Chapter 913: The Predictions of the Strategist Ranking

"You said you had a grudge against General Ma Chao, right? Why did you chat with him for so long?" Zhang Fei asked curiously after Fa Zheng turned his horse around and rejoined him. Zhang Fei had already heard about Fa Zheng’s issue with Ma Chao.

From Zhang Fei's perspective, it was already commendable that Fa Zheng could separate public duty from personal feelings so well. If it were someone like Zhang Fei, he wouldn’t have let it slide without at least knocking someone down. The idea of just chatting with someone he held a grudge against seemed unimaginable to him.

"What grudge? Do you really think they have the power to be my enemies? I was only venting my frustration on them. Now, I don’t even find it interesting to do that anymore," Fa Zheng sighed. "I think I need to have a conversation with Xingba’s ancestors to learn how they dealt with this kind of boredom."

"You’re something else, you know that?" Zhang Fei chuckled, then shifted the conversation away from Ma Chao. "But, Old Zhang has some good news for you: the strategist ranking is about to come out, and you’ve made the list."

"Am I ranked tenth, or?" Fa Zheng turned to inquire, "By the way, how many names made the list? Did Li Ru remove his own name? And is Zichuan ranked first?"

"How would I know?" Zhang Fei rolled his eyes. "But yes, Zichuan is ranked first. As for Wenru, he has indeed withdrawn himself from the ranking. I wonder why he bothered to do that."

"Being on the ranking doesn't hold much value for him," Fa Zheng sighed. "They’ll probably note that he’s ranked in the top ten but chose to withdraw. The same will likely apply to Ju Gongyu and Tian Yuanhao since they’ve already passed away."

"What’s so meaningless about it?" Zhang Fei asked, clearly confused.

"Li Ru understands his own capabilities, which is why it holds no value to him," Fa Zheng explained nonchalantly. "As for me, I got in thanks to my achievements in capturing Huai Bei and stabilizing Xuzhou. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it into the top ten. Things are going too well for me right now."

Indeed, Fa Zheng's place in the ranking was primarily due to his impressive feats in capturing Huai Bei and stabilizing Xuzhou. His bold maneuvers, pushing into Shouchun before Yuan Shu could even react and forcing Zhou Yu to retreat to Jing and Yi provinces, left a strong impression. His subsequent actions, crossing the Yangtze River, the Huai River, and entering Xuzhou, defeating ten thousand elite soldiers of Yuzhou within two days, cemented his reputation—even though there were risks involved, victory was still victory.

In war, results are all that matter. No matter how reckless one's tactics may seem, if you win, those actions are justified. Conversely, even if everything appears to be going well, if you lose in the end, none of it matters.

Thus, even though Fa Zheng took some risks, his overwhelming victory earned him the respect of even Chen Deng. Success concealed all other flaws.

Similarly, Li Ru chose to withdraw. With his record, he could have easily secured a spot in the top five, especially considering that during Dong Zhuo’s time, he wasn’t defeated by his enemies—Dong Zhuo simply corrupted himself.

His achievements could easily have placed him in second place, but it held no meaning for him. Li Ru had already passed away, and there was no point in vying for a ranking now. Instead, he opted to withdraw, leaving others to fill the ranks.

With Jia Xu firmly holding a place in the top three, it didn’t matter to the strategists of Guanzhong whether Li Ru ranked highly or not. Jia Xu’s achievements would suffice to represent them. Besides, Guanzhong’s military prowess had already been demonstrated, with their near domination of the Central Plains. Even recently, the Xiliang cavalry once again proved the unmatched bravery of their men.

Given this, most of the strategists already had a good sense of where they stood in the rankings. Chen Xi’s first-place ranking was essentially a certainty—after all, Liu Bei had won, and the foundation of his empire was laid by Chen Xi. At the very least, Chen Xi had orchestrated their grand strategy, earning him the top spot in the list of civil officials.

Following him would be the strategists of various other warlords. Simply put, any warlord who survived to this point was no simple figure, and their chief strategists—whether it was Zhou Yu or Xun Yu—were similarly exceptional. Although Yuan Shao had been defeated, it was because his opponent was simply too strong, not because his strategists were lacking.

With these factors in mind, the ranking of civil officials was relatively straightforward. Once the top spot was secured, the rest would fall into place easily. Ranking the military generals, on the other hand, was a much trickier task.

"We’ll see when the time comes. It doesn’t really matter, though. Since we’re the ones making the list, even if we don’t fudge the rankings, some areas are subjective. We can still benefit from it," Fa Zheng said with a smile.

"It’s a pity I haven’t come across any real skilled opponents lately," Zhang Fei lamented. "Not a single worthy fighter. Even Li Yan, with his abilities, wasn’t much of a challenge, though I will admit he’s decent at commanding troops."

"I didn’t encounter him, so I can’t comment," Fa Zheng shrugged. "My job is to devise strategies. It’s up to you all to execute them. Once this is over, I’ll probably need to handle some internal affairs for a while, and we should start preparing for a northern campaign against the Wuhuan and Xianbei. There’s plenty to do."

Fa Zheng's words reminded Zhang Fei of an important issue. Soon, their territory would once again border Lü Bu’s domain. Figuring out how to deal with Lü Bu would be a real headache. To many under Liu Bei’s command, Lü Bu was a persistent problem, which is why their current approach was to leave him be.

"Out of sight, out of mind" was the preferred policy. Lü Bu could continue defending Bing Province, and as long as he didn’t interfere with them, they would tolerate his presence. In exchange for his efforts in safeguarding the northern borders, they would allow him a share of the spoils.

As much as they considered taking Lü Bu in, Liu Bei’s advisors were wary. It was better to leave Lü Bu as a vassal, protecting the frontier. This way, both sides could maintain a tolerable relationship.

"Lü Bu really is incredibly strong," Zhang Fei said gravely. Even after his own significant progress since their last encounter, Zhang Fei still didn’t feel confident about facing Lü Bu.

"Indeed, he's the undisputed number one. No matter how many flaws he has, everyone acknowledges his unmatched martial prowess. None of his defeats were ever due to losing in single combat. In fact, even top-tier warriors instinctively gang up on him," Fa Zheng nodded in agreement.

Lü Bu’s strength was undeniable. Whether you liked him or not, everyone admitted that since the battle at Hulao Pass, no one had dared to challenge him in a one-on-one duel—except for foolhardy individuals like Dian Wei and Zhang Fei.

Fa Zheng's comment made Zhang Fei feel slightly embarrassed, as he was one of those rare individuals who insisted on fighting Lü Bu alone, refusing any help.

"So, General Zhang, if you encounter Lord Lü again, please show some restraint," Fa Zheng said, hiding his grin behind his fan. In this era, even on the battlefield, directly insulting someone was rare, and simply calling someone by name was already considered rude. Zhang Fei’s provocations left Lü Bu no choice but to fight to the death.

"I’ll keep that in mind," Zhang Fei replied, his serious tone enough to reassure Fa Zheng.

After some more casual conversation, they soon arrived at Ye City. However, the first thing that caught Ma Chao and Xiahou Yuan’s eyes wasn’t the towering city walls or the wide moat, but the enormous crack still present on the city wall—a colossal sword mark still radiating a lingering sense of power.

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