Yuan Xie - During Emperor Xuanwu's Reign

During Emperor Xuanwu's Reign

Emperor Xuanwu, who was 16 at the time of his ascension, initially wanted Yuan Xie to stay as his prime minister, but Yuan Xie repeatedly declined, citing Emperor Xiaowen's agreement for him to leave his posts. Emperor Xuanwu, instead, made him the governor of Ding Province (定州, modern central Hubei), and initially Yuan Xie declined as well, but Emperor Xuanwu forced him to accept. In 500, when the Southern Qi general Pei Shuye (裴叔業) surrendered his city Shouyang to northern Wei, Emperor Xuanwu sent Yuan Xie and Wang Su to secure Shouyang and to assist Pei. They were able to, and Emperor Xuanwu subsequently rebestowed the prime minister title on Yuan Xie, but had him take the post of governor of Yang Province (揚州, modern central Anhui) and defend Shouyang. Soon, he recalled Yuan Xie to the capital to be prime minister again.

In 501, over a power conflict between Yuan Xi and the general Yu Lie (于烈), Yu Lie's son Yu Zhong, a close attendant of Emperor Xuanwu warned Emperor Xuanwu that the princes were too powerful, and that he should assume power himself. Yuan Xiang also reported on Yuan Xi's faults and suggested that Yuan Xie was also too powerful. In spring 501, Emperor Xuanwu summoned his princely uncles to the palace under heavy guard, and then relieved them (except Yuan Xiang) of their posts, and announced that he was assuming power himself. From this point on, however, Emperor Xuanwu's government was dominated by his attendants and his maternal uncle Gao Zhao. In 503, Emperor Xuanwu recalled Yuan Xie to his administration with the honorific title Taishi (太師), but the title, while highly honored, carried little power.

in 504, Yuan Xiang, who was then powerful, was accused by Gao Zhao of corruption, and he was arrested. He soon died while imprisoned. As a result of this episode, Gao further suggested to Emperor Xuanwu to put the imperial princes under heavy guard, a suggestion that Yuan Xie objected to but Emperor Xuanwu accepted. It was said that Yuan Xie was often depressed from this point on. Late that year, Emperor Xuanwu made Yuan Xie be in charge of supervising a team of officials led by Yuan Fan (袁翻) in revising the empire's laws. In 506, when the official Zhen Chen (甄琛) suggested that the state monopoly on salt be ended, Yuan Xie, along with Xing Luan (邢巒), opposed on account that ending the monopoly would lead to wastefulness and draining of the treasury, but Emperor Xuanwu approved Zhen's proposal anyway.

As the years went by, Gao Zhao grew increasingly powerful, particularly more so after his niece Consort Gao became a favorite consort of Emperor Xuanwu. After Emperor Xuanwu's first wife, Empress Yu died in 507, Emperor Xuanwu wanted to make Consort Gao empress. Yuan Xie opposed, but Emperor Xuanwu created her empress in 508 anyway. Gao Zhao thereafter despised Yuan Xie. When Emperor Xuanwu's brother Yuan Yu (元愉) the Prince of Jingzhao rebelled in fall 508, Yuan Yu seized Yuan Xie's maternal uncle Pan Senggu (潘僧固) and forced Pan to join his rebellion, and Gao Zhao used this incident to falsely accuse Yuan Xie of conspiring with Yuan Yu and rival Liang Dynasty (which had replaced Southern Qi). Yuan Xie's attendants Wei Yan (魏偃) and Gao Zuzhen (高祖珍), wanting to please Gao Zhao, testified against Yuan Xie, and Emperor Xuanwu believed him. Later that year, Emperor Xuanwu held a feast and invited the princes and Gao Zhao to attend—requiring Yuan Xie to do so despite the fact that his wife Princess Li was due to give birth. After the feast, the princes were directed to bedrooms in the palace to spend the night. That night, Emperor Xuanwu sent the guard commander Yuan Zhen (元珍) to take poisoned wine to Yuan Xie, ordering him to commit suicide. Yuan Xie initially refused, wanting to make one last appeal to Emperor Xuanwu, but Yuan Zhen's soldiers battered his ribs until he complied. Once he drank the wine, the soldiers killed him even before the poison could take effect. His body was wrapped in blankets and returned to his mansion, under the pretense that he had died from alcohol poisoning, although quickly the populace came to believe that Gao Zhao had killed him. Emperor Xuanwu outwardly mourned Yuan Xie and posthumously honored him.