Fang Yun not only appointed Liu Yu as the "General Manager of Ning'an County's Workshops," responsible for all mechanical operations, but also increased his monthly salary to forty taels. Additionally, if the net income of Ning'an County increases annually, Liu Yu will receive a share of the profits. Finally, he was rewarded with a mansion worth eight thousand taels.

Yesterday, Fang Yun also rewarded some workshop masters, but the rewards were far less significant than those given to Liu Yu.

Registrar Shen Ming immediately said, "County Magistrate, although Liu Yu is renowned and has a good reputation, he is ultimately just a minor clerk in the county office. Suddenly promoting him to such a high position and giving him such generous rewards might not be convincing to the public. In my opinion, it would be better to start with the workshop masters and then promote him to the position of General Manager after a few months."

County Deputy Tao Dingnian said, "Registrar Shen's view is a mature one. Although I agree with Liu Yu's promotion to General Manager, the workshops are currently unstable, and Liu Yu lacks experience. It might be better to delay for a few months."