Because of Zhao Yan's contribution to the succession of Zhu Youzhen (who later changed his name to Zhu Zhen), Zhu made him the director of material pricing (租庸使,
Zuyongshi), as well as acting minister of census (戶部尚書,
Hubu Shangshu). Because of his contributions and familial relationship to the emperor, Zhao Yan became arrogant and publicly received bribes and gifts, making him very wealthy. Admiring the example of the Tang dynasty
chancellor Du Cong, who was also the husband of a princess, he lived luxuriously. In 917, it was at Zhao's suggestion that Zhu Zhen planned a grand ceremony near Luoyang to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth — a traditional ceremony for emperors — despite contrary advice by the chancellor
Jing Xiang, who pointed out that the state could not afford the expenses of the ceremony and the required stipends to be paid to the soldiers attending the ceremony. (However, the ceremony was ultimately cancelled when (false) rumors came that Daliang had fallen to Jin forces, causing Zhu Zhen to cancel the ceremony and return to Daliang to quell the rumors.) Other acts of Zhu Zhen's that Zhao was blamed for included the commission of the corrupt
Li Qi as chancellor, as well as the commission of bandit-turned-general Wen Zhaotu () as the military governor (
Jiedushi) of Kuangguo Circuit (匡國, headquartered in modern
Xuchang,
Henan), whom he considered a friend. In 923, Later Liang and
Later Tang — i.e., Jin, as in 923
Li Cunxu the Prince of Jin declared himself emperor of Tang and his state was thereafter known as Later Tang — forces were engaged in intense battles on and near the two states' borders on the
Yellow River. After a devastating loss of Yun Prefecture (鄆州, in modern
Tai'an,
Shandong) to a Later Tang surprise attack led by the Later Tang emperor's adoptive brother
Li Siyuan, Zhu, at Jing's recommendation, commissioned the capable general
Wang Yanzhang as the supreme commander of the Later Liang forces, and Wang was able to achieve some victories over Later Tang forces. However, as Wang was known to have despised Zhao and the Zhangs for their wrong advice to the emperor, Zhao and the Zhangs repeatedly defamed him and credited the victories to his deputy commander,
Duan Ning. As a result, Zhu removed Wang and made Duan the supreme commander. Duan formulated an ambitious four-prong counterattack against Later Tang, with the main forces being put under the command of Duan himself and
Du Yanqiu, to confront the Later Tang emperor himself in Tianxiong territory. The Later Tang emperor took the advice of the former Later Liang officer
Kang Yanxiao and his chief of staff
Guo Chongtao, crossed the Yellow River to rendezvous with Li Siyuan, and then engaged one of the weaker prongs of Duan's four-prong attack, which was under the command of Wang and Zhang Hanjie. He crushed Wang's and Zhang's army and captured then, and then directly headed for Daliang, which was left defenseless in Duan's attack plan. Zhu considered fleeing to Luoyang, but Zhao pointed out if he tried to flee, the imperial guards might mutiny, so he did not do so, but stayed at Daliang, futilely waiting for Duan to return to save him, but Duan was not able to. Meanwhile, despite his advice to the emperor, Zhao himself planned to flee. Believing that his friendship with Wen meant that Wen would shelter him, he fled to Kuangguo's capital Xu Prefecture (). (Shortly after Zhao fled, Zhu Zhen, with the Later Tang army approaching, committed suicide, ending Later Liang.) Wen initially welcomed Zhao warmly and hid him in the mansion, and then killed him, presenting his head to the Later Tang emperor. ==Painting==