The new emperor appointed his cousin El Tegüs crown prince as he was ward of El Tegüs' mother Empress Dowager Budashiri, but he was controlled by warlords even after El Temür's death. Among them, Bayan became as powerful as El Temür had been. He served as minister of the Secretariat and crushed a rebellion by El Temür's son Tang Ki-se. During his despotic rule, he made several purges and also suspended the imperial examination system. When Toghon Temür tried to promote Lady Ki to secondary wife, which was contrary to the standard practice of only taking secondary wives from Mongol clans, it created such opposition at court to this unheard of promotion for a Korean woman that he was forced to back down. In 1339, when Lady Ki gave birth to a son, whom Toghon Temür decided would be his successor, he was finally able to have Lady Ki named his secondary wife in 1340.
