Who is more powerful, Zhou Yu or Zhuge Liang

Readers familiar with the story of Romance of the Three Kingdoms know that Zhou Yu is portrayed as narrow-minded and jealous of the wise and capable in the novel. He was played with by Zhuge Liang in a series of plays and eventually died of anger. Before his death, he expressed his feelings of being born as Yu but not as bright as Liang. There is another version of the folk story, which is that Zhou Yu was not actually angry to death. He hid in a coffin with air holes left on it. On the occasion of Zhuge Liang’s funeral, he planned to send a signal to the swordsman to kill Zhuge Liang. However, Zhuge Liang discovered this and broke a small candle to block the air hole in order to prevent his lord Liu Bei’s plan to attack Sichuan and Shu from being obstructed.
Of course, these popular plots mentioned above were fabricated by later generations. So, who is more powerful than Zhou Yu or Zhuge Liang in real history? The following article compares who is more powerful by elaborating on some events that have occurred in history.
Zhou Yu was born in 175 AD and Zhuge Liang was born in 181 AD. When they met, Zhou Yu was 34 years old and Zhuge Liang was 28 years old. So, the image of Zhuge Liang as an old man and Zhou Yu as a young man in ancient Chinese opera is not very accurate.
Zhuge Liang was born into a family of scholars in Langya County, Xuzhou (now Linyi, Shandong) during the Eastern Han Dynasty. By the time of Zhuge Liang’s father, his generation had already declined. At the age of 13, the people of his hometown were slaughtered by Cao Cao and had no choice but to seek refuge in Nanyang County, Jingzhou, where he learned his skills. Although he risked his life in times of chaos, he did not seek fame and fortune from the feudal lords. But in my heart, I also want to restore the Han Dynasty and rebuild a prosperous era. At the age of 27, he met Liu Bei and planned a Longzhong match for him, who had been defeated for a lifetime, crossing Jingzhou Yizhou and competing with Sun Quan and Cao Cao. In later history, although the Liu Bei Group was taken over by the Sun Quan Group from Jingzhou, the tripartite structure continued until the end of the Three Kingdoms period.
Zhou Yu was born into a prominent family in Lujiang County (now Hefei, Anhui) in the Huainan region. Although his father Zhou Yi was of the same age as Cao Cao, he held the position of mayor of Luoyang and was once Cao Cao’s immediate superior. The families of Zhou Yu and Sun Jian have been close for generations. Sun Jian’s son, Sun Ce, was born in the same year as Zhou Yu, and Sun Quan was one year younger than Zhuge Liang. After Sun Jian’s death, Zhou Yu began to assist Sun Ce and Sun Quan in the Jiangdong region, beginning his military career.
Before the Battle of Red Cliffs began, Zhuge Liang was a civil servant under Liu Bei, and Zhou Yu was a military general under Sun Quan. Zhuge Liang was a novice, and Zhou Yu made outstanding military achievements. Facing the common enemy Cao Cao, the Sun Liu alliance was established. A great fire broke out in the Red Cliffs, burning the 55 year old Cao Cao back to the north. Many readers say that after the Battle of Red Cliffs, a three legged balance was basically formed, but this article does not think so. This article argues that there were seven Warring States heroes in the late Warring States period, and there were also seven Han heroes in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. They are Cao Cao from Kanto, Gong Sunyuan from Liaodong, Han Sui from Guanzhong, Ma Chao from Longyou, Zhang Lu from Hanzhong, Liu Zhang from Yizhou, Sun Quan from Jiangdong, and the smallest territory is only Liu Qi from Jiangxia Commandery in Jingzhou. Liu Bei is a nominal subordinate of Liu Qi.
In fact, Cao Cao did not suffer a major blow to his vitality. He planned to use the strategy of farming to recuperate for a few years before attacking Ma Chao and Han Sui in Xiliang. I want to conquer Guanzhong and go straight down to Sichuan and Shu to surround the Sun Liu alliance. At this time, Zhou Yu also proposed a bolder three legged strategy:
At that time, there were seven counties in Jingzhou, including Nanyang County and Xiangyang County on the north bank of the Yangtze River. South Commandery, Jiangxia Commandery, Changsha Commandery, Wuling Commandery, and Guilin Commandery on the south bank of the Yangtze River. Except for one Jiangxia commandery under the control of Liu Qi, all others were in the hands of Cao Wei, especially Nan commandery. Cao Cao deployed heavy troops and was guarded by his cousin Cao Ren. Nanjun also has a geographical advantage, with direct access to Xichuan and Yizhou. The other counties in Jingzhou are actually irrelevant.
Zhou Yu’s strategy is to capture Nanjun, directly take Xichuan, and form an alliance with Ma Chao. Zhou Yu helped Ma Chao train the navy, Ma Chao helped Zhou Yu train the cavalry, and ultimately they attacked and devoured Cao Cao together. Sun Quan agreed, so he began to feign an attack on Hefei, using a straw boat and arrows to play a trick on Cao Cao. Cao Cao exclaimed that having a child should be like Sun Zhongmou. Then, Zhou Yu began to launch a strong attack on Nanjun, and after a year, he finally drove away the Cao army and captured Nanjun. During this period, Zhou Yu took the lead in boosting morale and was unable to leave the front line after being shot in the stomach.
After Zhou Yu captured Nanjun, one thing made him even angrier and his injuries worsened. Liu Bei took advantage of Zhou Yu’s attack on Nanjun, and this old boy actually used Liu Qi’s name to take over the four counties of Jingnan and the original Jiangxia county, totaling five counties. His territory was already quite large.
When Liu Bei learned about Zhou Yu’s strategy, he took a cold breath. Liu Bei suggested to Sun Quan not to rush to attack Xichuan. Currently, Cao Cao is the number one enemy of major separatist forces, and all forces that can be united should be united to fight against Cao Cao, including Liu Zhang from Yizhou. He requested Sun Quan to lend him the Nan Commandery that Zhou Yu had painstakingly conquered. He and Liu Zhang are both descendants of the Han dynasty and should be able to agree to form an alliance.
So what did Sun Quan and the Jiangdong gentry think? Zhou Yu’s strategy is indeed tempting, but the Jiangdong gentry only want to protect themselves and are not interested. For Sun Quan, Cao Cao’s threat was constant, and he hoped that Liu Bei would help him share the pressure and attract firepower. Moreover, Liu Bei is nearly fifty years old, with less success than failure in the first half of his life, and there is still much room for him to cause trouble. Therefore, Zhou Yu was asked to give up Nanjun to Liu Bei.
Zhou Yu became even angrier and more seriously injured. He explained to Sun Quan the benefits of taking Shu and required Liu Bei to be placed under house arrest. Sun Quan agreed, and just as Zhou Yu was about to unleash his great ambitions, his injuries recurred and he passed away at the age of 36. Finally, Liu Bei borrowed from Nanjun and established a tripartite foundation.
In official history, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang each had their own advantages. Which is more powerful, Zhuge Liang or Zhou Yu. Compared to strategy, both Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang are formidable. Compared to fighting on the battlefield, Zhou Yu was bold and meticulous, while Zhuge Liang was cautious and serious. Zhou Yu has rich experience, Zhuge Liang can always escape unscathed, but Zhou Yu is definitely more powerful. Compared to managing the economy, administration, and technology, Zhuge Liang is definitely more powerful, and he was also the great inventor of black technology during the Three Kingdoms period. In the purely military field, Zhou Yu is definitely more powerful.
If Zhou Yu had not passed away at a young age, Liu Bei would have been mediocre in the latter half of his life. After Zhou Yu’s death, Sun Quan no longer had ambitions and only wanted to protect himself.