Conflict with Duan Yanmo and takeover of circuit

Little is known about Zhu Jingmei's background, because, although the official histories of Tang Dynasty, the Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang, 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 (when Yang Fuguang was still the eunuch monitor at Jingnan) and in or before 882.

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, 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 (who was then at Chengdu after the imperial capital Chang'an had fallen to the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao), 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 acting military governor, a commission that Emperor Xizong subsequently confirmed; yet later in 884, 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, 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, Hunan). 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, Jiangsu) — Zhang Gui and Han Shide (韓師德) — to attack the prefect of Lang, Lei Man, 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.

Notes and references

與段彥謨的衝突及奪取荊南

儘管兩唐書都有著名宦官的傳，卻都沒有朱敬玫的傳，故朱敬玫家世不詳，只知道他是在廣明元年880年（當時荊南監軍宦官為楊複光） - 中和二年（882年）間成為荊南監軍宦官的。

朱敬玫成為荊南監軍宦官後，組織三千精兵為「忠勇軍」，並因此和節度使段彥謨衝突，段彥謨想殺掉他。中和二年六月，朱敬玫先發制人，率眾攻殺段彥謨，殺其親屬僚佐，任江陵少尹李燧為留後，且誣陷段彥謨有罪。當時，黃巢農民軍已攻陷長安，逃往成都的唐僖宗聞訊，遣中人似先元錫、王魯琪慰撫，秘密告誡：「若敬玫可誅，誅之，以爾代而魯琪為副。」朱敬玫以盛兵出迎，似先元錫等不敢發作而還。十二月僖宗又讓前任荊南節度使兵部侍郎、判度支同平章事鄭紹業複任荊南節度使。但鄭紹業害怕朱敬玫，不去荊南就職。朱敬玫署任押牙陳儒為留後，並得到僖宗認可。四年（884年）末，僖宗又任陳儒為節度使。朱敬玫控制荊南期間，藉故誅殺很多將領和商人，奪其財物，使自己巨富。

身亡

光啟元年正月，陳儒忌憚忠勇軍暴橫無軍紀卻無以制止，決定採取行動。之前鄭紹業任節度使時，曾派大將申屠琮率軍五千戰黃巢于長安。這一年，申屠琮班師荊南，陳儒與他通信，命他消滅忠勇軍。忠勇軍將程君之（一作程君從）聞訊，試圖率部奔朗州，被申屠琮追及，殺百餘人，餘眾潰散。申屠琮因而暫時控制了荊南軍政。當月，陳儒試圖誘使淮南軍將張瑰、韓師德攻打屢次劫掠荊南的朗州刺史雷滿，但張瑰不但沒有攻打雷滿，還反攻江陵驅逐了陳儒。陳儒想逃到成都投奔僖宗，卻被張瑰截獲，拘押在江陵。僖宗想召朱敬玫去成都而改任楊玄晦，他擔心被治罪，稱病去職，住在江陵。因他曬出很多細絹、錦繡的衣服，張瑰又注意到他積累的財富，乘夜派士兵殺他于其官邸，盡取其財。朱敬玫當時穿著黃衣服，被士兵刺中腹部而死。