In Chinese folklore, there is such a story.
It is said that after Jiang Ziya was a great immortal, he originally wanted to return to Kunlun Mountain and cultivate into an immortal, but he was ordered by the primordial Heavenly Emperor, saying that Jiang Ziya's body was extremely poor in roots and bones and could not become enlightened, and suggested that Jiang Ziya give up his body, reincarnate and practice again, and promised the Great Luo Golden Immortal.
So Jiang Ziya gave up his physical body and went to the underground mansion to be reincarnated, and to cultivate into an immortal, he must have someone with the Nine Tricks of The Heart to become enlightened. So the Primordial Heavenly Ancestor greeted the Underground Mansion and asked him to reincarnate into the person who possessed the Nine Tricks of The Heart.
However, it took five hundred years for the Nine Tricks to appear, so five hundred years later, he was reincarnated as Sun Zhen.
Sun Zhen was indeed very clever, his master Ghost Guzi saw that Sun Zhi was the reincarnation of Jiang Ziya, so he took more care, and Mu Xiu yu Lin Feng would destroy it, Sun Zhen was framed by his brother Pang Juan, lost his legs, although he later cultivated positive results, but Jiang Ziya did not want to rely on a wheelchair after becoming an immortal, so he reincarnated again.
Five hundred years have passed, and the Nine Tricks of The Exquisite Heart have reappeared, that is, Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang from astronomical geography to ancient and modern times. With superior wisdom, Zhuge Liang was implicated by Liu Bei, because he burned the Tengjia Army, injured Yin De, and could not become an immortal.
Five hundred years have passed, helplessly reincarnated as Liu Bowen, Liu Bowen is known as a divine operator, helped Zhu Yuanzhang to get the Yuan Dynasty, one day unintentionally passed a temple, there is a stone stele in the temple, the stele reads "First Jiang Shang, then Sun Zhen, Five hundred years ago Zhuge Liang, five hundred years later Liu Bowen", he knew that he was Zhuge Reincarnation, so he resigned and left.
Folk use mythological stories to string these strategists into a line, five hundred years out of one person, as to whether it is the same person, the history books can not record.
This is of course a legend, so what are the top "strategists" in history?
First, Jiang Ziya
Known as the Hundred Masters, Ancient Martial Saints, and Military Originator, he is a famous military master in China. The first 70 years of his life can be said to be bland, at the age of 72, he met Queen Wen of Zhou and was named Taishi, only to be able to display his talents, and then he offered advice and advice to assist King Wu of Zhou to destroy the Shang State and establish the State of Qi of the Zhou Dynasty, and later also implemented the policy of honoring the virtuous and meritorious service, selecting some talented people to be officials through examination and putting forward the talent theory of the Six Guards and Eight Expeditions, laying the foundation for the prosperity of the State of Qi and becoming the first person in the Qianqiu Military Division. He also assisted six Zhou kings.
2. Ghost Valley
Ghost Guzi, surnamed Wang Mingxue, also known as Wang Chan, a person of the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period, a famous thinker and a representative figure of Taoism, who has reached the heavens and the earth and is omnipotent, for more than 2,000 years, the martial arts have respected him as a saint, the Zongheng family has respected him as the ancestor, the fortune tellers have honored him as the ancestor, the strategists have respected him as the sage, the famous family has respected him as the master ancestor, and the Taoists have respected him as the ancestor of Wang Chan. His disciples included Su Qin, Zhang Yi, Sun Zhen, Pang Juan, Shang Martin, etc., all of whom were influential figures at that time, and wrote "Ghost Valley Zi", "Seven Techniques of Yin Runes in the Benjing", and "Guan Ling Yin Xi Nei Biography".
3. Sun Zhen
He was a descendant of the famous military figure Sun Wu, who was later framed by his peer Pang Juan for his talent, and was tortured and turned disabled, and later fled to the State of Qi to become a military division of the State of Qi, helping the Qi general Tian Ji to win victories at the Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling, thus stabilizing the Qianqiu hegemony of the State of Qi. In a battle between the State of Wei and the State of Qi, Sun Bing defeated the Wei army by means of retreating troops and setting up ambushes to kill the enemy, and the captured prince Shen became famous from then on, and his Sun Bing's art of war summed up the combat experience of the Warring States period and was praised by many people.
