At the end of the Qin Dynasty, due to the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty, the people were miserable, and they were oppressed and exploited, and eventually rose up one after another in an attempt to overthrow the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty. In these peasant uprisings, the two teams of Xiang Yu, the king of Western Chu, and Liu Bang, the king of Han, were the strongest and largest, so the two began a battle for hegemony. These two men were very good advisers, among whom Xiang Yu had Fan Zeng and Liu Bang had Zhang Liang. Therefore, future generations like to compare these two people, which of them is better?
As we all know, Xiang Yu was finally forced by Liu Bang to wield a sword on the Wu River, and in this battle for hegemony, Xiang Yu was defeated by Liu Bang. So since Xiang Yu was defeated at the hands of Liu Bang, can it be said that Xiang Yu's advisers were inferior to Liu Bang's advisers? However, in fact, it is not, Zhang Liang once said that Fan Zeng's wisdom is far above him, worth three of him, these words may carry some of Zhang Liang's self-effacing meaning, but historically, if you want to talk about strategy, Fan Zeng is indeed far above him.
In the Chu-Han struggle for hegemony, the trend of the times was at that time, so many of Xiang Yu's advisers turned against Liu Bang, and in the later period, Xiang Yu basically only fan zeng could use it. At that time, Liu Bang had Han Xin and Zhang Liang, who were able people. It was such a disparity that Liu Bang could hardly resist Xiang Yu's attack, which showed how strong Fan Zeng's strategy was. When Fan Zeng was seventy years old, he assisted Xiang Yu in attacking the city and plundering the pond, and was called "Ya Father" by Xiang Yu, starting from stabilizing the military heart of the rebel army, to later suggesting that Xiang Yu attack Liu Bang's forces, which was enough to show his foresight. In this way, why is Fan Zeng's strategy far above Zhang Liang's, but in the end it is Zhang Liang who assists Liu Bang to sit on the Jiangshan? This brings us to Zhang Liang's ability to deal with the world.
Fan Zeng suggested eliminating Liu Bang's forces when Xiang Yu attacked Guanzhong, and at the Hongmen Banquet, he instructed Xiang Zhuang to dance the sword, named Zhixing, in fact, he wanted to take the opportunity to kill Liu Bang. But despite his repeated reminders, Xiang Yu did not take his advice. In 204 BC, Liu Bang used the anti-plot to successfully provoke the relationship between Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng, who was disheartened, resigned his official post and returned to his hometown, and the reddest died on the way back to his hometown because of the onset of poisonous sores.
Looking back at Zhang Liang, after helping Liu Bang sit on the throne, Zhang Liang resolutely decided to resign his official post and return to his hometown and no longer set foot in the imperial court officialdom. Some people feel pity, thinking that if he does not resign, he will definitely be rewarded, and his life will continue to be rich. However, choosing to resign and retire is his cleverness. After Zhang Liang resigned and retired, although his life was not as good as in the imperial court, if he continued to stay in the official field, it was inevitable that he would not follow the path of Han Xin. After resigning from the government, Zhang Liang lived in the mountains and forests, enjoying his old age, although he was not prosperous and rich, but compared to Fan Zeng, he saved his life.
Fan Zeng and Zhang Liang, the two strategists, each had their own strengths, and Fan Zeng's strategy was indeed above Zhang Liang's, but his handling of the world was far inferior to Zhang Liang's.