Erzhu Shilong (爾朱世隆) (500 – 20 May 532[1]), courtesy name Rongzong (榮宗), was an official of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China.
When the general Gao Huan, in turn, rebelled in response to Emperor Xiaozhuang's death, the officials in the imperial capital Luoyang rebelled against the Erzhus, and Erzhu Shilong was executed after failing to flee Luoyang.
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.
Erzhu Shilong, initially fearing that he was not capable for the position, spent much time and energy studying the laws and regulations, and reformed the system so that it was no longer strictly seniority-based.
In 529, when Yuan Hao the Prince of Beihai, claimed the throne with the support by rival Liang Dynasty's troops, and Yuan Hao invaded and advanced toward Luoyang, Emperor Xiaozhuang made Erzhu Shilong be in charge of the key fortress of Hulao (虎牢, in modern Zhengzhou, Henan).
Erzhu Shilong, however, lacked military talent, and when the Liang general Chen Qingzhi (陳慶之) captured the nearby city of Yingyang (滎陽, also in modern Zhengzhou), Erzhu Shilong, in panic, abandoned Hulao and fled back to Luoyang, causing Emperor Xiaozhuang to flee the capital.
Erzhu Rong's strategist Sima Ziru (司馬子如) advised Erzhu Shilong that he needed to quickly make a show of strength to Emperor Xiaozhuang before doing so, and Erzhu Shilong therefore attacked and seized both Beizhong (北中, a fortress directly north of Luoyang across the Yellow River) and the Yellow River bridge connecting Luoyang and Beizhong.
Emperor Xiaozhuang's troops and the Erzhus' troops stalemated for half a month, before an ambush by Emperor Xiaozhuang's official Li Miao (李苗) destroyed the Yellow River bridge, causing Erzhu Shilong to decide to march north.
Erzhu Shilong met with Erzhu Zhao at Zhangzi (長子, in modern Changzhi, Shanxi), and they jointly declared Princess Beixiang's nephew Yuan Ye the Prince of Changguang emperor, as a competing candidate for the throne.
Erzhu Tianguang proposed Yuan Gong the Prince of Guangling, a grandson of Emperor Xianwen, who had been well regarded by the populace.
Erzhu Shilong, by this point, had grown complacent and arrogant, and no longer paid as much attention to handling his duties as well as he had done during Emperor Xiaozhuang's reign.
The general Gao Huan, who had been a follower of Erzhu Rong, believed that the Erzhus could be overthrown, and rebelled in summer 531.
Gao subsequently defeated him, and, brushing his army aside, continued to advance south, entering the important city Yecheng in spring 532.