When Zhuge Liang was mentioned in the Three Kingdoms period, the noble qualities of "doing my best until I die" as the prime minister of Shu Han Dynasty, the resourcefulness of "calculating with great ingenuity" as an excellent counselor in the Three Kingdoms period, and the elegant demeanor of "feather fan black silk scarf" as a generation of celebrities, etc. He is loyal, intelligent and upright, and he combines ancient good qualities. Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms regards him as the protagonist, and magnifies his advantages in the novel, making him an immortal in history.
But Mr. Lu Xun said that The Romance of the Three Kingdoms "looks like Zhuge Liang's wisdom and is close to a demon", which completely deified Zhuge Liang. So, is the real Zhuge Liang in history like the one described in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
Early Experience
Zhuge Liang was born in a noble family in Langya County during the period of Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty. His father Zhuge Jue was a county magistrate in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and his uncle Zhuge Xuan was a satrap. Unfortunately, Zhuge Liang's parents passed away when he was young, and then he went to Yuzhang (now Nanchang, Jiangxi) with his uncle. Later, Zhuge Xuan defected to Liu Biao in Jingzhou, and Zhuge Liang also came to Jingzhou. After Zhuge Xuan's death, he lived in seclusion in Longzhong area (now Xiangyang, Hubei) while studying while farming.
After the experience of running around with my uncle in his early years, through the contact with the gentry class, he increased his knowledge and got a further understanding of the social situation in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. During his ten years of seclusion in Longzhong, Zhuge Liang made a large number of like-minded celebrities, calmly and objectively analyzed the general trend of the world, and compared himself with Guan Zhong and Le Yi in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. When he was free, he liked to recite "Liang Fu Yin", feeling troubled times and hoping that he could find a wise master to make contributions.
countermeasures in longzhong
in the sixth year of Jian' an, Zhuge Liang met his own master-his uncle Liu Bei. At that time, Liu Beigang was attached to Liu Biao and stationed troops in a new field. Under the recommendation of Si Mahui and Xu Shu, Liu Bei finally met Zhuge Liang, and their meeting became the beginning of the reshuffle of the world forces in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. In this long period, which was looked forward to by later scholars, Zhuge Liang gave Liu Bei a detailed analysis of the general trend of the world and made a brand-new plan for Liu Bei's future political career. The content of this dialogue was called "Longzhong Dui" by later generations. The content of Longzhong Dui is roughly to let Liu Bei win Jingzhou, a battleground for military strategists in the future career development, and then win Xichuan, connecting Jingzhou and Xichuan. On the one hand, he can seize Cao Cao in the north, and on the other hand, he can resist Sun Quan in the south. When the situation gets better, you can also go north to conquer Cao Cao and go south to attack Sun Quan. Zhuge Liang's plan for the development of Liu Bei's career delighted Liu Bei, and he sincerely invited Zhuge Liang to come out to help him again and again. Finally, Zhuge Liang decided to come out.
It should be noted that before Zhuge Liang presented Liu Bei with the Longzhong Pair, Lu Su of Soochow also presented Sun Quan with another version of Longzhong Pair. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there is no mention of Lu Su's Longzhong pair in order to contrast Zhuge Liang's image.
In the 13th year of Jian 'an in Soochow, Cao Cao destroyed Liu Biao in Jingzhou, Liu Cong, the second son of Liu Biao, surrendered, and Liu Bei was forced to flee to Xiakou. Before this point in time, there was a chapter in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms that Zhuge Liang set fire to a new field. Unfortunately, there was no such record in history. In fact, when Zhuge Liang just joined the Liu Bei Group, he was only an official in charge of logistics and taxation, and did not command the army. After Liu Bei fled to Xiakou to meet Liu Qi, the younger son of Liu Biao, Zhuge Liang measured the current situation, offered Liu Bei a strategy of uniting with Soochow to fight against Cao, and volunteered to go to Soochow to lobby Sun Quan. At this time, Zhuge Liang first boarded the historical stage that influenced the direction of Liu Bei's regime.
after Zhuge Liang arrived in Dongwu, he did not have the "war of words among Confucianism" written in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but met Sun Quan directly and put forward two plans. First, break off diplomatic relations with Cao Cao, and fight with Cao Cao in the east with Wu Junli and Liu Bei; Second, surrender to the north and stop resisting. Sun Quan was hesitant at first, but after being persuaded by Zhou Yu, Lu Su and others, he finally decided to fight against Cao Cao Chibi.
