Chapter 1

Zhu Jun's career path can be considered a typical route for a poor scholar-official in the Eastern Han dynasty.

In the Han dynasty, the empire was governed with filial piety, and Zhu Jun became famous precisely because of his filial piety, "gaining fame through filial piety and support," which allowed him to enter the bureaucracy as a clerk under the county magistrate.

Although a clerk under the county magistrate was a close subordinate to the county magistrate, he was still a low-ranking official. For someone like Zhu Jun, whose mother was a silk trader and who was not from a scholar-gentry family, it was not easy to advance in his career.

China is an agricultural country with a large population. To ensure that the people could have enough food, the state emphasized agriculture and devalued commerce. During the Han dynasty, merchants were initially not allowed to enter the bureaucracy, and later, those with a market registry were also excluded. The "Seven Categories of Exiles" in the Han dynasty included seven types of people who were conscripted to guard the frontier: "1. Officials who committed crimes, 2. Fugitives, 3. Son-in-law, 4. Merchants, 5. Those who had a market registry, 6. Parents with a market registry, 7. Grandparents with a market registry." From merchants to the seventh category, they were all traders. Zhu Jun's family did not have a market registry, but to advance further in his career, he had to far exceed the ordinary. He catered to the preferences of Du Shang, one of the "Eight Kitchens" of the county magistrate, by stealing his mother's silk to repay a debt to the local man Zhou Gui. When he stole the silk, his family lost its livelihood, and his mother scolded him, but he said, "A small loss will bring a great benefit."

The "Eight Kitchens" and "Eight Jun" were all renowned scholars of the time. They were called "kitchens" because they could "use wealth to save people." His actions earned him Du Shang's admiration, as he had said, "A small loss will bring a great benefit," and Du Shang recommended him to the county administration.

After entering the county administration, he initially held minor positions in the county, but later, when Yin Duan became the governor, he was promoted to the position of chief clerk of the county. The leap from a clerk under the county magistrate to the chief clerk of the county was a significant one. Being promoted to the chief clerk by Yin Duan made him one of Yin Duan's former subordinates. In the Han dynasty, the central authority was not as centralized as in later dynasties, retaining some characteristics of the pre-Qin period. County officials regarded the county governor as their lord, and the county administration was like a small court.

Chen Shi attributed his achievements to the county governor and his mistakes to himself, thereby gaining a good reputation and being highly regarded by scholars and senior officials. When Gong Sun Zan was a clerk under the county magistrate, and the county governor Liu was punished and exiled to Rinan, Gong Sun Zan decided to go with him. He first went to the Northern Mang Mountains to pay respects to his ancestors, saying, "I was once a son, now I am a minister, I must go to Rinan. Rinan is full of miasma, and I may not return, so I bid farewell to my ancestors here." At the time, those who saw him were all moved to tears. This is how he gained a good reputation. The book mentions that when Wen Taishou was punished and sent to the court after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, a person he had previously recommended, who was then the magistrate of a county with excellent performance, immediately resigned and followed him in a prison cart to the capital. This was the prevailing custom at the time. Some people, including Xun Yue, a cousin of Xun Zhen, said that disciples and former subordinates valued their teachers and patrons more than the court, and it was wrong to abandon their official duties for personal feelings. However, despite being criticized by a few enlightened individuals, both the court and the people praised such behavior. When Yin Duan was punished, Zhu Jun did the same. He "dressed in mourning and traveled secretly, carrying hundreds of gold to the capital, bribing the chief clerk," which saved Yin Duan from the death penalty and instead sentenced him to hard labor. Such subordinates and ministers were liked by senior officials, so Zhu Jun was later recommended as a filial and clean official by the next governor.

In the Han dynasty, entering the bureaucracy was through recommendation, and being a filial and clean official was equivalent to being a successful candidate. With the status of a filial and clean official and his previous efforts for Yin Duan, Zhu Jun's career soared. After two promotions, he became the magistrate of Lancheng, a county. The magistrate of a large county was a senior official with a rank of 600 to 1,000 stones. Lancheng, according to legend, was named by the Chu official Qu Yuan, and Xunzi served as the magistrate of Lancheng twice.

This was the arduous path of Zhu Jun, a poor scholar-official, to enter the bureaucracy. It was not easy for him to enter the bureaucracy. Personally, he had vision, was willing to take risks, and made decisive decisions, indeed a rare talent. However, his military command skills were not particularly outstanding.

According to historical records, he experienced multiple wars throughout his life: the Lianglong Rebellion, the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and the Dong Zhuo Rebellion.

Among these rebellions, his suppression of the Lianglong Rebellion was the smoothest, where he forced the surrender of tens of thousands with just 5,000 troops. However, this does not necessarily mean he had outstanding military talent.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he fought against the Yellow Turban army led by Bo Cai and suffered a major defeat. The leaders of the Yellow Turban army, such as Bo Cai, had little military knowledge, as evidenced by their defeat by Huangfu Song's fire attack. Despite this, Zhu Jun still suffered a significant defeat in his first battle, partly due to his small number of troops, most of whom were newly recruited. This also shows that his military talent was not particularly good.

In the battle against the Yellow Turban army in Nanyang, he besieged Wancheng for over a hundred days, from June to August, but could not capture the city. Eventually, the court could not wait and decided to replace him and charge him with a crime. He then "attacked urgently" and beheaded the leader of the Yellow Turban army in Wancheng. Although he beheaded the leader, he still could not capture Wancheng. The Yellow Turban army chose another leader to continue defending the city. Zhu Jun used a strategy, and the Yellow Turban army wanted to surrender. He said, "Accepting surrender does not encourage good behavior, but attacking them will punish evil," and did not accept their surrender. He attacked urgently, but "failed to capture the city in consecutive battles." Finally, he used another strategy to behead the new leader of the Yellow Turban army, but Wancheng was still not completely captured, and he had to attack again.

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, during the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, Zhu Jun fought against Li Jue and Guo Si and was defeated by them. Knowing he could not match them, he stayed at the pass and did not dare to advance. After Dong Zhuo was executed, Zhu Jun was in Zhongmu. The Governor of Xu Province, Tao Qian, and the Administrator of Beihai, Kong Rong, among others, wanted to make him their leader to fight against Li Jue. Li Jue used the strategy of Jia Xu and others to summon him to the court, and he accepted Li Jue's summons. He told Tao Qian and others, "Li Jue and Guo Si are just small men, and Fan Chou is an ordinary person. They have no grand strategy, and their forces are evenly matched. Changes and difficulties are bound to occur. I will take advantage of this to achieve great things." He accepted Li Jue's summons and went to Luoyang, but Tao Qian and others then withdrew. His analysis of Li Jue and Fan Chou was reasonable, but after going to Luoyang, he did not achieve what he had said, "I will take advantage of this to achieve great things," and instead accomplished nothing. In the end, he was held hostage by Li Jue and died of anger.

From the above experiences of Zhu Jun, it can be seen that he was a person with vision, willing to take risks, decisive, and had some military talent, making him a rare talent. However, to call him a famous general is not necessarily accurate.