Yuan Yong - During Emperor Xiaoming's Reign

During Emperor Xiaoming's Reign

Emperor Xuanwu died suddenly in 515. The officials Yu Zhong and Cui Guang (崔光) quickly proclaimed Emperor Xuanwu's young crown prince Yuan Xu emperor (as Emperor Xiaoming) and seized power away from Emperor Xuanwu's wife Empress Gao, whose uncle Gao Zhao, who was also Emperor Xuanwu's uncle, was extremely powerful. In order to counteract Gao Zhao, Yu and Cui forced Empress Gao to yield regent powers to Yuan Yong and Emperor Xiaowen's cousin Yuan Cheng (元澄) the Prince of Rencheng, and then, Yu and Yuan Yong ambushed Gao Zhao and killed him. Empress Gao was also removed and replaced as empress dowager by Emperor Xiaoming's mother Consort Hu.

Although Yuan Yong and Yuan Cheng were titular regents, real regency powers were in Yu's hands, and Yu quickly grew exceedingly arrogant and autocratic. The officials Pei Zhi (裴植) and Guo Zuo (郭祚) secretly suggested to Yuan Yong to have Yu's power stripped. When Yu found out about this, he falsely accused Pei and Guo of crimes, and they were put to death. Yu also wanted to kill Yuan Yong, but Cui resisted, so Yuan Yong was only removed from his posts. Later in 515, however, Empress Dowager Hu assumed regency powers and quickly stripped Yu of most of his posts, making Yu the governor of Ji Province. As soon as Yu left the capital, most of his acts were reversed, and Yuan Yong accused him of crimes and asked that he be punished. However, Empress Dowager Hu, because Yu had saved her life before, refused to act against Yu, although she recalled Yuan Yong back to the administration to serve in high capacity.

During Empress Dowager Hu's regency, she tolerated officials' corruption and wealth-gathering, and often added to the wealth-gathering herself by awarding them money and luxuries out of the imperial treasury. Yuan Yong became exceedingly rich at this time, and historians described his wealth as being so great as like a nation's treasury, and he had 6,000 male servants and 500 female servants. While two other princes, Yuan Chen (元琛) the Prince of Hejian and Yuan Rong (元融) the Prince of Zhangwu tried to compete with him, they could not, and it was commonly recognized that Yuan Yong was the richest official at the time. This type of corruption among high level officials had a corrosive effect on Northern Wei's rule, and it was about this time that there began to be large-scale agrarian revolts throughout the empire.

In 520, Empress Dowager Hu's brother-in-law, the general Yuan Cha, along with the eunuch Liu Teng (劉騰) and the palace attendant Hou Gang (侯剛), carried out a coup against her, putting her under house arrest. Yuan Cha, however, was respectful of Yuan Yong, and he remained in a position of power, although Yuan Cha was effectively the regent. In 525, Yuan Yong plotted with both Empress Dowager Hu and Emperor Xiaoming to restore Empress Dowager Hu, and later that year she seized power back from Yuan Cha and forced Yuan Cha to commit suicide. Yuan Yong, as one who participated in her plan, continued in his position of power.