In 228 AD, Zhuge Liang, the chancellor of the Shu Han Dynasty, launched the first Northern Expedition. Before the expedition, the general Wei Yan made a wonderful suggestion to Zhuge Liang. At that time, the goal of the first phase of the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han Dynasty was to enter Guanzhong from Hanzhong and capture Sanfu and Liangzhou, and also to the old capital Chang'an.
In Zhuge Liang's view, it is necessary to take the road step by step to capture Liangzhou. After obtaining the resources of Liangzhou, Xu Tu Guanzhong. However, Wei Yan believed that the soldiers were fast and fast, and it was better to be in place in one step. He asked Zhuge Liang to give him 5,000 elite soldiers, bring dry food for 10 days, cross the dangerous Meridian Valley, and reach the city of Chang'an. At that time, the main defender of Chang'an would be a foreign relative and anointed son, Xiahou Shu. This man was ambitious and talented, weak and incompetent, and when he saw Wei Yanbing approaching the city, he was bound to take the road and flee.
After Xiahou Shu escaped, Wei Yan used Chang'an as a basis to blockade Tongguan and wait for Zhuge Liang's brigade to come to his aid. At that time, Guanzhong and Liangzhou can be won in one battle, without so much effort. For Wei Yan's plan, Zhuge Liang did not hesitate to deny it. He thinks this plan is too risky, such as caution.
However, Zhuge Liang's caution did not avoid the defeat of the Shu army, and due to improper employment, ma Mo's army was defeated at the street pavilion, resulting in the failure of the first Northern Expedition. In this regard, many people in later generations believe that the reason why the First Northern Expedition failed was entirely because Zhuge Liang was stubborn and did not use Wei Yan's strategy. Although the Meridian Valley plot is very risky, the benefits are also quite attractive, and there is no reason not to try.
The scholar Li Miao once sighed: "Every time I read the Book of Shu, I see Wei Yan inviting out of Chang'an, zhuge is not allowed, and sighing is bright and strange. Sima Yi of the same era also ridiculed Zhuge Liang, saying that he was "ambitious but not organic, more resourceful and less decisive, good soldiers but no power." In other words, if Sima Yi had followed his fierce and dangerous nature, he might have adopted Wei Yan's strategy long ago.
Therefore, the author of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" gave Zhuge Liang a very controversial comment: "However, after years of moving the masses and failing to succeed, Gai Strain will be slight, not his strength!" "To put it bluntly, Zhuge Liang doesn't understand the magic scheme." So, is Zhuge Liang's denial of the Meridian Valley conspiracy correct in the end?
It is said that practice makes true knowledge, and as time goes on, we find more and more that the Meridian Valley Conspiracy does have a lot of unreliability. Successive generations of soldiers marched from the Meridian Valley, and all of them ended in failure. The Meridian Valley Conspiracy is no longer just a risky problem, it cannot be implemented at all.
From practice. In 230 AD, Cao Zhen, the governor of Cao Wei, decided to take advantage of the Meridian Valley's dangerous road to cut down Shu on a large scale. Who knew that due to the bad weather and the unfriendly terrain, Wei Jun spent a month, but he did not even reach half the distance. According to Wei Yan, it takes 10 days to cross the Meridian Valley. But from Cao Zhen's personal experience, it is simply a fool's dream.
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sima Huanwen went on a northern expedition against Former Qin, and he sent Sima Xun out of hanzhong out of the Meridian Valley to attack Chang'an. Who knew that halfway through, he encountered the 7,000 cavalry of former Qin Cheng Xiangxiong, and finally ended in failure. This defeat was not only because the enemy army discovered the intentions of the Jin army, but also because the terrain of the Meridian Valley was too dangerous and the grain and grass were not good.
In 1636, the thief Gao Yingxiang set out from Hanzhong and followed Wei Yan out of the Meridian Valley to prepare to capture Xi'an. As a result, his plan was quickly discovered by the Ming general Sun Chuanting, and he waited for work at Heishuiyu in the Meridian Valley. After four days of fierce fighting, Gao Yingxiang's tired division was defeated by the officers and eventually captured.
After 1708, a modern general also copied the Meridian Valley Conspiracy, he was the commander of the 74th Army that we are very familiar with- Wang Yaowu. In December 1936, the Xi'an Incident broke out, and Chiang Kai-shek was detained by Zhang Xueliang. Wang Yaowu followed the example of the ancients and prepared to raid Xi'an from the Meridian Valley to rescue Chiang Kai-shek. Who knew that when he reached the Meridian Valley, Wang Yaowu found that this road was rugged and difficult to navigate, and before he was halfway through, a large number of soldiers and mules and horses fell to their deaths. And that's not the worst, the Meridian Valley is actually short of water.
According to scientific reports, if people do not drink water, they cannot even last for three days. If it was true that according to Wei Yan's words, if he crossed the Meridian Valley in ten days, I was afraid that he would die of thirst and fall to death halfway, and attacking Chang'an with such a tired division was simply fatal.
With the passage of time, Zhuge Liang's reasons for rejecting the Meridian Valley plot were gradually completed. Wei Yan's strategy was no longer just a matter of extremely high risk, but it was simply not feasible, and it was to send him to death. As commander of the three armies and the de facto ruler of shu Han, Zhuge Liang did not need to gamble on Wei Yan's personal victory with the fortunes of the state. As commander-in-chief, he had to focus not only on the battlefield, but also on the survival of the country.
In this regard, Li Shimin may have more common language with him. In 644, Li Shimin personally conquered Goguryeo, and the other side sent troops to resist. The general Li Daozong saw this and proposed a strange plan, saying that the main force of the enemy army was gathered on the border, and the capital city of Pyongyang was bound to be empty. It is better for him to lead a crack army to raid the enemy's nest and come to a black tiger to dig out his heart, and then hundreds of thousands of Goguryeo troops will inevitably be self-defeating. This plan is similar to Wei Yan's Meridian Valley plot. However, like Zhuge Liang, Li Shimin categorically rejected Li Daozong's proposal.
The so-called standing position is different, and seeing it is different. Unlike Wei Yan, Li Daozong and other generals, Zhuge Liang and Li Shimin, as commanders, saw the overall situation of the whole country, and should not be too concerned about the gains and losses of one city and one place, and the survival of the country should really be concerned. Therefore, Zhuge Liang is the truly wise man.