When Zhuge Liang was still alive, the Shu state carried out five Northern Expeditions, the first of which was the famous tear-jerking horse, which was originally a chance, but eventually collapsed due to the unexpected defeat of Ma Mo in a key battle. The second time was a sneak attack on Chen Cang, the Wei army reacted relatively quickly, quickly came to the rescue, and the Shu state immediately retreated. The third successful capture of the land of the two counties. The fourth time due to the exhaustion of food and clothing. The fifth time it stopped due to Zhuge Liang's illness.
In the old version of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang swore to teach the Northern Expedition
Jiang Huan then succeeded him, and during Jiang Huan's reign, the Shu state's large-scale Northern Expedition came to a standstill, but preparations for war were still under way.
After Fei Yi came to power, he resumed the Northern Expedition, but only mobilized troops above and below 10,000 people. It was not until Jiang Wei took power that he began a large-scale Northern Expedition, but each time he "did not return".
The long-term Northern Expedition, the first to hurt not the State of Wei, but the State of Shu itself, the expedition of the laborers, the cost of a huge amount, these will of course be transferred to the people of the State of Shu. The Shu general Zhang Ling had the thesis that "thinking that the country is small, it is not appropriate to use force, and it will draw feet for snakes". Zhuge Liang's son Zhuge Zhan also realized the harm of the Northern Expedition, but in the end he could not stop the pace of the Northern Expedition of the Shu State, and regretted it before he died in battle, believing that he had committed three crimes, one was that he could not get rid of Huang Hao internally, the other was that he could not control Jiang Wei outside, and the third was that the leader could not defend the country.
The result of the Northern Expedition of the Shu State was that "the Air Labor Division Brigade, without age and conquest, failed to enter the land within reach, opened the foundation of the emperor, and left the country desolate, and the Western Lands suffered from its service adjustment." There were many rebellions in the country, and zhang Ling, as mentioned earlier, was more or less a means, and it was he who booby-trapped the leader of the uprising and suppressed the domestic uprising.
All in all, Zhuge Liang's six out of the Qi Mountains, Jiang Wei's nine expeditions to the Central Plains, and the Shu state, under the condition that its strength was obviously insufficient, gave up the Western Shu Heavenly Danger, and fifteen large-scale expeditions before and after, what was the purpose?
How big was the gap in Wei Shu's national strength?
In fact, when Guan Yu was in Jingzhou, Liu Bei was sitting in Xichuan, and Huang Zhongding's army was furiously beheading Xiahou, the Shu kingdom did have a mighty wind of Wang Shi's hundred battles to restore our land. However, this is only temporary. In the final analysis, the huge gap in national strength between the Shu and Wei states led to the fact that even if the Shu state won a victory at the tactical level, it could not turn it into an overall victory.
When we assess the strength of an ancient country, the first thing we see is undoubtedly its land area, which is also the most intuitive embodiment of national strength.
The State of Wei had the Hebei region originally owned by Yuan Shao, most of the northwest region, and the Central Plains of Sili, Yongzhou, Yuzhou, and Xuzhou, which alone was the most extensive of the three kingdoms in terms of geographical area. Moreover, the development potential of these areas is very sufficient, and Jizhou, Xuzhou and Yuzhou are all once famous grain producing provinces. And Cao Cao's long-begun implementation of the military tun government decrees has also made these areas recover rapidly, it can be said that Cao Wei already has a great power atmosphere.
In contrast, in the Shu Kingdom, although Chengdu Tianfu was rich, the overall mountain roads in Xichuan were rugged, which was not conducive to agricultural production, and the transportation of grain and grass was also very problematic. To put it bluntly, that place in the Shu Kingdom highlights an easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are many favorable conditions for fighting a defensive war on its own territory, with rugged mountain roads, many natural dangers, short transportation lines, and little logistical pressure. However, if the State of Shu wanted to fight out, these favorable conditions became the negative conditions for the Foreign War of the State of Shu.
Look at the population. According to the Chronicle of Food and Goods of the Three Kingdoms: "In the fourth year of Jing Yuan, with Shu Tong, there were 943,423 households and 5,372,891 people. In addition to the income of Pingshu, at that time, the Wei clan only had 663,423 households and 4,432,881 mouths. ”
From this information, it can be calculated that the population of the State of Wei is about 4.43 million people, and the population of the State of Shu is 940,000 people. From this data, we can intuitively see the gap between Wei and Shu, compared to ancient times, population is productivity.
In fact, from this, it can be seen that the local family clan of the State of Wei has the problem of hiding the population, because the ratio of the population of the State of Wei to the number of households is not normal. Looking at the population data given by the Book of Jin, in 280 AD, the ratio of household registrations in Wei Shu and Wu was about 4.5:2:1. And the data given by the Food Chronicle is not bad.
