Background
Despite Zheng Yin's high status, little is firmly established about his career except for the 705 to 710 time period—as, unusual for a chancellor, he did not have a biography in either the Book of Tang or the New Book of Tang. It is known that he was not a member of the more prominent branches of the Zheng family that had served as officials since Northern Wei, but was from Cang Prefecture (滄州, roughly modern Cangzhou, Hebei). His father Zheng Xuansheng (鄭玄昇) served as a prefectural prefect. He passed the imperial examinations. It was said that during the reign of Wu Zetian, Zheng YIn was an associate of her lovers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong and had served as Dianzhong Shi Yushi (殿中侍御史), a low level imperial censor.
Read more about this topic: Zheng Yin (Early Tang)
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