 Yang kept Zhu under him at Yang Prefecture, where he developed a reputation for willingness to execute people for offenses.At that time, there was much banditry at Yang Prefecture, but Yang wanted to appear lenient, so whenever bandits were captured, he would release them and allow them to take their plunders, stating to them, "Do not let Zhu Yanshou know about this," but instead secretly informing Zhu himself so that Zhu would arrest and kill them.In 894, Wu Tao () the prefect of Huang Prefecture (黃州, in modern Wuhan, Hubei), who was under Du Hong the military governor of Wuchang Circuit (武昌, headquartered in modern Wuhan), offered to submit to Yang Xingmi.