[2] Thereafter, Zhu was promoted to be a professor at the imperial university (國子監, Guozi Jian), teaching about the version of the Classic of Poetry annotated by the Han dynasty scholar Mao Heng (毛亨).
[2] In 896, though, the imperial official He Ying (何迎) submitted a recommendation to Emperor Zhaozong, claiming that Zhu was as talented as the great Jin dynasty prime minister Xie An.
The Taoist monk Xu Yanshi (許巖士), a close associate of Emperor Zhaozong's due to his medical abilities,[3] also recommended Zhu, claiming that he had economic talent.
[4] By this point, Emperor Zhaozong, who, along with the imperial officers, was then at Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern Weinan, Shaanxi) to flee an attack by the warlord Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi) earlier in the year, was distressed about the state of affairs the Tang realm was in, and had the hope of finding exceptional individuals who could help him govern the state, such that he was willing to promote them in irregularly fast manners.
Soon thereafter, Emperor Zhaozong also made him the acting director of taxation (判戶部, Pan Hubu) and entrusted him with all matters relating to military expenses, in preparation of a campaign against Li Maozhen.