The Chibi War is one of the classic examples in history. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang's "Grass Boat Borrows Arrows" and "East Wind Borrows" are fictionalized, and many other bridges want to set off Zhuge Liang's miraculous characteristics. But unfortunately, these are not available. The commander-in-chief of the Chibi War was Zhou Yu, and Zhou Yu was not narrow-minded. On the contrary, Zhou Yu is a magnanimous Confucian general in history. Zhuge Liang only played the role of persuading Sun Quan and cooperating with Dongwu in the Chibi War, but these also showed that Zhuge Liang had a broad political horizon and had extraordinary diplomatic ability.
Entering Xichuan
After the Chibi War, Liu Bei took the opportunity to take over four counties in the south of the Yangtze River, and appointed Zhuge Liang as the military commander, making him the commander of Lingling, Guiyang and Changsha, and managing logistics and internal affairs like Xiao He in the early Han Dynasty. In the sixteenth year of Jian 'an, Liu Bei led an army into Sichuan, and let Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang guard Jingzhou. Guan Yu was in charge of military affairs, while Zhuge Liang was in charge of internal affairs. It was not that Zhuge Liang was the military and political leader as written in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the 19th year of Jian 'an, Pang Tong, Liu Bei's strategist who attacked surprisingly, died. At this time, Zhuge Liang was ordered to leave Jingzhou to assist Liu Bei to seize surprisingly with Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun. After winning the heart of surprisingly, Chengdu, Liu Bei named Zhuge Liang as the general strategist. After that, whenever Liu Bei went out, Zhuge Liang stayed in Chengdu to provide Liu Bei with soldiers and money.
in the 26th year of Jian 'an, Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor in Chengdu and appointed Zhuge Liang as prime minister. Since then, the tripartite confrontation between the three countries has been formally formed. At the beginning, Zhuge Liang's idea of capturing Jingzhou and Xichuan in China was completely realized, and the Shu-Han regime reached its peak in history. At this time, Zhuge Liang was in charge of internal affairs and diplomacy in Shuhan, but he was not the second-in-command of Shuhan regime. The real second-in-command was Guan Yu, because Guan Yu was in charge of Jingzhou's military and political affairs, while Zhuge Liang was only in charge of Xichuan's internal affairs, without military affairs.
in the 25th year of Jian 'an, Guan Yu left Jingzhou to attack Cao Cao in the north, and Jingzhou was empty. Lu Meng of Dongwu took the opportunity to win Jingzhou, an important town. In a rage, Liu Bei led an army to attack Dongwu. He was defeated by Lu Xun of Dongwu in the battle of Yiling and retreated to Baidicheng. In the third year of Zhangwu, Liu Bei entrusted his son Liu Chan to Zhuge Liang and Li Yan before his death in Baidicheng. After that, Liu Chan ascended the throne, named Zhuge Liang the marquis of Wuxiang, opened a government to administer affairs, and soon led Yizhou to shepherd. From this time on, the Shu-Han regime entered the Zhuge Liang era.
there are many precedents in the history of the prime minister's administration, which involves an issue of imperial power and relative power. When you open a government, you have the right to be independent of the imperial power, and you can appoint your own officials. So what is the concept of leading Yizhou animal husbandry? This is because at that time, the territory of Shu and Han only occupied one state in the world, namely Yizhou. Yizhou animal husbandry is the highest official in Yizhou and a local official. But at the same time, Zhuge Liang also served as prime minister, the highest official in the national center. Therefore, Zhuge Liang is not only the highest official of the country, but also the highest local official on all the sites of the country. The so-called power is in one, and he is actually the head of Shu and Han.
