In Luo Guanzhong's novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, "Ma Mo Refuses to Advise the Lost Street Pavilion" and "Kong Ming Tears And Chops Ma Mo" are two classic stories that are well-known and popular.
The historical basis of these two stories is that in the sixth year of the Shu Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang went out of the Northern Expedition of Qishan mountain and garrisoned the street pavilion with Ma Chen as the vanguard, but was defeated by the Cao Wei general Zhang Guo. After the war, Ma Mo was arrested and died in prison at the age of thirty-nine. After Ma Chen's death, Zhuge Liang personally went to the funeral and "wept for it" .
Whether it is the "tears" in the novel or the "runny nose" in the main history, when Ma Mo died, Zhuge Liang was indeed in tears, which should be confirmed. Then, when Zhuge Liang "cut off the horse", why did he "shed tears"?
Ma Mo (马谡), a young and often character, was talented and good at military planning, and followed Liu Bei into Shu from Jingzhou, and served as the commander of Mianzhu County, the order of Chengdu County, and the Taishou of Yue.
In the third year of Jianxing, Zhuge Liang led an army to attack Yongmin, and Ma Mo offered advice: "Nanzhong relies on the dangerous terrain and the long distance, and the rebellion has been disobedient for a long time. Even if we defeat it today, tomorrow they will rebel. At present, you are preparing to concentrate the strength of the whole country on the Northern Expedition to deal with the strong thieves, and the rebels will accelerate the rebellion when they know that the country is empty. If they were all killed to get rid of the troubles, it would not be the work of the benevolent, nor would it be possible to do so in a short period of time. The principle of fighting with troops, with the attack on the heart as the top and the siege as the bottom; Psychological warfare is the top, short soldiers are the bottom, I hope you can make it truly convincing. ”
Zhuge Liang adopted Ma Chen's suggestion, and after beheading Yong Min, he pardoned Meng Yu several times according to Ma Mo's words, so that the people of Nanzhong would be subjugated, so that on the day of Zhuge Liang's life, the south did not dare to rebel again. It can be seen that Ma Mo still has a certain insight.
In the sixth year of Jianxing, Zhuge Liang prepared to go out of the Qi Mountains to northern expedition to Cao Wei, with Ma Mo as the vanguard, stationed at the street pavilion.
Ma Mo came to the street pavilion, did not listen to the advice of the deputy general Wang Ping, and then privately violated Zhuge Liang's marching deployment, abandoned the water source, and stationed the troops on the South Mountain, and the troops were divided and dispatched in a chaotic manner. The Cao Wei general Zhang Guo then seized the opportunity to cut off the water source of Ma Chen's army, and then launched an attack, defeating Ma Chen.
The loss of the street pavilion caused Zhuge Liang to march without a foothold, and his previous achievements were abandoned, so he had to return to Hanzhong after capturing more than a thousand people in Xixian County.
Objectively speaking, as the person directly responsible for the lost street kiosk (not the first responsible person), Ma Chen's guilt is inevitable and should be punished.
However, victory or defeat is a common affair of soldiers, and whether Ma Mo lost the street kiosk should be executed is debatable. Later, Jiang Huan once said to Zhuge Liang in response to this matter: "Xi Chu killed the subjects, and then Wen Gongxi knew it." The world is undecided and the wise and scheming people are not hesitant to do so! ”
Zhuge Liang replied, "Sun Wu is the one who can overcome the world, and the fa Ming ye is also used." It was Yang Gan's chaotic law, and Wei Dai's servants were killed. The four seas are divided, the armies are exchanged, if the law is abolished, why use the thief and evil! ”
From Zhuge Liang's reply and the previous "runny nose", we can see that Zhuge Liang's original intention may not want to kill Ma Chen, but in order to strictly enforce law and discipline, he had to kill Ma Mo. In other words, Ma Mo was actually a victim of Zhuge Liang's strict discipline.
In addition, we should also see that the loss of the street kiosk was actually caused by Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Liang was the first responsible person for the lost street kiosk of Ma Mo.
Liu Bei was actually not optimistic about Ma Mo before his death, and when he was dying, he also specially warned Zhuge Liang: "Ma Mo is exaggerated and should not be of great use. Regrettably, Zhuge Liang was quite dismissive of Liu Bei's dying admonition. After Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang dispatched Ma Mo to his side to serve as a military staff officer, "every time he introduces and talks, he reaches the night from day to night."
At the time of the Northern Expedition, many people at that time believed that Wei Yan or Wu Yi, who had been in the battlefield for a long time, should be the vanguard. However, Zhuge Liang eventually disregarded the opinions of the people and acted arbitrarily, letting Ma Mo, who lacked experience in marching and fighting, the vanguard.
Zhuge Liang not only violated Liu Bei's dying admonition, but also violated the unanimous opinions of the people, insisting on reusing the horse rumors, and finally led to the loss of the street pavilion, both the suspicion of seedlings and the loss of knowledge.
Moreover, after Ma Mo arrived at the street kiosk, was it an absolutely wrong choice to abandon the water source and garrison Nanshan?
No matter how inexperienced Ma Mo was in marching and fighting, no matter how mentally retarded he was (in fact, he was superior, not mentally retarded at all), it was impossible not to realize the importance of water to the army. So, in the street kiosk, why would he choose to give up the water source?
We can guess that the reason why Ma Mo chose to abandon the water source and garrison Nanshan was most likely that he believed that Zhuge Liang's successor army would soon arrive. And if Zhuge Liang's successor army can arrive quickly, it is naturally more advantageous for Ma Mo to garrison the top of the mountain than to garrison the flat land.
What Ma Mo did not expect was that Zhuge Liang's successor army had not been able to arrive for a long time, so his plan to stay for a short time became a long-term stalemate. In this case, Zhang Hao cut off Ma Mo's water source, leaving Ma Mo with no choice but to fail.
It can be seen that Ma Mo lost the street kiosk, and Zhuge Liang's march was slow and the rescue was ineffective.
In short, in the battle of Ma Mo's lost street pavilion, Zhuge Liang was suspected of being encouraged by seedlings, the mistake of knowing people was unknown, and there were mistakes of slow marching and ineffective rescue, and he was responsible for unshirkable responsibility.
We do not deny that Zhuge Liang is an outstanding figure in Chinese history, however, as far as the first Northern Expedition of the Shu Han Dynasty is concerned, Zhuge Liang finally put all the responsibility for the failure of the Northern Expedition on the street pavilion of Ma Mo (Liang Jin had no basis, and the retreat was returned to Hanzhong), which was not only unfair, but also suspected of letting Ma Mo carry the black cauldron for himself, which was indeed not generous enough.
Perhaps because of this, Zhuge Liang would "wave tears" when he cut off the horse. His tears not only have the intention of loving talent, but also the guilt of Ma Chen.