Fang Yun not only ordered Liu Yu to serve as the "general manager of all matters related to the Ning'an County workshops" and be responsible for all office operations, but also increased his monthly salary to forty taels. In addition, based on the current net income of Ning'an County, he would give a certain amount of dividends if the revenue increased by a certain amount each year. Finally, he would reward him with a large mansion worth eight thousand taels.
Fang Yun also rewarded some neighborhood masters yesterday, but the reward was far less than that given to Liu Yu.
Shen Ming immediately said, "Mr. County Magistrate, although Liu Yu is well-known and prestigious, he is only a minor clerk in the county government after all. I am afraid that he will not be able to convince the public if he is suddenly promoted to such a high position and given such a generous reward. In my opinion, it is better for him to start as the master of the workshop first, and then be promoted to the position of chief engineer after a few months."
County Magistrate Tao Dingnian said, "Master Shen, this is a mature opinion. County Magistrate, although I agree with Liu Yu's promotion to chief engineer, the morale of the workshop is unsettled now, and Liu Yu lacks experience, so it is better to postpone it for a few months."
"I agree with what County Magistrate Tao said." Captain Lu Hong spoke rarely.
Fang Yun glanced at Lu Hong. As early as when the left prime minister Liu Shan was the governor of Mizhou, he changed the structure of the Ning'an County government. The battalion commanders of the prefectural army served as constables. As a result, there were often constables who were seventh-rank Jinshi in Ning'an County, and they had strong control over the public security of Ning'an County.
However, Lu Hong is a military man after all, and even if he is considered a disciple of the Left Prime Minister, he does things much more disciplined than the Chief Clerk Shen Ming. Usually, he never objects to Fang Yun's mobilization of constables, but this time he suddenly spoke up, obviously not for the Left Prime Minister, but because he had his own ideas.
At this time, if Fang Yun directly opened his mouth to refute, it would be equivalent to personally arguing with these low-ranking officials and losing control of the situation. Yu Ba Chi saw the opportunity and immediately said, "You three are wrong! Liu Yu has been dedicated to his duties and worked hard. He has been rooted in Ning'an County for decades. The institutions he has saved are worth countless tens of thousands of taels of silver. Those are more like compensation than rewards!"
"Giving him the position of chief engineer of the workshop is already compensation and reward. Those silver coins are too much." Lu Hongdao.
Yu Bashi suddenly said with a sneer on his face, "When Ji Zhibai was the county magistrate, he sold a weaving workshop to the owner who caused the workshop to be poorly managed, and you were also against it. What was the result? If you want to compare the two county magistrates' actions, which one do you think is more reasonable?"
Lu Hong remained silent, but Ao Huang suddenly let out a soft "ah", his voice full of confusion, as if he didn't understand what Yu Bachi meant.
The head secretary of the workshop, one of the ten rooms in the county government, said softly, "Mr. Liu Yu is a person I admire. Moreover, he is the assistant of Xiang Liyuan, a great scholar in the engineering field. He built new machines together with the staff of the workshop. He is also the operator of the new cotton gin and cotton gin. His status is high enough to be the chief engineer."
Tao Dingnian, Shen Ming and other officials from the Left Prime Minister's party were stunned. The words of the workshop general secretary hit the nail on the head. Whether it was the person who started the new mechanism or the assistant of the great scholar Xiang Liyuan, they were all real power.
Let alone a scholar, even a Juren would not dare to compare himself with a Tongsheng Liu Yu. After all, Liu Yu was praised by the great scholar of Gongdian. For Gongjia, a word of praise from Xiang Liyuan was more meaningful than an imperial decree from the king!
Yu Ba Chi glanced at the general secretary of the workshop and thought that he was indeed an official related to the workshop and could see through the ins and outs of this better than him, who suddenly became a prefect. However, Yu Ba Chi suddenly looked at Fang Yun.