expedition to the south and expedition to the north
Although Zhuge Liang was in power, he did not forget the legacy of his late master Liu Bei. He made a new peace with Dongwu, recuperated at home, vigorously developed agriculture, and saved up his strength to attack Wei in the north. At this time, there was a rebellion in the south of Shu and Han, and Zhuge Liang decided to pacify the south before the Northern Expedition. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the story of pacifying the south was described as "capturing Meng Huo seven times", but in fact, the name "Meng Huo" did not appear in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and other historical materials. In the third year of Jianxing, Zhuge Liang led an army to the south, which quickly put down the rebellion and swept away the hidden dangers in the south.
in the fourth year of jianxing, Cao pi, the emperor of Wei Wen, died, and his son Cao Sao ascended the throne. Zhuge Liang seized the unstable opportunity of the handover of Wei regime to the DPRK, and opened the prelude to five successive expeditions to the Central Plains.
For the first time, Ma Su lost the street pavilion due to human error, and finally returned to Hanzhong; The second time, Cao Zhen, the general of Wei, stubbornly resisted and returned without food; For the third time, capture Wudu and Yinping counties and repel Guo Huai, the secretariat of Yongzhou; For the fourth time, he returned to Qishan and killed Zhang He on the way to retreat without food. The fifth time, he stationed in Wuzhangyuan, confronted Sima Yi and died of overwork. After Zhuge Liang's death, he was buried in Dingjun Mountain in Hanzhong and Zhongwu Hou in posthumous title. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is written that Zhuge Liang went out to Qishan six times to explore the Central Plains. But in fact, Zhuge Liang only made five northern expeditions, and most of them failed.
Summary
There are two key turning points in Zhuge Liang's life. One is to leave Longzhong to assist Liu Bei, and the other is to entrust an orphan to Baidicheng.
Before leaving Longzhong to entrust an orphan to Baidicheng, Zhuge Liang mostly held an official position that was partial to internal affairs, similar to Xiao He, one of three outstanding heroes of early han dynasty, who was in charge of internal affairs and foreign affairs. After Baidicheng entrusted orphans, Zhuge Liang devoted more time and energy to the preparation and implementation of the Northern Expedition besides assisting Liu Chan in dealing with state affairs.
throughout his life, Zhuge Liang took the lead in the political work of being honest and dedicated to the public, and worked hard to create an atmosphere of being honest and clean. Together with officials, he formulated Shu Ke, a code of Shu Han, to build water conservancy and open up farmland, so that the people could live and work in peace and contentment. He was a politician who managed the country. Educate soldiers with morality in running the army, but at the same time impose strict orders and clear rewards and punishments. He is a strategist who runs the army well. He has also made great achievements in literature and calligraphy.
But at the same time, we can also see that Zhuge Liang is not perfect after all. He misused Ma Su, alienated Wei Yan and reused Jiang Wei in employing people, and judged talents too much by virtue. After entrusting orphans, Baidicheng ignored the strength of Shu and Han and blindly explored the North. It was strategically cautious and not good at scheming. In the later period, when he monopolized the state affairs, he neglected the construction of the echelon of officials, resulting in the lack of figures to turn the tide in the later period of Shu Han.
In The Romance of The Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang is an excellent strategist who is good at crafting strange ideas, a prime minister who is good at governing the country, a general who leads troops to win battles, a writer who wrote a model for teachers, a musician in an "empty plan", a loyal minister who reassured the emperor, a moral model who is honest and loyal to the public, and a moral model who scares opponents.
However, in The History of the Three Kingdoms, Chen Shou said Zhuge Liang: He can be described as a talented person who knows how to govern, and he is superior to Xiao. However, after years of mobilization, it failed, and the cover strain will be slightly, which is not its strength!
In any case, Zhuge Liang is still a loyal and dedicated man in the eyes of the later generations, and he has been imitated by many people. I think this is the most important thing.