Yuan Zai
At that time, the most powerful chancellor at court was Yuan Zai, who was deeply trusted by Emperor Xuanzong and who had, through his use of power, drawn other officials to associate with him. Yang, however, would not associate with Yuan, and Yuan, wanting to remove Yang from his important post, acted as if he wanted to honor Yang for his reputation and for his seniority, made Yang the principal of the imperial university (國子祭酒, "Guozi Jijiu") in 770 and replaced Yang with a corrupt associate, Xu Hao (徐浩). Eventually, Emperor Daizong made Yang, known for his frugality, the minister of worship (太常卿, "Taichang Qing"), hoping that he could help to change the wasteful customs among the officials at the time.