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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.
As she served as the wet nurse to the emperor Gao Wei, she became exceedingly powerful during his reign, at times eclipsing in importance his mother Empress Dowager Hu, and was often criticized by historians for her corruption and treachery.
This, however, drew resentment from the populace, and after Emperor Xiaoming's death in 528 and the subsequent overthrowing of Emperor Xiaoming's mother Empress Dowager Hu by the general Erzhu Rong, Erzhu had him and over 2,000 other officials slaughtered at Heyin (河陰, in modern Luoyang, Henan).
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.
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.
He particularly tried to curb the powers of Empress Dowager Hu's brother-in-law Yuan Cha and the eunuch Liu Teng (劉騰).
When this plot was discovered, Empress Dowager Hu poisoned Emperor Xiaoming and installed Yuan Zhao, a young child of an imperial prince, as emperor.
In 528, with Empress Dowager Hu and Emperor Xiaoming in a conflict after Emperor Xiaoming wanted to put Empress Dowager Hu's lover Zheng Yan (鄭儼) to death by conspiring with the general Erzhu Rong, Empress Dowager Hu poisoned Emperor Xiaoming and put the young child Yuan Zhao, a great-grandson of Emperor Xiaowen from a collateral line, on the throne.
He made Yuan Xie's son Yuan Ziyou emperor (as Emperor Xiaozhuang) and threw Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Zhao into the Yellow River to drown.
The general Erzhu Rong, with whom Emperor Xiaoming had conspired against Empress Dowager Hu, refused to recognize Yuan Zhao as emperor, quickly descending on the capital Luoyang with his troops and declaring a son of Emperor Xiaowen's brother Yuan Xie, Yuan Ziyou, emperor (as Emperor Xiaozhuang).