Wang Yan had been in the spotlight for six years now. For him, "Who under heaven does not know you?" was no exaggeration, but an entirely realistic line of poetry.
As word spread in all directions, even more than half the common people knew that in the imperial capital of Great Ming, there was a man named Wang Yan. He had reduced their taxes, enabled them to live in brick-and-tile houses, made it easier for them to marry wives and continue their family lines, spared them from freezing and starving, and even let more people eat meat...
The common people had many fantasies about Wang Yan. They could not tell what was true and what was false, but they wanted to live the kind of life they had heard about...
As for the powerful and wealthy families, the many officials, and the local landlords, Wang Yan's name truly thundered in their ears.
At first, these people had merely thought Wang Yan was some lucky upstart who had flattered Jiajing into comfort. Such people were everywhere. The Forbidden City housed a whole crowd of men who wrote Taoist prayers, while the greatest task of those in the Hanlin Academy was to compose fine Taoist prayers. Every year, people were promoted and appointed because they wrote them well. There was nothing unusual about it.
After all, people knew that the cement and White Glass from earlier had been created by Wang Yan and handed over to the imperial family for exclusive operation. This was actually rather accepted, since Wang Yan's status at the time meant he could never have held on to them without offering them up to Jiajing. Since he had managed to gain Jiajing's favor, he might as well present them as tribute. That way, Jiajing would remember him, and