative. For us, this thing is quite sufficient. As for the other box, do you also want to see it?"
"Open the box. I don't know what other gifts you have."
Another wooden box was also opened, containing some butter cubes wrapped in grease and a sealed paper package.
That special paper bag looks like an envelope. The bulging stuff inside can’t be any special food!
Suddenly, an idea came to his mind, and Yang Mingzhi reached out and took away the paper package. On the surface, it looked like an envelope. However, the stamp was not there, and the mouth of the envelope was also covered with glue.
Dressed like this, apart from money, what other things can be stored in it?
Yang Mingzhi tore the paper open, and sure enough, there were undoubtedly banknotes inside!
The banknotes in the paper bag smelled of fresh ink. They were as long as a finger, and each one had a face value of one hundred.
He threw the paper bag and the money into the wooden box. Although the high price of the war in Moscow required a huge sum of money to live, Yang Mingzhi was able to get it in a wise way. Even if the money was a gift, he had to ask why.
He asked in a low voice: "Comrade Captain, what's going on with the money? I have one million in my bankbook."
"But you can only withdraw five thousand rubles a week." Captain Larin's cheerfulness caught people off guard, as if everything was taken for granted.
"But, will this give people the feeling that I, the general, am accepting bribes? No! I don't think I can ask for this money?"
"Oh, you're overthinking it. It's just your special allowance, don't be surprised. You definitely need ten thousand rubles in cash."
Yang Mingzhi really didn't know who provided the money, and Captain Lalin also deliberately lied.
The "red envelope" of 10,000 rubles was specially approved by Stalin. Without him, he just wanted to use the money offensive to recruit Berekov, a genius. What's more, before the war broke out, the living standard in Moscow was higher than that in other cities in the alliance.
Due to the special state of the war economy, if consumption is forced, a large amount of money will inevitably be consumed.
Stalin loved meetings and enjoyed the feeling of strategizing. The future arrangements for General Berekov were also on the agenda for future meetings. The members of the National Defense Committee basically made similar decisions, and only one meeting was needed to make the final decision.
Ruling.
There are still several days left before the end of the meeting! Stalin is convinced that Berekov, a "poor man" who has been sluggish like a tortoise in the swamp for a year, will definitely go on a shopping spree when he comes to a colorful world like Moscow, even in the city
It is far less prosperous than before the war.
Stalin felt that ten thousand rubles was enough for him to squander!
Since the "special allowance" was approved by Stalin, it was a kind of "allowance" and there was no doubt about its legality, so Yang Mingzhi accepted it.
"Okay, I'd better accept them all. I want to go around the main city later, so I'll drive off in this car. What do you think?"
"Of course." The captain said magnanimously, "This is your right! As for me, I will leave on foot."
"No. That would be too unfair to you." Yang Mingzhi shook his head, "You have helped me a lot, or should I drive you back to Lubyanka?"
"No need, it's only three or four kilometers away. My people and I will leave now. Goodbye."
The captain's performance was really straightforward. Before Yang Mingzhi could react, he and his two followers had already half-stepped through the gate.
Yang Mingzhi shrugged, skillfully stuffed an envelope of banknotes into his pocket, and then ordered his ten subordinates: "You move all the boxes into the house, and then assemble in the courtyard."
They hurried into the house, and Yang Mingzhi was not idle. He continued to check the vehicle and found a five-gallon gasoline drum in the trunk, which was full of leaded gasoline that was dyed slightly pink.
"Try the feeling of this broken car! My dear, and Annie, please step aside."
Yang Mingzhi rushed into the cab and showed off his driving skills in the courtyard in front of two women. It was just a circle. When the guards who brought the boxes came back, they saw that the driver was actually a general, and they all applauded.
Come.
The car finally stopped, and Lieutenant Grishenko hurried forward and opened the door rigorously.
"General, we never thought you could drive! You are truly an almighty general."
"Second Lieutenant, that's an exaggeration! Can you drive?" Yang Mingzhi asked.
"I and other comrades can do it. This is a necessary skill for us."
Yang Mingzhi said casually: "Very good. I used to be a battalion commander of a combat force. At that time, I learned many skills, such as driving. I really like cars. After a while, I drove it to the city, and you."
"arrive!"
"Comrade Grischenko, do you know all the traffic routes in Moscow? Do you know where there are good shops?"
"I know it all!"
"Very good, I will drive into the city later and you will be my guide."