Due to his young age (five) when he ascended the throne at 515, governmental matters were dominated by his mother Empress Dowager Hu (with an intervening regency by the official Yuan Cha from 520 to 525), whose overly lenient attitude toward officials' corruptions spurred many agrarian rebellions that threw essentially the entire state into war.
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He therefore sent secret messengers to the general Erzhu Rong, who controlled the region around Bing Province (并州, modern central Shanxi), ordering him to advance on Luoyang to force Empress Dowager Hu to remove Zheng and Xu.
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In 528, Emperor Xiaoming tried to curb his mother's powers and kill her lover Zheng Yan (鄭儼) by conspiring with the general Erzhu Rong, and Empress Dowager Hu killed him.
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She did so, and after initially announcing that Emperor Xiaoming's "son" by Consort Pan would succeed him, admitted that the "son" was actually a daughter, and instead selected Yuan Zhao the son of Yuan Baohui (元寶暉) the Prince of Lintao, two-years in age, to succeed Emperor Xiaoming.
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He particularly tried to curb the powers of Empress Dowager Hu's brother-in-law Yuan Cha and the eunuch Liu Teng (劉騰).
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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.