Yang Yin - Service Under Emperor Fei

Service Under Emperor Fei

Emperor Fei's uncle Gao Yan the Prince of Changshan, while respected by the people, was not given great power, and while his (and Emperor Wenxuan's) mother Empress Dowager Lou Zhaojun had some desire to have Gao Yan made emperor instead, there was insufficient support at the time, and Yang, in fear that Gao Yan and another brother of Emperor Wenxuan, Gao Dan the Prince of Changguang, would try to take power, took steps to curb their authorities. Emperor Fei honored his grandmother Empress Dowager Lou as grand empress dowager and mother Empress Li as empress dowager. Pursuant to his edicts, the palace construction projects that Emperor Wenxuan started, which caused much misery for his people in the latter years of his reign, were halted.

As Emperor Fei took the throne while he was attending to his father's deathbed at the secondary capital Jinyang, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), when he proceeded to the capital Yecheng in spring 560, it was initially believed that Gao Yan or Gao Dan would be put in charge of Jinyang -- then perhaps the most militarily secure city in the empire; instead, by the arrangements of Yang and his associates, the two princes were ordered to accompany the young emperor to Yecheng.

Once the imperial train arrived at Yecheng, the situation became even more tense, as an associate of Yang's, Kezhuhun Tianhe, was convinced that Emperor Fei would not be safe in his reign unless his two uncles were killed, and alternatively, Yan Zixian considered putting Grand Empress Dowager Lou, who still wielded much power as the clan matriarch, under house arrest, and forcing her to turn her authorities to Empress Dowager Li. Meanwhile, the ambitious Yang was carrying out a governmental reorganization scheme to trim unnecessary offices and titles and to remove incompetent officials. The officials who were hurt by Yang's actions became disaffected and largely hoped that Gao Yan and Gao Dan would take action and began to encourage them to do so. Yang considered sending Gao Yan and Gao Dan outside the capital to be provincial governors, but Emperor Fei initially disagreed. Yang wrote a submission to Empress Dowager Li to ask her to consider, and she consulted her lady in waiting Li Changyi, who leaked the news to Grand Empress Dowager Lou. She informed the two princes, and they set up an ambush, with Gao Guiyan and the generals Heba Ren and Hulü Jin, at a ceremony where Gao Yan was to be named to a ceremonial post. Yang, Kezhuhun, Yan, Zheng, and Song Qindao were all severely battered and captured.

Gao Yan and Gao Dan subsequently entered the palace and accused Yang and his associates of crimes. They were all executed, although Grand Empress Dowager Lou, who was otherwise supportive of her son Gao Yan's actions, personally attended Yang's wake and made the comment, "Lord Yang was faithful and suffered for his faithfulness."