Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms period is undoubtedly one of the most familiar figures in history, and now people have regarded Zhuge Liang as the first loyal subject in the ages. It is undeniable that Zhuge Liang bowed to Shu Han and died, even after Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang was still single-mindedly for Shu Han, which has become an example for many historical figures.
After Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang began to preside over the Northern Expedition, and because of this, the Three Kingdoms period entered another period of conquest, in other words, after Liu Bei's death, it can be said that he entered the post-Three Kingdoms era. Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition undoubtedly ended in failure, and even if Jiang Wei continued to implement the Northern Expedition after he took over, the final Northern Expedition was still a failure.
It is worth mentioning that Shu Han, as a three-legged princely state, was the first to perish. During Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, there was a famous strategy, the "Meridian Valley Conspiracy", but this strategy has been controversial for thousands of years, and even today, people still argue about it.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Shu Shu, and the Biography of Wei Yan records: "(Wei Yan) wanted to invite tens of thousands of soldiers, and he and Liang's alien Dao would meet at Tongguan, such as the story of Han Xin, and liang was not allowed." Yan often said that the light was timid, and the hatred of oneself was inexhaustible. This is the historical record of the Meridian Valley Conspiracy, which was not fabricated in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but also exists in the canonical history.
Specifically, the strategy given by Wei Yan was that Wei Yan would lead 10,000 people, 5,000 soldiers, and 5,000 troops to raid Chang'an from the Meridian Valley, scare away the timid Xiahou Shu, and occupy Chang'an. Later, Zhuge Liang's main force came out of the Xie Valley and met with Wei Yan before Cao Wei's army rescued Chang'an (about 20 days), thus cutting off the east-west connection between Cao Wei and the area west of Chang'an to Shu Han.
The Meridian Valley Conspiracy seems to be a very good strategy, but Zhuge Liang did not adopt it, and now it seems that through historical sources, fortunately Zhuge Liang did not adopt it, otherwise Shu Han would fall into a catastrophe. Zhuge Liang did not adopt the Meridian Valley conspiracy, and later generations believed that Zhuge Liang opposed it because he was timid, so is this really the case?
Definitely not, Zhuge Liang, as a famous strategist in history, must have considered things in a more comprehensive way than Wei Yan. Zhuge Liang opposed the "Meridian Valley Conspiracy" because he saw it more far-reaching and penetratingly than Wei Yan, and he knew that the so-called "Miracle Scheme" was tactically unfeasible and could not afford to lose strategically. Because of this, Zhuge Liang rejected the Meridian Valley plot.
Tactically, the chances of the Meridian Valley strategy being realized are almost zero. In order to realize the Meridian Valley plot, there are three essentials, the first is "but ten days can reach Chang'an", successfully through the Meridian Valley surprise attack on Chang'an; second, Xiahou Shu fled without a fight, the Shu army can quickly conquer Chang'an; third, Zhuge Liang's army left Qishan on schedule, and Wei Yan met the division.
The meridian valley road is difficult, many sections of the road have to rely on the cliff to build a boardwalk to pass, difficult to walk and dangerous, from this point of view alone, the meridian valley plot is unlikely to be realized. During the reign of Emperor Shun of Han, he once decreed that "Zhaoyi Prefecture Stabbing History Strike Meridian Road, Tong chu diagonal road." "Don't let me go down this road. Wei Yan's 5,000 elite soldiers and 5,000 force soldiers, even if they stepped out of the light marching speed of the Pingtu march in the mountains, they could only walk 500 miles in 10 days, how could they "reach Chang'an in ten days"?
Strategically speaking, the strategic concept of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition was to send troops to the right of Long, fight steadily and steadily, encroach on Cao Wei's land, and gradually strengthen his own strength. From this point alone, Wei Yan's Meridian Valley plot was contrary to Zhuge Liang's strategy. The reason why Zhuge Liang formulated such a plan was in line with the comparison of the strength of Shu Han and Cao Wei at that time.
Zhuge Liang's conception is undoubtedly better than the Meridian Valley, what is the advantage of Zhuge Liang's strategic conception? The first is that Longyou is a strategic powerhouse, and once the Longyou region is captured, shu Han will be able to attack and defend on a strong basis. Secondly, after occupying the Long Right, Shu Han was able to establish a logistics base that "raised war with war", and finally the Long Right people's hearts were toward Shu, and Cao Wei had fewer defensive troops and was easy to succeed.
There was also the fact that at that time, the Wei army was heavily defending the Guanzhong area, and the Long Right army was relatively small, and Zhuge Liang led the main force to attack this area and gain a local advantage. There is nothing wrong with that strategically. Shu Han has always had the idea of jing slightly long right. Liu Bei reused Ma Chao and Fa Zheng shang Han Zhongce, both of which made a good preparation for Jing Luolong's right. Therefore, Zhuge Liang did not take Wei Yan's Meridian Valley strategy.