Chapter 46

The Bear Republic is Now Mine Chapter 46

046 Pretending to Hold Hands / New U-Mart Opening

For Nikolai, February, March, and April of 1996 were significant months.

After January, new U-Marts were set to open in Moscow (2) and St. Petersburg (3) in February.

Additionally, the move into the Ussuriysk apartments was to begin.

In the original history, Yahoo! also went public on April 12.

Many events were scheduled over these three months.

However, the most important task for him now was to gather one million signatures by the presidential candidate registration deadline on March 25.

With about two months left.

He had to produce results during this time.

* * *

While carefully reviewing the advertisement copy at home, Nikolai's gaze shifted to the newspaper beside him.

However.

On July 2, 1996.

【President Yeltsin was unconscious for 17 days due to a heart attack and miraculously recovered】

In the actual history, Yeltsin was hospitalized for a long time due to a heart attack during the election period.

"So, he regains consciousness the day before the second round of voting…."

This election involved narrowing down the candidates to two in the first round and then selecting the final winner in the second round.

The second round of voting was on July 3.

"Perfect timing."

There couldn't be a more fitting moment to say that life is all about timing.

"I can use these 17 days of unconsciousness."

Nikolai visited Yury Yusupov and Minister Zakhar to inform them of his plan.

* * *

Following Tanya Yeltsin's instructions, Makar, the chief of staff, visited Minister Zakhar's house.

After exchanging pleasantries in the living room, he spoke in a cold tone.

"It was quite a surprise. Who would have thought you would run as a candidate?"

"I have announced my candidacy, but I haven't registered yet."

"Ah, you still need to secure one million signatures. That won't be easy, but I'm sure you have a plan?"

How will you get one million signatures?

However, Zakhar responded calmly as if he had already completed the task.

"That's something I'll handle. What did you come here to say?"

"I have a very good proposal for you…."

The chief of staff observed Zakhar's reaction, but seeing no change, he continued.

"We will help you. We will ensure you complete the candidate registration without any issues and gain widespread public support."

"…"

"However, after the first round of voting, if you announce your support for the President, both you and the Yusupov family will enjoy even more benefits."

The chief of staff thought this would be enough to win him over.

After all, it was unlikely that Minister Zakhar, running as an independent, would be elected President.

President Yeltsin was also running as an independent, but that was a different matter.

Even if Yury was a person who wouldn't proceed without 100% confidence, it was hard to imagine he would be confident in Zakhar's election.

Yury's confidence was not in Zakhar becoming President, but in his plan coming to fruition.

That plan was….

'A negotiation with us. They put Zakhar forward because of pressure from above.'

That's why he thought Zakhar would definitely accept the proposal.

However.

"Have you finished speaking?"

"Excuse me?"

"If you have nothing more to say, please leave."

The chief of staff was momentarily taken aback by the unexpected response but soon regained his composure.

"Do you really think you can be elected? Are you determined to go all the way?"

"Whether I can or not, we'll see when we get there, won't we?"

"If things don't go as you hope, not only you but the Yusupov family will be in trouble. Are you still determined to go all the way?"

He couldn't understand it at all.

Why would Minister Zakhar and Chairman Yury make such a reckless choice?

There was no reason to make such a choice unless they were insane.

But what was that look on his face?

Wasn't it too confident and self-assured?

The chief of staff was confused.

"I'm not asking you to decide now. Think it over and let me know next time I visit. Goodbye."

As he left, shaking his head with an inexplicable sense of unease, Nikolai appeared as the door opened slightly.

"Grandfather, I was right, wasn't I?"

"Hehe, exactly as you said. I was so speechless, I couldn't even talk."

"As I said, Yeltsin knows he can't win on his own. He's trying to win by forming an alliance with another candidate, using such lies to persuade them."

"Once he wins, he'll try to get rid of us, right?"

"It's a standard procedure. That's how politics works."

How many times have people been discarded like used tissues after forming alliances?

Nikolai had already seen through Yeltsin's intentions through his knowledge of Korean political history.

"Next time he visits, we'll pretend to form an alliance."

"And we'll make the demands you mentioned before."

If we just agree, it will naturally raise suspicion.

We need to ask for support in gathering the one million signatures.

We need them not to interfere with the ongoing Unicorn Group projects, and so on.

We must present various conditions to avoid suspicion.

Nikolai decided to play along with their expectations.

And then, at the decisive moment, he would turn the tables.

This is how politics works, and Yeltsin was the one who turned his back first, so it didn't matter.

"The chief of staff will also visit Chairman Yury, right?"

"Of course. If I decided to run on my own, who would believe it? They'll naturally think someone is backing me."

"But can you really gather one million signatures using the method you mentioned?"

"Don't worry, it will definitely work."

* * *

A week later, the chief of staff visited again.

Zakhar appeared to have given it much thought and began to open up.

"But how can I trust such empty promises?"

"Minister, when the President was facing impeachment, the first person to offer a hand was Chairman Yury. He was the first to come forward. And despite providing enormous financial support, he had no ulterior motives. That's what trust is."

"Remarkable. But isn't this situation a result of that trust being broken, and because of President Yeltsin?"

Zakhar was not an easy person to persuade.

