At the end of the Han Dynasty, Liuhe was in turmoil, and countless heroes rose up in the grass, composing a period of popular stories. To this day, many people are still fascinated by this 80-year history. Whether it is to use the deer or to win the crown, it is the ultimate goal of the monarchs at the end of the Han Dynasty, and these naturally have to go down in the annals of history.
Under the monarch, those sages who assisted the lord also left a brilliant mark on the stage of history with their charm and talent. The controversy over which Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi were stronger or weaker has a long history, and the two competed with each other in the middle of the Three Kingdoms on behalf of shu and Wei respectively. So who is better, Zhuge Kongming and Sima Zhongda? Let's look at what history and fiction say.
In pei song's commentary on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, zhuge liang is recorded in the fifth book of Shu. When talking about the White Emperor's loneliness, Liu Bei's evaluation of Kong Ming was "ten times more talented than Pi", and instructed his son Chan to treat him like a father, which is the same as in the interpretation, proving that Zhuge Liang was deeply trusted by Emperor Zhaolie. In terms of character and talent, Zhuge Liang has been completely recognized by his own lord, which can be described as the ultimate of human subjects.
Wei Liuzhong recorded that once the first lord died, the Shu state was silent for several years, and as a result, Zhuge Liang suddenly sent troops, and the Wei state was afraid. After that, Sima Yi was heavily regarded by the State of Wei as Zhuge Liang's main opponent. There is no personal biography of Sima Yi in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, because the Jin State was already established at the time the author wrote the book, so Sima Yi can only be understood from other fragments.
Fragments of Zhuge Liang's battle with Sima Yi are recorded in a section of the Battle of Qishan. In the middle of winter, Zhuge Liang's soldiers scattered, beheaded Wang Shuang, retired Guo Huai, and killed Zhang Guo. At this time, the governor Cao Zhen was ineffective in battle, and the State of Wei sent Sima Yi to the battlefield. Sima Yi confronted Zhuge Liang in Weinan for more than 100 days, and there was no large-scale confrontation between the two sides. The final result was that Kong Ming died of illness and died of Wuzhangyuan. It can be seen in the history books that Sima Yi did not dare to engage the Shu army before coming to the battlefield, and only after learning of Zhuge Liang's death did Sima Yi sigh a long sigh of "wizards under the heavens."
When Chen Shou wrote the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it was the Jin Dynasty, which was already the domain of the Sima family. The wording of Wei and Jin in the Book of the Three Kingdoms will be somewhat defended, and even Sima Yi's name can only be replaced by Sima Xuanwang. The battle between Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi in the book is not well documented, and it is likely that Sima Yi did not perform well, and if it was really Sima Yi who had the advantage, there would definitely be more ink.
Moreover, as the author of the history book, Chen Shou himself strives for fairness and cannot make evaluations casually, so he can only use the introduction of others, for Zhuge Liang, whether Chen Shou quotes Liu Bei's words or Sima Yi's words, all of them are positive praise and evaluation, which shows that Chen Shou must have great admiration for Zhuge Liang.
In the novel, Zhuge Liang is even stronger, whether it is the empty city plan, the upper valley, and the allusions and strategies of dressing up as six dings and six jia to harvest wheat, and frightening Zhongda dozens of miles after death, Zhuge Liang has the upper hand. Sima Yi exists as a supporting character, and the several wars that Sima Yi can win in the rendition depend entirely on Ma Mo's mistakes, the unpredictable rain under the sky, and his own good luck. There is a big gap with Zhuge Liang's level of wisdom.
In fact, in the feudal era when the code of ethics was often the greatest. Zhuge Liang had done his best to fulfill all the duties of a courtier, and before Liu Bei's death, he devoted himself to his wisdom and assisted him wholeheartedly. After Liu Bei's death, he relied on Yizhou soldiers and horses to fight against the behemoth Wei State, which crossed the Yellow River of the Yangtze River. This is a kind of great man and wise man who has completely abandoned his own selfishness, and can enjoy the thousand-year-old incense in the martial temple in the future, which is completely his personal charm. At the same time, Zhuge Liang not only governed the country and the army well, he also left many family letters, classics and truths handed down from generation to generation, and he was not only a military man, but also a philosopher and inventor.
Speaking of Sima Yi, after monopolizing the power of the State of Wei in the political struggle, ambitions arose, and eventually Sima Dai Wei established the Jin Dynasty, which also began from his generation, although Sima Yi was a generation of tyrants, but this kind of ambitionist who plotted to usurp was unwelcome at any time, at least, no one would be willing to be friends with such people, and it was difficult to produce admiration. On the whole, Zhuge Liang is still superior, and more loved and liked by posterity.