When meeting Xiang Liyuan, it was Fang Yun who specifically asked Liu Yu to join the Gongdian team. It was obvious that he deliberately let Xiang Liyuan know Liu Yu and forcibly help Liu Yu improve his status.
The officials of the left-wing party were almost furious. Even if Fang Yun had caught the general secretary of the workshop, he should have just shut up. But why did he still help Fang Yun
After more than ten breaths, these officials finally understood that those present could oppose a county magistrate, but who dared to oppose the great scholar of Gongdian? Gongfang Zongshu was not helping either side, or it could be said that he was helping both sides.
A group of officials cursed in their hearts, saying that Fang Yun had made too thorough preparations and it seemed that those staff members were no pushovers either.
Fang Yun's staff were not qualified to sit in the meeting, but they had the right to attend. They stood around and looked at Fang Yun in surprise. The staff did not mention this matter at all when they discussed Liu Yu's affairs. They never thought that Fang Yun had laid the groundwork quietly, making it impossible for the county officials to object, and they suffered a great loss.
Ao Huang quickly took out his notebook and solemnly wrote down this matter.
"… If you want to take something, you must give it first. This is a big mistake. If you want to take something, you should plan it secretly first…"
Tao Dingnian, the county magistrate, looked at the other officials and finally said, "Your Excellency the county magistrate has a long-term vision, and we are not as good as him. Your reward is reasonable. If such a great man is not rewarded, it will certainly make the subjects feel disappointed."
"The county magistrate is right." Shen Ming said unwillingly, and secretly sent the matter to Ji Zhibai, praising Fang Yun's strong staff team.
Ji Zhibai's letter was full of irony: "Don't you see what kind of people his staff are? Except for a few who are here to hone themselves, the vision and mind of the rest of the scholars would think of using the great scholar? Do they dare? It's not that I look down on those staff, but except Fang Yun, none of them can think of it! Humph, how can it be so easy to temporarily suppress the people of Ji Zhibai?"
Shen Ming was horrified after reading Ji Zhibai's letter. He originally thought that Fang Yun was just talented, but did not understand officialdom and its methods. However, his step-by-step plan against Liu Yu, including even the great scholars of the Palace of Works, was far beyond the ability of a Jinshi in the palace examination.
Fang Yun nodded and said, "Since you all agree, then this county will issue a document and personally draft an article to be sent to the Wen Bao to spread this matter throughout the world and spread the name of our Ning'an County."
Shen Ming was puzzled as to why Fang Yun specifically mentioned Wen Bao, so he wrote a letter to Ji Zhibai to tell him about this.
It was not until the meeting was over that Shen Ming received Ji Zhibai's letter.
"Fortunately, I have a mentor to help me, otherwise I would have no way to deal with Fang Yun. You naturally can't see the mystery. A few days ago, in the "Wen Bao", an article about Lei Shushan, a Jinshi in the Jiaguo Palace Examination, wrote that there was an old craftsman who devoted himself to the machinery and brought huge profits to the workshop. However, the old craftsman did not get any reward, and he had no complaints. He was content with poverty and became the focus of Lei Shushan's propaganda. But Fang Yun did the opposite. He made Liu Yu into a skilled craftsman who was not only immersed in the machinery, but also helped him get rid of poverty, live a rich life, and his family was happy. This state has surpassed being content with poverty and pointing directly to the world's great harmony!"
"But isn't being content with poverty and enjoying the truth the highest spiritual state of Confucianism?"
"Fools! If the Confucians didn't know how to adapt, they would have been replaced by other schools of thought long ago. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the world was in chaos. People with a little wisdom found it difficult to realize their ambitions and encountered many difficulties. In order to survive the hardship, they naturally advocated being content with poverty and enjoying life. But now the human race is stable and prosperous. If we still want ordinary people to be content with poverty and enjoy life, this is going against the trend of history! Lei Shushan, that idiot, can't see the situation clearly. Fang Yun's vision is poisonous!" (To be continued.)i752