"…Then, what do you need from us?"

"I will believe you if you meet my demands from now on, not after the election."

He began to list the things Nikolai had mentioned.

This was a tactic to divert the enemy's attention to hide the bigger plan.

Among them was the condition that electronic voting should not be used.

Nikolai remembered that in the original history, the adoption of electronic voting led to a vote-rigging scandal involving Yeltsin.

"Hehe, we will proceed with what you mentioned immediately. Why didn't you do this earlier?"

"I hope it works out well."

"It will. And please convey this to Chairman Yury. There will be no more issues after this."

"Understood."

"We will provide all the support we can. The more votes Minister Zakhar gets in the first round, the better for us. Goodbye."

The chief of staff left with a light step.

* * *

At the Presidential Residence.

The chief of staff reported the results of his visit to Tanya.

"We've been putting pressure on them recently. It seems Chairman Yury put Minister Zakhar forward as a negotiating tactic."

"Hehe, that makes sense. Running as an independent, what can he do? Still, it's good for us. We should support Minister Zakhar as much as possible."

"Understood."

"Oh, and look at this."

Tanya handed him a newspaper.

"It's an advertisement from U-Mart."

"…?"

"It says if you cut out this part and send it by mail, you'll get a discount coupon."

Support Minister Zakhar.

Do not support.

The form included a list of Minister Zakhar's achievements.

Gun control.

WTO accession committee member.

Russia-Korea FTA committee member, etc.

Some of these were a bit ambiguous, as he claimed to have initiated them.

【Fill out your personal information, cut out this paper, and send it by mail to receive a U-Mart discount coupon. Even if you do not support, just mark the box and send it, and you will receive a coupon. If there is no U-Mart in your area, you will receive a Unicorn Store coupon.】

"What is this…?"

The chief of staff's expression became complicated.

He rubbed his eyes, thinking he might have seen it wrong.

"I just saw it too. Isn't it quite ingenious? Who came up with this idea?"

"It is, but it will cost a lot of money. We need to check if it's legally permissible…."

"What are you talking about?"

Her sudden outburst left the chief of staff bewildered.

"Do you not know that Minister Zakhar needs to get as many votes as possible? Instead of talking about the law, you should be thinking of ways to help him without breaking it."

"…"

"And do you think the Minister of Justice would do this without considering the legal aspects? We need to support Minister Zakhar in every way to boost his popularity. We should also release materials highlighting his contributions to WTO and Russia-Korea FTA to prevent other candidates from raising objections."

"Understood."

Tanya was trying to use Minister Zakhar to secure second place, but reality often doesn't go as planned.

* * *

U-Mart Moscow 1.

"Do the coupons really give a discount?"

"Yes, just show it at the checkout and we'll apply the discount."

"Minister Zakhar seems like a decent person."

"I sent in an X vote, thinking it was a joke, but it really worked."

The same situation was happening at the 2nd and 3rd stores.

Nikolai and Sasha were observing this at the 1st store.

"But did you really have to give coupons to those who voted X? Isn't that a bit wasteful?"

You don't understand.

"Sasha, people's minds can change. Someone who initially didn't support Grandfather might change their mind when it comes to voting."

"That makes sense, but it still feels a bit wasteful. That's a lot of money. But the Minister has definitely become a topic of conversation. It's probably hard to find someone in Russia who doesn't know him now."

"That's what I wanted. To make him a topic of conversation."

The media promoted it on their own.

With the newspaper running it for a week, TV stations and other newspapers also covered it.

Thanks to this, Minister Zakhar firmly established himself as a presidential candidate.

Other candidates wanted to use the same method but couldn't due to the enormous cost.

Anyone could do it, but they couldn't because of the money.

Ultimately, this promotion became a tacit agreement among them as a legal activity.

In fact, it was legally permissible.

Zakhar hadn't registered as a candidate yet, and people could mark either support or opposition.

Most importantly….

-Anyone can do such promotions. I don't care.

President Yeltsin's words transcended the law.

While an enormous number of survey forms were being delivered by mail nationwide, the new U-Mart finally opened.

The 4th and 5th stores in Moscow opened more grandly than the previous ones.

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stores in St. Petersburg also opened.

-I'm at the U-Mart St. Petersburg 1st store. When the Moscow 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stores opened, I was there, and as you can see from the video, even more people are gathered here.

Journalists were interviewing the crowds.

Nikolai deliberately didn't distribute queue numbers this time.

He decided to offer free pizza and chicken for one day again.

A large banner with Minister Zakhar's face was prominently displayed at the front of U-Mart.

Nikolai entered the store with his grandfather.

"Is this your first time here, Grandfather?"

"Yes, I've only seen it on TV. It's really impressive to see it in person. I didn't realize it was this big inside."

"Visit the Moscow store often. I'll give you a special 20% discount."

"Not free?"

"I need to make a living too."

"Hehe, you."

The 2nd and 3rd stores were also packed with people.

The TV station naturally interviewed Minister Zakhar, and he appeared on the news.

With U-Mart becoming a hot topic, Minister Zakhar naturally rode the wave.

All of this came from Nikolai's mind, and those who knew him were amazed.

And finally, the long-awaited move into the Ussuriysk apartments began.