During Emperor Xiaoming's Reign
Erzhu Rong's ancestors were hereditary chiefs of the Qihu (契胡) tribe of Xiongnu extraction, and they used Erzhu as their family name after settling on Erzhu River. Erzhu Rong's great-great-grandfather Erzhu Yujian (爾朱羽健) had assisted Northern Wei's founding emperor Emperor Daowu in his campaigns, and therefore was granted the Xiurong (秀容, in modern Shuozhou, Shanxi) region as the Erzhus' hereditary domain. There, the Erzhus practiced husbandry and became extremely wealthy from the accumulation of livestock.
Erzhu Rong himself was born in 493, during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen. When Erzhu Rong's father Erzhu Xinxing (爾朱新興) grew old, Erzhu Xinxing asked that the chief post be passed to Erzhu Rong, and the imperial government agreed. Erzhu Rong was described to be handsome, resolute, ambitious and capable in military matters, and was particularly strict in military discipline. As he saw the empire begin to degrade during Emperor Xiaoming's reign, he began to consider whether the empire would collapse, and he sold part of his livestock to gather brave warriors around him. He married a distant member of the imperial Yuan clan, the daughter of Yuan Zhen (元禎) the Prince of Nan'an, a brother of Emperor Wencheng.
In 524, as Northern Wei was in the middle of facing a large number of agrarian rebellions, a man from Xiurong, Qifu Moyu (乞伏莫于), started a rebellion as well in Xiurong, and he was soon joined by a shepherd, Wanyu Qizhen (萬于乞真), killing the general Lu Yan (陸延), whom the imperial government had sent against them. Erzhu used his own private forces to defeat Qifu and Wanyu. As a result of this victory, he received a general commission, and he started to further accumulate soldiers, soon engaging in campaigns to defeat more rebels around the region. He thus received increasing authorities and honors, and was by 526 the Duke of Liang Commandery. That year, when he approached the government-held Si Province (肆州, roughly modern Xinzhou, Shanxi), the governor of Si Province, Wei Qingbin (尉慶賓) became apprehensive of his intentions and refused to let him enter. This drew Erzhu's ire, and he attacked Wei, seizing him and commissioning his uncle Erzhu Yusheng (爾朱羽生) as governor without imperial permission. From this point on, it became increasingly difficult for the imperial government to control Erzhu Rong.
Sometime during Emperor Xiaoming's reign, Emperor Xiaoming took Erzhu Rong's daughter Erzhu Ying'e as a concubine.
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