 Despite these events, Empress Dowager Hu continued to tolerate corruption, and she often gave exuberant awards to officials, draining the treasury; the pressure on the treasury and the burden on the people were further increased by her orders that each province was to build a tower dedicated to Buddhas.Sometime before 520, Empress Dowager had forced Emperor Xiaoming's uncle Yuan Yi () the Prince of Qinghe, who was popular with the people and the officials because of his abilities and humility, to have an affair with her.Yuan Yi thereafter became the effective leader of government, and he tried to reorganize the administration to decrease corruption.