Erzhu Zhao

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 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, 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.

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 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 533, 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.