Under Erzhu Rongs command

Erzhu Zhao was Erzhu Rong's nephew, and when he was young, he was known for his valor, physical strength and expertise in riding and archery, he was said to excel in armed combat so much that he could fight fierce beasts with his bare hands. One of Erzhu Rong's favorite activities as the chief of the Xiongnu Qihu (契胡) tribe was hunting, and of all his attendants, only Erzhu Zhao was able to keep up with him on hunts. Erzhu Rong therefore favored him greatly. However, once, when Erzhu Rong was asking his commanders for opinions on who could succeed him as the commanding general of the army if he were no longer there, most commanders opined that Erzhu Zhao could, but Erzhu Rong himself opined that Gao Huan was the only one capable of doing so, and he warned Erzhu Zhao, "You are no match for Gao Huan, and one day he will surely pierce through your nose." He also commented that Erzhu Zhao would be undefeatable as long as he commanded a cavalry force under 3,000 men—and that if he commanded more, his army would be in a state of confusion.

Later, after Erzhu Rong overthrew Emperor Xiaoming's mother Empress Dowager Hu, after she poisoned Emperor Xiaoming and made Emperor Xiaozhuang emperor, Erzhu Rong became the paramound general of the empire, and Erzhu Zhao became a major general under him. Emperor Xiaozhuang created him the Duke of Yingchuan. He participated in the campaign by Erzhu Rong's associate Yuan Tianmu (元天穆) against the rebel Xing Gao (邢杲) in 529, and subsequently, when Emperor Xiaozhuang was expelled from the capital Luoyang later that year by the competing claimant for the throne, Yuan Hao (who was supported by rival Liang Dynasty), Erzhu Zhao helped break the stalemate between Yuan Hao's troops and Erzhu Rong's troops by making a surprise attack against Yuan Hao's son Yuan Guanshou (元冠受), causing Yuan Hao's forces to collapse and Yuan Hao to flee, allowing Emperor Xiaozhuang to be restored. By 530, Erzhu Zhao was serving as the governor of Fen Province (汾州, roughly modern Linfen, Shanxi), near Erzhu Rong's headquarters at Jinyang (晉陽, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi).

Campaign against Emperor Xiaozhuang

In 530, Emperor Xiaozhuang, apprehensive that Erzhu Rong would one day seize the throne, ambushed him in the palace at Luoyang and killed him and Yuan Tianmu. Erzhu Rong's wife Princess Beixiang and cousin Erzhu Shilong fought their way out of Luoyang and initially battled with Emperor Xiaozhuang's troops outside of Luoyang, but eventually withdrew north across the Yellow River. Erzhu Zhao met them at Zhangzi (長子, in modern Changzhi, Shanxi), and they jointly declared Princess Beixiang's nephew Yuan Ye the Prince of Changguang, a distant member of the imperial Yuan clan, emperor, to compete with Emperor Xiaozhuang.

Despite the opposition of Gao Huan (who subsequently refused to participate in the campaign), Erzhu Rong advanced south to the Yellow River. Then, surprising Emperor Xiaozhuang, he quickly crossed the Yellow River, entering Luoyang and capturing Emperor Xiaozhuang. He allowed his soldiers to pillage the capital and kill many imperial officials, and he also killed the son of Emperor Xiaozhuang and Erzhu Rong's daughter, Empress Erzhu Ying'e. He then had Emperor Xiaozhuang delivered to Jinyang and, despite Gao's warning not to do so, strangled Emperor Xiaozhuang to death.

Subsequent control of power

In light of the Erzhus' victory, they controlled the government, and Erzhu Zhao was recognized as the supreme military authority, and Yuan Ye created him the Prince of Yinchuan. (Yuan Ye also created Erzhu Zhao's daughter empress, although it is not clear whether Yuan Ye only married her at this point or had already married her previously.) However, he did not have as much control over the clan as Erzhu Rong did, and the imperial government largely was controlled by Erzhu Shilong. Erzhu Zhao himself controlled the provinces north of the Yellow River, while his cousin Erzhu Tianguang controlled the Guanzhong region, and Erzhu Shilong's brother Erzhu Zhongyuan (爾朱仲遠) controlled the southeastern provinces. Erzhu Zhao set up his headquarters at Jinyang, where Erzhu Rong's headquarters had been.

Around the new year 531, the general Gedouling Bufan (紇豆陵布番), who had been loyal to Emperor Xiaozhuang, attacked Erzhu Zhao from the north, and after scoring victories over him, approached Jinyang. Erzhu Zhao was fearful, and sought aid from Gao Huan. Gao agreed to help him, and together they defeated and killed Gedouling. In light of this joint victory, Erzhu Zhao and Gao swore to be brothers, and he, trusting Gao's faithfulness, gave the remnants of the rebel Ge Rong (葛榮), largely ethnic Xianbei, to Gao—a decision that he would regret later.

In spring 531, after Yuan Ye arrived in Luoyang, Erzhu Shilong and Erzhu Tianguang, believing that Yuan Ye was too distantly related to the line of recent emperors and lacking in good reputation, forced Yuan Ye to yield the throne to Yuan Gong the Prince of Guangling (who took the throne as Emperor Jiemin). Because Erzhu Shilong did not first consult with Erzhu Zhao, Erzhu Zhao became angry and considered attacking Erzhu Shilong. Erzhu Zhao only calmed down and accepted the situation after Erzhu Shilong sent his brother Erzhu Yanbo (爾朱彥伯) to Jinyang to explain the decision to him.

