Life is full of variables, and history is also full of mysteries.
If we talk about which of the three great generals at the end of the Han Dynasty is the most popular, it is presumably even more benevolent and wise. In the three kingdoms of Shu Han, Eastern Wu and Cao Wei, it is really famous generals like clouds and fierce generals like rain. The "Five Tiger Generals" and "Eight Tiger Riders", as well as Guan Yu, who was later revered as a martial saint, Zhou Yu, who was regarded as the perfect embodiment by the scholars, Lü Bu, who was praised as a "flying general" and was closely related to the mink cicada, and Zhao Yun, a loyal and courageous representative who was repeatedly put on the stage and screen, etc., can be described as a horizontal view of the mountains and each leading the way.
If Lü Bu and Zhao Yun, the two popular generals, were put together and let them fight each other, who would be better?
1. Lü Buqiren
Lü Bu, according to legend, is "Lü Bu among men, red rabbit among horses". He belonged to a number of separatist regimes, and of course he never attached himself to any regime. After all, he betrayed Ding Yuan, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, and Liu Bei successively, and finally became independent but failed miserably.
Lü Bu was able to change so many lords successively, so that he finally supported the army and respected himself, and fought with Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and so on many times, relying on his superior strength. Lü Bu's hometown of Wuyuan County was the western frontier of the late Han Dynasty. Under the influence of the natural and human environment, this place is "noble and strong", and the men are also brave and brave, and they are still martial and less literate. Lü Bu, who came from the bottom, is even more typical. In fact, before serving Ding Yuan, Lü Bu was a real robber who made a living by plundering.
Therefore, although Lü Bu had not learned any martial arts and did not understand the twists and turns of too many platoons, he had the vitality and momentum like a weed. Because he did not understand or care about many political competitions, Lü Bu was often more courageous and decisive than other military generals on the battlefield. His army as a whole was also very brave. Therefore, in some views, Lü Bu is even regarded as the "first fierce general of the Three Kingdoms", a "ceiling" for the personal combat effectiveness of the military generals of the Three Kingdoms.
2. Zhao Yun and his people
Zhao Yun, a Shu Han general whose reputation was almost comparable to Zhuge Liang's. The saying "Wen Zhuge And Wu Zhao Yun" has become a typical example of Zhao Yun's status in later generations. However, in the real history, there is still a big gap between Zhao Yun and the famous general "Zhao Yun" in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". This gap is not in Zhao Yun's personal strength, but in Zhao Yun's experience from Rong.
On personal combat effectiveness, Zhao Yun was "certified" by Liu Bei. Because from the historical data that can be examined, Zhao Yun was Liu Bei's bodyguard from the beginning. The earliest known position he held was "master horseman", that is, the captain of Liu Bei's cavalry escort, and also in charge of Liu Bei's carriage and horse. Later, Zhao Yun was promoted to "Sima of the Camp", "General of the Yi Army", and even "Middle Guard", and his duties were basically not separated from the ranks of protecting Liu Bei's personal safety.
Therefore, through Liu Bei's "binding" of Zhao Yun and his guards, we can reasonably infer that Zhao Yun's own martial arts should not be low. And he was also loyal to Liu Bei. And we can only use this to infer Zhao Yun's personal strength, in fact, it is also because Liu Bei has always only let Zhao Yun be responsible for guarding work. Zhao Yun had been following Liu Bei for a long time to protect his safety, so he had no opportunity to command large-scale battles, and it was difficult to have more direct confrontation with other famous generals of the Three Kingdoms. Therefore, Zhao Yun's strength does lack some comparative examples.
In addition, through the detailed record of Zhao Yun's life in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, we can also know that he followed Liu Bei not to pursue fame, but to help ordinary people caught in war. Therefore, compared with many fierce generals of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Yun was relatively lacking in competitiveness.
III. Cao Cao's evaluation of the two
Combing through some of the characteristics of Lü Bu and Zhao Yun, it is not difficult for us to find that there are actually quite a difference between them. And because personal strength cannot be directly quantified, it seems difficult for us to compare lü Bu and Zhao Yun who can be better. Then we may wish to refer to Cao Cao's evaluation of the two in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, "The Fifth Time, Sending Corrections to the Towns Should Cao Gong Break the Pass And Fight Lü Bu in Three Yings", Cao Cao gave Lü Bu a four-word evaluation - "heroic and invincible". In "The Forty-first Time Liu Xuande Crossed the River with the People, Zhao Zilong Rode the Savior Alone", Cao Cao gave Zhao Yun another four words of evaluation - "True Tiger General Also".
In the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, there were more than ten tiger generals. "Five Tiger Generals" and "Eight Tiger Riders" are all worthy of this evaluation. But the only one who is "heroic and invincible" is Lü Bu. Therefore, through Cao Cao's mouth, we can get a view that Lü Bu's comprehensive strength is above Zhao Yun.
However, Chen Shou, the author of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, had a slightly different attitude from the evaluation given by Luo Guanzhong through Cao Cao's mouth. Chen Shou said that Lü Bu was "brave with dragons and tigers, but without the strategy of yingqi, light and cunning, and only profit is vision", while Zhao Yun was "strong and strong, and as a pawn, his irrigation and Teng's apprentice pen". For Zhao Yun, Chen Shou commented that he was "strong and strong", and compared Zhao Yun to a minion. As for Lü Bu, Chen Shou compared him to a "dragon tiger".
"The flying tiger", that is, the roaring tiger. Liu Bei once said when he crowned Ma Chao as the Marquis of Xiangxiang, hoping that Ma Chao would become a dragon tiger and rule over the territory of Wanli. However, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, only Lü Bu received the evaluation of "Dragon Tiger". It can be seen that in terms of bravery, Lü Bu was indeed an enemy in the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, and Zhao Yun was also difficult to match.
As for strategy, Lü Bu was difficult to defeat Zhao Yun. In other words, Lü Bu was the "ceiling" of the combat effectiveness of the military generals of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, but it was also the "trough" of the military generals' strategic ability. Even the grumpy Zhang Fei had defeated Zhang Gao with a ruse. But Lü Bu has long been known for his lack of wisdom and strategy. Therefore, if it is really a leading confrontation, Zhao Yun will not necessarily be able to defeat Lü Bu.
Therefore, if he fights alone, Lü Bu may be able to defeat Zhao Yun with brute force. But as Chen Shou said: "Since ancient times and today, there has not been a time when this is not destroyed." Lü Bu, such a fierce man who had overstepped his head, did not have an advantage in the three years of the late Han Dynasty. Although Zhao Yun was not very social in Shu Han, he was not as full of enemies as Lü Bu. The historical ending of the two seems to illustrate this problem: Zhao Yun died and died, while Lü Bu was defeated and hanged.