Zhu Ju

Life

Zhu Ju was from Wu County (吳縣), Wu Commandery (吳郡), which is in present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu. He was described as good-looking, physically strong, and adept in debating. In the early 220s, he was recruited by Sun Quan, the King of Wu, to serve as an Attendant of Miscellaneous Affairs (五官郎中) and Imperial Clerk (侍御史). Around the time, Ji Yan (曁豔), a Master of Writing (尚書) in the Selection Bureau (選曹), wanted to dismiss several officials because he perceived them to be corrupt and incompetent. However, Zhu Ju disagreed with Ji Yan because he was worried that the abrupt dismissal of so many officials would lead to instability in the Wu government. He urged Ji Yan to not penalise those officials for their transgressions, and instead allow them to remain in office to make amends for their mistakes. He also suggested that Ji Yan praise the honest and hardworking officials and give encouragement to the underperforming ones. Ji Yan refused to listen to Zhu Ju and met his downfall later.

When Sun Quan considered the calibre of his subjects, he often experienced feelings of frustration and regret because he missed Lü Meng (died in 220) and Zhang Wen (deposed in 224) and could not find anyone to succeed them. Later, he felt that Zhu Ju was proficient in handling both civil and military affairs, and had the potential to inherit the legacies of Lü Meng and Zhang Wen. As such, he appointed Zhu Ju as Colonel Who Establishes Righteousness (建義校尉) and ordered him to garrison at Hushu (湖孰; in present-day Jiangning District, Nanjing, Jiangsu).

In 229, after Sun Quan declared himself emperor and established the state of Eastern Wu with its capital in Jianye (in present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu), he arranged for Zhu Ju to marry his daughter Sun Luyu (孫魯育). Zhu Ju was also promoted to General of the Left (左將軍) and enfeoffed as the Marquis of Yunyang (雲陽侯).

During the Jiahe era (232–238) in Sun Quan's reign, large copper coins were manufactured in Wu, with each large coin equivalent in value to 500 small coins. Zhu Ju's unit was to receive a salary of 30,000 strings of coins, but the coppersmith Wang Sui (王遂) secretly took some of the coins for himself. Zhu Ju's unit was paid less than expected. Lü Yi (呂壹), the zhongshu dianxiao lang (中書典校郎; a supervisor in the bureau in charge of auditing official documents), suspected Zhu Ju of embezzling military funds, so he had the finance officer in Zhu's unit arrested and interrogated. The officer died under torture during the interrogation. Zhu Ju felt that the officer died a wrongful death so he had the officer properly buried. Lü Yi wrote to Sun Quan and claimed that Zhu Ju conspired with the finance officer to embezzle military funds and the fact that Zhu had the officer properly buried served as evidence of the conspiracy. When Zhu Ju was repeatedly summoned to meet Sun Quan for questioning, he was unable to explain himself so he laid down on a straw mat to await his fate. Some months later, another inspector Liu Zhu (劉助) discovered the truth and reported that the coppersmith Wang Sui was actually the culprit, thereby clearing Zhu Ju's name. Sun Quan was very moved when he learnt the truth and he said, "Even Zhu Ju fell victim to injustice, much less other officials and the people." He then punished Lü Yi and rewarded Liu Zhu with a million coins.

In 246, Zhu Ju was promoted to General of Agile Cavalry (驃騎將軍). Three years later, he was appointed as the Imperial Chancellor (丞相) in addition to his role as General of Agile Cavalry. Around the time, there was a rivalry between two of Sun Quan's sons – Sun He, the Crown Prince, and Sun Ba, the Prince of Lu – over the succession to their father's throne. Zhu Ju was very open and vocal in pledging his support to Sun He, whom he deemed the legitimate heir apparent. Sun Quan reassigned him to be an Assistant (丞) in the office of Xindu Commandery (新都郡; around present-day Chun'an County, Zhejiang). While he was on his way to Xindu, Sun Hong (孫弘), the Prefect of the Palace Writers (中書令), slandered him in front of Sun Quan. At the time, Sun Quan was seriously ill, so Sun Hong took advantage of the situation to forge an imperial decree in Sun Quan's name, ordering Zhu Ju to commit suicide. Zhu Ju followed the decree and took his own life. He was 57 (by East Asian age reckoning) when he died.

Family

Zhu Ju married Sun Quan's daughter Sun Luyu (孫魯育). She remarried Liu Zuan (劉纂) after Zhu Ju's death.

Zhu Ju had two sons, Zhu Xiong (朱熊) and Zhu Sun (朱損), who were commissioned as military officers during the reign of Sun Liang. Sun Luban (Sun Luyu's sister) slandered them in front of Sun Liang during the political turmoil involving Sun Chen, resulting in both Zhu Xiong and Zhu Sun being killed. Zhu Sun married a younger sister of Sun Jun (Sun Chen's cousin).

During the reign of Sun Xiu, Zhu Ju was posthumously honoured for his contributions to Wu. Zhu Ju and Sun Luyu's daughter, Empress Zhu, married Sun Xiu. Besides, Zhu Ju's grandson Zhu Xuan (朱宣; Zhu Xiong's son) inherited his grandfather's title "Marquis of Yunyang" and married a princess. He was appointed as General of Agile Cavalry (驃騎將軍) during the reign of Sun Hao.

Appraisal

Zhu Ju was known for being polite and humble. He was also very generous with his wealth and used it to help the needy, to the point where he was often short of money even though he received a high salary. Chen Shou, who wrote Zhu Ju's biography in the Sanguozhi, appraised Zhu and Wu Can as follows, "Wu Can and Zhu Ju met with unlucky fates and died in the name of righteousness. What a pity!"