building Jinglun Palace (靜輪宮), intended to be so high that it would be quiet and close to the gods. (Emperor Taiwu's crown prince Tuoba Huang, a Buddhist, opposed the construction project on the basis of cost, but Emperor Taiwu disagreed with him. This might be the first sign of growing tensions between Cui and the crown prince.) In 444, similarly to how his father had transferred authority to him early, Emperor Taiwu transferred much of his authority to Crown Prince Huang. Also similarly to what his father had done, he made several of his key officials Crown Prince Huang's advisors, and Cui was among those officials. This did not appear to cause the relationship between Cui and the crown prince to warm, however. Also in 444, Cui was involved in a major political event. Dugu Jie (獨孤絜), a high-level official, who had opposed attacking Rouran, was accused by Cui Hao of being so jealous of Cui, whose suggestions of attacking Rouran were accepted by Emperor Taiwu, that he sabotaged Emperor Taiwu's war efforts by giving the generals the wrong times for rendezvous, and then further planning to have Emperor Taiwu captured by Rouran and then making Emperor Taiwu's brother Tuoba Pi (拓拔丕) the Prince of Leping emperor. Emperor Taiwu put Dugu to death, and Tuoba Pi died from anxiety. Further, because Dugu implicated them while being interrogated, fellow officials Zhang Song (張嵩) and Kudi Lin (庫狄鄰) were also put to death. In 446, the Xiongnu rebel Gai Wu (蓋吳) rose in the Guanzhong region, and when Emperor Taiwu personally attacked Gai, he found weapons in Buddhist temples and believed that Buddhists were conspiring against him. Cui, who despised Buddhism, fanned the flames, and Emperor Taiwu first slaughtered the Buddhist monks in Chang'an. Cui then, despite Kou Qianzhi's opposition, suggested to Emperor Taiwu to slaughter all monks in the empire. Emperor Taiwu proceeded to slaughter the monks in Chang'an, destroy the statues, and burn the sutras. He then issued an empire-wide prohibition of Buddhism. Crown Prince Huang, however, used delaying tactics in promulgating the edict, allowing Buddhists to flee or hide, but it was said that not a single Buddhist temple remained standing in Northern Wei. This was the first of the Three Disasters of Wu. In 447, after receiving reports that Juqu Mujian was planning a rebellion, Emperor Taiwu sent Cui Hao to the residence that Juqu Mujian shared with