Background
Erzhu Shilong was a cousin of Erzhu Rong and a fellow member of the ethnic Xiongnu Qihu (契胡) tribe, of which Erzhu Rong was chief. (They were at most as close as second cousins, as they did not have the same grandfather.) Unlike Erzhu Rong, who served his entire career as a general and not a civilian official, Erzhu Shilong was part of the imperial administration during the reign of Emperor Xiaoming, although he became a commander of the imperial guards as well.
In 528, Emperor Xiaoming, in a dispute with his mother Empress Dowager Hu over the continued control of the imperial administration along with her lover Zheng Yan (鄭儼) and Zheng's associate Xu Ge (徐紇), conspired with Erzhu Rong to have Erzhu Rong advance on the capital Luoyang to force Empress Dowager Hu to yield power. When Empress Dowager Hu discovered this, she poisoned Emperor Xiaoming to death and made his distant toddler nephew, Yuan Zhao, emperor. Erzhu Rong immediately denounced her publicly. In order to try to calm Erzhu Rong, Empress Dowager Hu sent Erzhu Shilong to him to try to explain her actions, and while Erzhu Rong wanted to keep Erzhu Shilong with him, Erzhu Shilong chose to return to Luoyang, reasoning that if he did not, Empress Dowager Hu would be aware that Erzhu Rong was planning to attack Luoyang and would take precautions.
Erzhu Rong soon advanced quickly on Luoyang; as he did, Erzhu Shilong secretly fled out of Luoyang and joined him at Shangdang (上黨, in modern Changzhi, Shanxi). Empress Dowager Hu's forces surrendered without significant combat. Erzhu Rong made Yuan Ziyou the Prince of Changle emperor (as Emperor Xiaozhuang), while throwing Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Zhao into the Yellow River to drown. He also slaughtered a large number of imperial officials, and he installed a number of his close associates, among whom was Erzhu Shilong, into high positions in the imperial government.
Read more about this topic: Erzhu Shilong
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