Zhu Jingmei
Encyclopedia
Zhu Jingmei (d. 885) was an eunuch late in the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 who, after killing Duan Yanmo
Duan Yanmo
Duan Yanmo was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who, from 880 to 882, controlled Jingnan Circuit in conjunction with the eunuch Zhu Jingmei, but later had a fallout with Zhu and was killed by Zhu.- Background :Not much is known about Duan Yanmo's background, as he did not have...

 the military governor (Jiedushi
Jiedushi
The Jiedushi were regional military governors in China during the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. Originally set up to counter external threats, the jiedushi were given enormous power, including the ability to maintain their own armies, collect taxes, and pass their...

) of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou
Jingzhou
Jingzhou is a prefecture-level city in Hubei Province, People's Republic of China. The city is located on the banks of the Yangtze River.Its population is 5,691,707 at the 2010 census whom 1,154,086 in the built up area made of 3 urban districts.-Geography:Jingzhou occupies an area of...

, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...

), became the effective ruling authority for the circuit due to his command of the elite Zhongyong Army (忠勇軍). In 885, however, he was assassinated by Zhang Gui
Zhang Gui (Tang Dynasty)
Zhang Gui was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who controlled Jingnan Circuit from 885 to 888.- Background :...

, who had just forcibly seized the circuit after arresting the Zhu-appointed military governor Chen Ru
Chen Ru
Chen Ru was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who ruled Jingnan Circuit from 882 to 885, most of that time as its military governor...

.

Conflict with Duan Yanmo and takeover of circuit

Little is known about Zhu Jingmei's background, because, although the official histories of Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

, the Book of Tang
Book of Tang
The Book of Tang , Jiu Tangshu or the Old Book of Tang is the first classic work about the Tang Dynasty. The book began when Gaozu of Later Jin ordered its commencement in 941...

and the New Book of Tang
New Book of Tang
The New Book of Tang , is a classic work of history about the Tang Dynasty edited by Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi and other official scholars of the Song Dynasty. The emperor called for a revision of the former Book of Tang in 1044. The New Book was presented to the throne in 1060. It was given its...

, both contained collections of biographies for prominent eunuchs, neither collection contained a biography for Zhu. What is known is that Zhu became the eunuch monitor of the army at Jingnan Circuit sometime in or after 880
880
Year 880 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Religion :* Pope John VIII issues the bull Industriae Tuae, creating an independent ecclesiastical province in Great Moravia with Archbishop Saint Methodius as its head...

 (when Yang Fuguang
Yang Fuguang
Yang Fuguang , formally Duke Zhongsu of Hongnong , was an eunuch general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who was considered a major contributor to the Tang cause in finally defeating Huang Chao's rebellion.- Background :...

 was still the eunuch monitor at Jingnan) and in or before 882
882
Year 882 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Carloman, King of the West Franks, becomes sole king upon the death of his brother....

.

After Zhu took up his position as eunuch monitor at Jingnan, he organized a group of 3,000 elite soldiers into a Zhongyong Army (忠勇軍), under his own command. He also got into conflicts with the military governor Duan Yanmo
Duan Yanmo
Duan Yanmo was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who, from 880 to 882, controlled Jingnan Circuit in conjunction with the eunuch Zhu Jingmei, but later had a fallout with Zhu and was killed by Zhu.- Background :Not much is known about Duan Yanmo's background, as he did not have...

, and Duan planned to kill him. Zhu preemptively acted and, in 882, attacked and killed Duan. He then made the deputy mayor of Jingnan's capital Jiangling Municipality (江陵) acting military governor. Then-reigning Emperor Xizong
Emperor Xizong of Tang
Emperor Xizong of Tang , né Li Yan , later name changed to Li Xuan , was an emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 873 to 888. He was the fifth son of his predecessor Emperor Yizong and was the elder brother of his successor Emperor Zhaozong...

 (who was then at Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...

 after the imperial capital Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...

 had fallen to the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao
Huang Chao
Huang Chao was the leader of the Huang Chao Rebellion , known in mainland China as the Huang Chao Revolution in China that seriously weakened the once mighty Tang Dynasty of China...

), hearing what happened, commissioned the imperial official Zheng Shaoye (鄭紹業), who had previously served as military governor of Jingnan, as military governor. However, Zheng was fearful of Zhu and did not report to Jingnan. Zhu thereafter made the officer Chen Ru
Chen Ru
Chen Ru was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who ruled Jingnan Circuit from 882 to 885, most of that time as its military governor...

 acting military governor, a commission that Emperor Xizong subsequently confirmed; yet later in 884
884
Year 884 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* March 1 – Diego Rodríguez Porcelos founds and repopulates Burgos....

, Emperor Xizong made Chen military governor. It was said that while Zhu was in control of Jingnan, he found excuses to slaughter many officers and merchants and seize their wealths, making himself very wealthy. At one point, when Emperor Xizong tried to recall him and replace him with Yang Xuanhui (楊玄晦), he refused to be recalled and settled down in Jiangling.

Death

In 885
885
Year 885 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* The Vikings besiege Paris.* Godfrith, the Sea King is killed in Lobith...

, Chen Ru, while having been commissioned by Zhu, became weary of the lack of discipline the Zhongyong Army showed, and decided to take action. Previously, when Zheng Shaoye was military governor, he had put the officer Shentu Cong (申屠琮) in command of a group of soldiers to serve in the campaign against Huang Chao. When Shentu and his soldiers returned to Jingnan in 885, Chen informed Shentu of the situation and ordered him to destroy the Zhongyong Army. When the Zhongyong officer Cheng Junzhi (程君之) found out, he tried to take his soldiers and flee to Lang Prefecture (朗州, in modern Changde
Changde
Changde is a city in the north of Hunan Province, China, with a population of 5,717,218 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,232,182 in the built up area made of 2 urban districts .-History:...

, Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...

). Shentu pursued and attacked him, killing more than 100 Zhongyong soldiers on the way and causing the rest to scatter. Shentu thereafter became briefly dominant in the Jingnan Circuit government. Soon thereafter, though, when Chen tried to induce two army officers from Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou
Yangzhou
Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across...

, Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...

) — Zhang Gui
Zhang Gui (Tang Dynasty)
Zhang Gui was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who controlled Jingnan Circuit from 885 to 888.- Background :...

 and Han Shide (韓師德) — to attack the prefect of Lang, Lei Man
Lei Man
Lei Man , courtesy name Bingren , was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who seized control of Lang Prefecture in 881 and controlled it and the surrounding region to accommodate him, who was made military governor until his death in 901...

, who had been repeatedly pillaging the region, Zhang not only did not attack Lei, but instead attacked Jiangling and expelled Chen. Chen tried to flee to Emperor Xizong's court at Chengdu, but Zhang intercepted him and put him under arrest in Jiangling. Thereafter, Zhang became aware of the wealth that Zhu Jingmei had accumulated, and therefore sent soldiers to kill Zhu at his mansion at night and seize Zhu's wealth.
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