4. Fan Li
He was one of the early Chinese business theorists and pioneers of Chu studies. He was revered by posterity as Shang sheng, one of the five saints of Nanyang. Although he was born into poverty, he was erudite and talented, and he had a deep friendship with Chu Wanling's literary genre. Dissatisfied with the political darkness of the Chu state at that time, he defected to the Yue kingdom and assisted the Yue state in its collusion. Legend has it that he helped to revitalize the Yue Kingdom and destroy the Wu Kingdom, and Yi Xue would be ashamed. After achieving fame, he retired from the rapids and became the Tao Zhu Gong of the rich world. The world's reputation: loyalty to the country, wisdom to protect the body; business to get rich, become famous in the world. Many businessmen of later generations worshiped his statue and called him the god of wealth.
5. Huangshi Gong
Huang shi gong, also known as the old man on the top and the god of the lower pi, was one of the hundred schools of the Sons of the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, and was on a par with The Ghost Guzi, Zhang Liang's teacher. During the Qin and Han dynasties, it was hidden in the Huangshan Mountains. He is the author of the Wordless Heavenly Book "Taigong Military Law" (兵書), "Huangshi Gongluo" and "Carving Heavenly Book", and he passed on the "Taigong Military Law" and "Huangshi Gongluo" to Zhang Liang. It is said that he became an immortal and was included in the divine genealogy by Taoism.
6. Zhang Liang
He was a famous person in the late Qin and early Han dynasties, and he, together with Han Xin and Xiao He, was known as the Three Masters of the Early Han Dynasty. Later, he fled due to the failure to assassinate Qin Shi Huang, and later met the Duke of Huangshi and was taught the "Taigong Art of War". In the process of the peasant revolt at the end of Qin, Zhang Liang defected to Liu Bang and became an important adviser of Liu Bang, once uniting with Yingbu and Peng Yue, reusing Han Xin and other strategies, annihilating the Chu army with resourceful talents to help Liu Bang win the world, but also laying a solid foundation for Liu Bang to complete the great cause of reunification. What is even more rare is that Zhang Liang is well aware of the principle of high merit and high vibration, and after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, he resolutely chose to retire from merit and finally died well.
7. Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang, nicknamed Wolong, is a well-known military wizard who originally lived in a thatched hut in Wollongong and planted himself, but he did not know everything about the world. Therefore, many people came to see liu, but they were rejected one by one, and then they were moved out of the mountain by Liu Bei's sincerity and conscientiously assisted Liu Bei. United with Eastern Wu to destroy Cao Cao's 800,000 troops, recommended Pang Tong for Liu Bei, and finally helped Liu Bei establish the Shu Han regime, paying his life's work for the country, and then after Liu Bei's death became the minister of the Shu state, collected the southern barbarians, six out of Qishan, committed to the Northern Expedition, bowed down to exhaustion, and died later, in order to revive the Han Dynasty, he finally fell ill and died in Wuzhangyuan, becoming a representative of loyalty and wisdom in Chinese history. It is also a model of loyal and martyred ministers.
VIII. Liu Bowen
A prodigy at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, who knew everything about astronomical geography and the deployment of troops, before the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial court repeatedly summoned him to join the dynasty as an official, but he refused. Because he had already calculated that the Yuan Dynasty would perish in the near future, and Zhu Yuanzhang would become the future son of heaven. In 1360, Liu Bowen became Zhu Yuanzhang's adviser, and he offered Zhu Yuanzhang eighteen strategies for current affairs, successively helping Zhu Yuanzhang to pacify Zhang Shicheng, Chen Youyu and other separatist forces, making great contributions to Zhu Yuanzhang's establishment of the Ming Dynasty, and was responsible for compiling the Great Ming Law after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. In the folk, Liu Bowen is even more cattle than Zhuge Liang, so there are "three points of zhuge liang in the world, one unified Jiangshan Liu Bowen." Former Dynasty military division Zhuge Liang, later Dynasty military division Liu Bowen" said.
Source: Lin Quan Guan