Defeat by Gao Huan and death

In summer 531, Gao Huan, believing that the Erzhus had become overly corrupt and therefore vulnerable, decided to rebel. He declared another distant member of the Yuan clan, Yuan Lang, emperor, to compete with Emperor Jiemin. When the Erzhu forces converged at Guang'a (廣阿, in modern Xingtai, Hebei) to face Gao, Gao used false rumors to make them suspicious of each other—by making Erzhu Zhao believe that Erzhu Shilong and his brothers were conspiring against him, and by making Erzhu Shilong and Erzhu Zhongyuan believing that Erzhu Zhao was conspiring with Gao. As a result, after a major quarrel between Erzhu Zhao and Erzhu Zhongyuan, Erzhu Zhongyuan and Erzhu Rong's cousin Erzhu Dulü (爾朱度律) withdrew, leaving Erzhu Zhao, albeit with still a much larger army than Gao's, alone against Gao. Gao subsequently defeated him, and, brushing his army aside, continued to advance south, entering the important city Yecheng in spring 532.

The Erzhu forces recoalesced, and to cement the unity, under Erzhu Shilong's suggestion, Emperor Jiemin married another daughter of Erzhu Zhao as his empress. Erzhu Zhao thereafter made a counterattack, trying to capture Yecheng, but was defeated by Gao. After the defeat, instead of turning his army back to Luoyang to join with Erzhu Shilong and Erzhu Tianguang (who had by this point arrived from his base in Chang'an), Erzhu Zhao returned to Jinyang. Meanwhile, the general Husi Chun rose against the Erzhus at Luoyang, killing Erzhu Shilong and Erzhu Yanbo and capturing Erzhu Tianguang and Erzhu Dulü, delivering them to Gao, who subsequently killed them after entering Luoyang. Erzhu Zhongyuan fled to Liang, leaving Erzhu Zhao as the only member of the Erzhu clan still remaining with a significant force. He withdrew from Jinyang and set up his new headquarters at Xiurong (秀容, in modern Shuozhou, Shanxi), the old territory of the Qihu tribe.

In spring 532, Gao, after making Erzhu Zhao relax by making multiple announcements of attacks but then not attacking, launched a surprise attack on Xiurong and defeated Erzhu Zhao's forces. Erzhu Zhao fled into the mountains, but, finding his escape route cut off, initially ordered his attendants Zhang Liang (張亮) and Chen Shanti (陳山提) to kill him. When Zhang and Chen could not bear doing so, he hanged himself on a tree after killing his war horse. Gao buried him with honors.

生平

契胡部酋長爾朱榮之侄，為人頗為勇猛，手格猛獸，毫無畏懼，險峻崎嶇之地皆能跨越自如，同時也是優秀的騎軍將領，尤擅小規模部隊突擊穿插作戰。爾朱兆本人作戰時常居鋒首，與士卒同戰，當時軍中諸將包括爾朱榮在內都很佩服爾朱兆的勇猛。530年爾朱榮被北魏孝莊帝元子攸所殺，爾朱兆與爾朱世隆等族人改立爾朱榮的妻子北鄉公主的侄子長廣王元曄，以爾朱兆女為皇后，據晉陽起兵攻陷洛陽，在城內縱兵大掠，殺掉臨淮王元彧、范陽王元誨等人。爾朱兆在宮內宿營，鎖魏帝於永寧寺樓上，遍淫宮內王妃公主。不久，爾朱兆親手把孝莊帝絞死於晉陽三級佛寺之中，又殺陳留王元寬；後來爾朱世隆又改立廣陵王元恭，是為節閔帝，迫使元曄禪位。爾朱兆聞訊大怒，想攻打爾朱世隆，但在爾朱世隆派爾朱彥伯解釋後中止。同年十月，河西牧子費也頭率兵南下，爾朱兆命高歡出兵，高歡再三猶豫，後以聯兵擊敗費也頭，升為冀州刺史，統率六鎮約二十萬流民。531年八月，高歡在信都起兵反抗爾朱家，立元朗為帝，高昂等漢兵奮勇衝殺，在廣阿大敗爾朱兆二十萬大軍，爾朱兆逃回晉陽。高歡揮師南下，包圍了鄴城，相州刺史劉誕據城抵抗，雙方相持不下，高歡命士兵挖掘地道，使城牆塌陷，遂陷鄴城。

永熙元年（532年）三月，爾朱兆、爾朱天光、爾朱度律、爾朱仲遠等合軍二十萬進攻高歡。高歡以逸待勞，命封隆之留守鄴城，以三萬兵力出城到紫陌，命部隊布成圓陣，連接牛驢擋住歸道，廝殺勝出，重創爾朱軍，乘勝進據魏都洛陽，史稱韓陵戰役。高歡進入洛陽，斬爾朱度律及爾朱天光，另立元修為帝，稱之北魏孝武帝，並接受元修任命為大丞相。同年七月，高歡兵發三路，親率大軍十萬殺向晉陽，爾朱兆倉皇捨棄晉陽，退到北秀容川。爾朱天光派爾朱顯壽鎮守長安，宇文泰智破長安，在華陰（今陝西大荔）將爾朱顯壽誅之。爾朱兆退回秀容郡，四處搶掠。

永熙二年（533年）一月，高歡派竇泰出擊秀容郡，一日一夜行三百里，高歡以大軍隨後，爾朱兆正在庭中宴會，突聞歡軍馳至，倉皇驚走，高歡軍襲破爾朱兆於秀榮城，爾朱兆僅率張亮等數騎逃至赤谼嶺，命張亮及侍衛陳山提斬己首投降，左右不忍。遂殺所乘白馬，自縊於樹，張亮伏屍痛哭，餘部降高歡。慕容紹宗不久也向高歡歸降。高歡在梁郡岢嵐南山擒住爾朱兆的弟弟爾朱智虎，但赦免了他。

資料來源