法正

Profile

The chief architect of Liu Bei’s Yi Province and Hanzhong years. Slighted by Liu Zhang, he masterminded the defection that handed Liu Bei the province, then directed the stratagem that killed Xiahou Yuan at Dingjun. When Liu Bei refused to retreat under a rain of arrows, Fa Zheng stepped in front of him bodily until he withdrew. Even Zhuge Liang sighed that a living Fa Zheng would have stopped the Yiling campaign — or won it.

Key events

1. 211

   Liu Bei Enters Yi Province

   Invited by Liu Zhang to fight Zhang Lu, Liu Bei enters the land of Shu with Pang Tong and Fa Zheng. Within three years it would have a new master.

   Liu BeiPang Tong

2. 214

   Liu Bei Takes Yi Province

   With Fa Zheng’s defection and reinforcements under Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun, Liu Bei enters Chengdu — at the cost of his strategist Pang Tong at Luocheng.

   Liu BeiPang TongZhuge LiangZhang FeiZhao YunMa Chao

3. 219

   Battle of Mount Dingjun

   Under Fa Zheng’s direction, the veteran Huang Zhong cuts down Xiahou Yuan, Wei’s western commander — the stroke that won Hanzhong for Liu Bei.

   Huang ZhongXiahou YuanLiu BeiZhao YunZhang He

History vs. the novelHistoryvsNovel

Faint in the novel, but in the histories the brain of Shu — "a master of the unexpected, comparable to Guo Jia." The record even preserves his flaw: he repaid old grudges as faithfully as old debts.