He showed his skills by helping defeat Guan Yu with the Wei army. Sun Quan saw his potential and promoted him to main strategist in the Wu army after the death of Lu Meng. He showed his talents at Yiling where his tactics and fire attack lead Wu to victory. He soon developed a name for himself when at Hefei castle his tactics crushed Wei and Cao Pi leaving only Shu and Liu Bei's son Liu Chan alive, who retreated and Wu gained full control of the land.