In August of the twelfth year of Jianxing of the Shu Han Dynasty (234 AD), Zhuge Liang, who led the Fifth Northern Expedition, fell ill and died of illness in the military camp of Wuzhangyuan (present-day Qishan, Shaanxi) at the age of 54.
After the Shu Han army returned to Chengdu, the later lord Liu Chan, in recognition of Zhuge Liang's meritorious service and noble virtues, posthumously awarded him the title of Marquis of Zhongwu (忠武侯), and buried him in Dingjun Mountain (定军山, in present-day mian county, Shaanxi) in recognition of Zhuge Liang's meritorious service and lofty virtues. It is said that Zhuge Liang's tomb still exists today.
The news of Zhuge Liang's death spread throughout Western Shu, and people everywhere raised funds to build temples for him, but the court council did not allow people to build temples for sacrifice on the grounds of "blasphemy and no ceremony and uncivil order". Many ministers suggested that a temple be erected for Zhuge Liang in Chengdu, but Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Dynasty, did not allow it on the grounds that he was approaching the Liu Clan Sect Temple.
Many years later, the infantry lieutenants Xi Long and Zhongshu Lang jointly proposed to Chong and others that a temple be built near the tomb of Zhuge in Qiuyang County, Hanzhong Province, so that the relatives of the deceased ministers could worship at the time; those who wanted to sacrifice their old departments and protégés were limited to the temple; and private sacrifices were prohibited to honor the state ceremony.
Liu Chan was only able to play this, and in the spring of the sixth year of Jing Yao (263), he issued an edict to establish the Zhuge Temple in Hanzhong, which was exactly 29 years after Zhuge Liang's death.
Chen Shou made a comprehensive appraisal of Zhuge Liang in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and The Biography of Zhuge Liang with the profound vision of historians: "Zhuge Liangzhi is the one who loves the country, caresses the people, shows etiquette, covenants official duties, obeys the system of power, is open-minded, and preaches justice; although he is loyal and righteous, he will be rewarded, those who break the law and slacken off will be punished, those who serve crimes and lose affection will be released, and those who play tricks will be killed..."
"It can be said that the good talent of the lost cure, the pipe and the Yapi of Xiao." However, after years of moving the crowd, failing to succeed, the cover strain will be slight, not its strengths"!
Pei Songzhi of the Southern Dynasty also gave Zhuge Liang high praise when he annotated the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Yuan An of the Eastern Han Dynasty praised Zhuge Liang and said: "The prince of all things is a prince who has exclusive power and is not disrespectful, and who does things for the king and the people of the country do not doubt, so that he is happy with the hearts of the monarch and the people."
Zhuge Liang is a transcendent and famous person in the universe, and in the minds of future generations, he has nirvana as the embodiment of wisdom, a symbol of loyalty, a model of virtuousness, a model of incorruptibility, and a benchmark for governing the family, which can be called perfect.
Zhuge Liang was loyal to Shu Han, "bowing down to exhaustion, and after death", although the Northern Expedition was unsuccessful several times, he also did his best. He not only worked hard for the Shu Han regime and single-mindedly assisted Liu Chan, the mediocre successor, but also was honest in government, diligent and thrifty, and after his death, he had no spare money inside and no money outside, and he was a minister for thirteen years.
Except for his slightly inferior military ability, he has achieved almost everything to the extreme. All of this made him more important and respected in the minds of historians and future generations, even surpassing Liu Bei.
Zhuge Liang spent his whole life busy with the Shu Han Society, and there are very few historical documents about his daily life and deeds of ruling the family, but from the only historical materials, we can still glimpse some of the characteristics of Zhuge Liang's family.
Zhuge Liang was a minister for thirteen years, a highly powerful position, and was a well-deserved number two figure in Shu Han. But his family life is extremely simple, and it can even be said to be a little "shabby". According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, he wrote in a letter to Li Yan: "I have been given 800,000 hu, and now I have no money to spare, and my concubines have no clothes." The "prime minister" of the Tangtang Shu state had no surplus wealth in his family, and the concubines did not even have a set of clothes to change their clothes, so it is no wonder that some people later sighed: "Hou Zhi's concubines have no vice clothes, and their frugal virtue can be mastered." Zhuge Liang's self-discipline and simplicity in family life are enough to be called the Master of All Ages!
Zhuge Liang once said in a table to Liu Chan: "The subject initially served the former emperor, and his capital was subordinate to the officials, and he did not give birth to himself. Today, chengdu has 800 mulberry plants, fifteen thin fields, children and clothing, and their own surplus. As for the ministers who are in foreign posts, there is no other dispatch, they carry food and clothing, they are raised by the officials, and they do not rule their lives, so as to grow in size. If on the day of his subject's death, he shall not have a surplus inside and a surplus of money on the outside, and he shall bear the burden of His Majesty."
Judging from the contents of this table, Zhuge Liang can be called the earliest high-ranking official to voluntarily declare his assets since records. Judging from the list of family properties he opened, there were only "eight hundred mulberry trees and fifteen acres of thin fields", which he referred to after Liu Bei occupied Yizhou, and the money he gave him was a property purchased by him, on which the family lived. In addition, there is no other money left, and it is the most precious thing to never use his power to increase private property at will.
At the end of this table with the nature of a declaration of assets, he sincerely stated: "(When he dies) do not let there be a surplus inside, and a surplus (win) of wealth outside, so as to bear His Majesty."
Shi Zai, after Zhuge Liang's death, someone suggested that Liu Chan send someone to check whether Zhuge Liang's private property was really as cold as he said.
There are also some historical records that Zhuge Liang in the late Shu Han Dynasty had an exclusive power, acted arbitrarily, and was in flames. He replaced the later lord Liu Chan in charge of all the military and political affairs of the Shu state, and Liu Chan had great respect for him on the surface, calling him "Xiang Father", but in his heart he was very jealous of him who was leaning towards the opposition.
In order to reassure Liu Chan, Zhuge Liang commanded the army for a long time and tried his best to avoid a direct conflict with him, he had to do everything personally, work hard and complain, and at the same time did not rule the industry, in order to avoid making Liu Chan suspect that he had different ambitions and arouse the envy of the courtiers. After Zhuge Liang's death, Liu Chan, in order to avenge his political revenge for so many years of being hollowed out by Zhuge Liang, took people to raid Zhuge Liang's home, hoping to expose his duplicitous face in public and fiercely spit out a bird qi that had been suppressed by him for many years.
He thought that Zhuge Liang had been a minister for thirteen years, and although he superficially said that he did not rule the estate and had no surplus wealth in his family, he must have secretly accumulated family wealth that was like a heavenly family, and he could easily give him a hat of disagreement and bribery, so as to establish his prestige and monopolize power. What embarrassed him was that the results of the search were exactly the same as Zhuge Liang's own declaration, and the chancellor was indeed bright and upright, consistent in appearance, clean and honest for the officials, and clean in both sleeves, and he really never used his power to seek personal interests for himself. Liu Chan was ashamed and ashamed, and in order to hide his disappointment and guilt, he smashed a cup on the spot, and finally he took Zhuge Liang's son Zhuge Zhan into the palace to raise him to comfort the spirit of Xiang Xiang in heaven.