What does the Angevin Empire give him access to? Heavy spearmen are really impactful against the Zhuge Nu, and then on top of that, lancers are going to struggle to snipe them out. On a map like this, you can go for a Fortress and that will buff nearby spearmen. Usually the weakness is it's just too food dense, but if you have density of food forever, it's a very beneficial play.

One way as Knights Templar against Zhu Xi on water is to build a barracks in the Dark Age and produce three spearmen. This delays the Zhu Xi player more than it delays you, allowing you to age up in time to contest their dock.

Because of Knights Templar's harbor health bonus, a demolition ship needs an enemy springald ship to be at about half HP to kill it within the harbor's influence.