In ancient China, there were many wise men, such as Zhang Liang, who was strategic, Jia Xu, who had no exhaustive strategy, or Sima Yi, who was scheming, but in front of Zhuge Liang, these wise men were somewhat eclipsed. It is not that Zhang Liang and others are not good enough, and Zhuge Liang is too anti-heaven in the hearts of the world, he is not a genius, but a "god". Zhuge Liang is a big mountain in front of all the strategists in the future, no matter how good they are, they must live under the shadow of Zhuge Liang, even if Liu Bowen has been mythologized, the world only calls him "Zhuge Liang in the world".
With the interpretation of many literary and artistic works such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and dramas, Zhuge Liang's image of "the first wise man in the world" has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and he is almost at the point of omnipotence, Lu Xun once commented in the "History of Chinese Novels": "Zhuge Zhizhi is wise and close to a demon!" In the "god-making movement" jointly promoted by the imperial court and the people, Zhuge Liang bore the brunt of it, and the people of the world put on the cloak of "deification" for him and worshipped him. So the question is, if You take off Zhuge Liang's "deified" coat, what is the real Zhuge Liang in history?
In fact, as early as a thousand years ago, Chen Shou had already given the answer, he wrote in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms": "Zhuge Liangzhi is xiangguoye, caressing the people, showing etiquette, covenanting official positions, obeying the power system, being open-minded, and preaching justice... It can be said that it is a good talent for knowledge and governance, and it can be said that Guan and Xiao are a good person. However, after years of moving the crowd, failing to succeed, the cover strain will be slight, not its strength! Chen Shou summed up Zhuge Liang's life in this large paragraph, in his view, Zhuge Liang was a political genius, he was good at governing the country, his ability could be comparable to Guan Zhong and Xiao He, but he lacked ingenuity and flexibility in the military, which was his weakness. It can be said that Chen Shou's evaluation of Zhuge Liang is still relatively objective and fair.
Among the cultural works of later generations, Zhuge Liang's most amazing thing is his inexhaustible strategy and foreknowledge of the future, whether it is in jiangdong tongue group Confucianism to promote alliances, borrow the East Wind fire to break the Cao army, or empty city plan to retire Sima Yi, or he can speculate on the future, all of which have become a classic scene in the history of drama. However, most of these are not historical facts, Zhuge Liang in the early days of joining Liu Bei's clique, in fact, more as a staff officer and diplomat, he did not control the military power. During the Battle of Chibi, Zhuge Liang's greatest contribution was to promote the alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and as for the victory of the war, it should be attributed to Zhou Yu. Even when Liu Bei captured Xichuan, Zhuge Liang was still in charge of logistics dispatch, similar to Xiao He, and it was Liu Guanzhang who really held military power. It was not until Guan Yu and Zhang Fei died and Liu Bei entrusted him with isolation that he really began to grasp military power and command the Army of the Shu State.
Militarily, Zhuge Liang's strengths and weaknesses are very obvious. Strategically, Zhuge Liang was a failure, whether it was to persuade Liu Bei to claim the title of emperor, or to decide to attack instead of defend during the Jingzhou crisis, the final result showed that his choice was wrong. The Northern Expedition led by Zhuge Liang several times was also completely wrong in strategy, and the northern expedition was already doomed to the end of the Northern Expedition by cutting down the strong with weakness. However, this does not mean that Zhuge Liang did not have a strategic vision, and the predicament of the Shu kingdom in a corner of the Shu state made Zhuge Liang have to fall behind himself, and he had no choice but to go north. Moreover, Zhuge Liang was outstanding in leading troops to fight, and the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms once recorded that Zhuge Liang pacified the south in three years, which showed his superb military and political ability. In the five Northern Expeditions, Zhuge Liang was strong with weakness every time, but he created a record of two wins, two draws and one loss, which made everyone in the Wei state panic, such miracles were very human to create, no wonder Sima Yi praised him and said: "It is really a world wizard!" (Book of Jin)
However, for Zhuge Liang, the military field has never been his strength, and what he is best at is governing the country. Jia Xu once commented on Zhuge Liang: "Zhuge Liang is good at governing the country. In just six short words, it is zhuge liang's most "evil" place. Liu Beibai was entrusted with the city of Solitude, and Zhuge Liang took over a Shu state that was difficult to return. Before Liu Bei died, he said to Zhuge Liang: "The juncai is ten times cao pi, and he will be able to secure the country and finally determine great things." If the heir can be supplemented, he shall be supplemented; if he is not talented, he may take it upon himself. Liu Bei's last words seemed to be selfless, but his actions before his death revealed his defense against Zhuge Liang. Liu Bei left Liu Chan with two ministers, one was Zhuge Liang and the other was Li Yan. Li Yan was Zhuge Liang's greatest obstacle in the Shu state, and he blocked Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition several times, causing Zhuge Liang to be forced to retreat. Zhuge Liang was fierce, he attacked Li Yan's clique, deposed Li Yan as a commoner, and then took sole control of the Shu state. Zhuge Liang, who completely controlled the military and political power, did not suppress dissidents, he balanced the local forces of the Shu state with foreign forces, carried out the construction of a clean government, and built the Shu state into the most honest country among the three kingdoms.
Zhuge Liang's greatest political initiative was to build the Shu state into a militarized management regime, serving the military in both clean government construction and economic development. However, Zhuge Liang understood the truth that things must be reversed, so he advised the peasants and developed the economy in the process of continuous Northern Expedition, so that the people would not boil under high pressure. Zhuge Liang's inventions in agriculture were more than those in the military, and he not only built many water conservancy projects, but also improved the tools for farming, which greatly increased productivity. The basis of the war is the economy, looking at how many dynasties died in ancient times, Zhuge Liang was well aware of this, but he had to choose the Northern Expedition, so he worked hard to develop the economy in order to alleviate social contradictions.
In the process of governing the Shu state, Zhuge Liang showed superb political wisdom, and he united the conflicting Shu state and built it into a military power, so that the Wei state did not dare to compete with it. From a long-term point of view, Zhuge Liang's efforts are useless, but if zhuge liang's identity is substituted, he will find his terrible points. Zhuge Liang is like a machine, he is tireless, has no shortcomings, and leads the shu state war machine to run non-stop. Such political ability is really rare.
In addition, the reason why Zhuge Liang is admired is also because of his noble character. Many people have discussed Zhuge Liang's control and suppression of Liu Chan in conspiracy theories, and many even believe that Liu Chan is a genius, and Zhuge Liang has restricted him. Of course, this is a possibility, but the fact is that Zhuge Liang has been bowing to the Shu state for decades, and he has the power and reason to usurp the throne, but he has not done so, he would rather become a powerful vassal than a thief who steals the country. This may be a pedantic, but it is the romantic feelings of Zhuge Liang, a Hanchen who was loyal to the Shu kingdom and wanted to support the Han Dynasty all his life, and spent his life in the court and battlefield full of gun smoke.
Zhuge Liang is not a god, but even if he takes off the cloak of "deification" that the rulers and the people put on him, Zhuge Liang is still an immortal talent, he may not be the wise man in the world, but he is a model for future generations of readers.
Resources:
"Historical Outline of Chinese Novels" Lu Xun
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chen Shou
Book of Jin