Not only do these conventional resources Wei Guo have an overwhelming advantage, but in other strategic resources, Wei Guo is also far ahead.
In ancient times, the places where war horses were sent were basically monopolized by the State of Wei. The number of warhorses in the Wu and Shu states was not only scarce, but their quality was also very worrying. For example, the Dianma Chuma of the State of Wu can basically only be used to pull goods, and it is okay to be a donkey envoy, but as for going to the battlefield, it is simply impossible.
Looking at iron ore, like war horses, large iron ore production areas are basically under the rule of the State of Wei. Iron ore production and low quality in Wushu and Shu are also low.
As a result, the three countries opened up a huge gap in terms of population, grain and grass, weapons, and war horses. People generally describe this situation as "how can a flying dragon ride face lose?" ”。
Why did the Shu state insist on the Northern Expedition
Under these circumstances, why did the State of Shu abandon the natural dangers of the mountains and rivers in its territory, work expeditions, strike weak and strong, take the initiative to attack, and persist in the Northern Expedition?
In fact, the answer is very simple, only the Northern Expedition of the Shu Kingdom can live longer.
Regardless of whether the Northern Expedition was victorious or defeated, it could achieve the purpose of Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei to a certain extent--disrupting the rhythm of the economic recovery of the Wei state and fighting for more living space for the Shu state.
Cao Wei had a population of 4 million and a Shu Han population of 900,000. If this is a real-time strategy game, then Wei Guo only needs to step out of the army, train this set of processes, and then directly pull to the face of Shu Guo A. And the reality is the same.
The only reason why the State of Wei had not yet directly pulled out A to the face of the State of Shu was that the northern region had ceased to flourish due to years of war. On the contrary, the southern region and the Nishikawa region, due to less war, have a good economic development.
Therefore, in the early days of the establishment of the Three Kingdoms, the State of Wei fell into the inferior position.
But this was all temporary, and the State of Wei only needed to recover step by step, and it would be able to pull out an army with absolute superiority to destroy the State of Yishu and the State of Wu. You can find two examples to visually describe this scene.
Zhuge Liang is a business wizard, the Xishu Group he manages has a million capital, because Zhuge Liang is an investment genius, his yield can reach 100%, a year to earn a million. Opposite him is the landlord's stupid son Cao Pi, whose ability to earn money is touching, but Cao Pi holds four million pounds of gold, which means that his yield only needs to be higher than 25%, which can compete with Zhuge Liang's 100% yield. And Cao Pi was obviously not a stupid son of a landlord's family, and if he continued to develop step by step, the gap between Cao Wei and Shu Han could only grow wider and wider.
This is the development gap brought about by cost.
This gap is getting bigger and bigger, and in the end, when the advantages of relying on the tactical level cannot offset this advantage, there is no doubt that it will be the day of the demise of the Shu Han. Therefore, taking the initiative to attack and disrupt the rhythm of Cao Wei's economic development was the only way for the Shu state to save itself.
Looking back, after Zhuge Liang's death, the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui changed overnight from a diligent and hard-working mingjun to a tyrant who only knew how to build a palace for himself and work hard for the people and hurt his money.
Why is there such a big change all of a sudden?
In fact, it is not people who have changed, but the situation. After Zhuge Liang's death, the offensive of the Shu state slowed down, and the heavy responsibility that Cao Rui was carrying on his shoulders suddenly relaxed, and then he only needed to rest and recuperate step by step, and he could effortlessly press the two countries of Wu and Shu.
Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition is actually to survive in death, and the gap between Shu and Wei can be called one mine to nine mines, but if you can successfully bite a few bites of meat from Wei Guo through the Northern Expedition, the gap between the two sides will be reduced.
The fire extinguishes the valley above, And Zhuge Liang is silent in the rain The fire extinguishes the valley above, and Zhuge Liang is silent in the rain
This was the only vitality of the Shu Kingdom in a desperate situation.
Don't Jiang Huan and Fei Yi understand? They understood, but they couldn't do it, and the years of war and turmoil had made the Shu kingdom like a spring that pressed to the end, and it could only collapse. By the time of Jiang Wei, this spring could be pressed again, so there was Jiang Wei's Nine Harvest Central Plains.
Moreover, when Liu Bei became emperor in 221 AD, the name of the country was Han. Under the banner of the Great Han, a large number of forces remembering the glory of the Great Han were condensed, including the warriors who prepared their own armor after hearing about the Northern Expedition, the people who paid silently, and so on.
As the saying goes, "Han thieves are not separated, and Wang Ye is not partial." The Shu Han regime took the Kuangfu Han Dynasty as the foundation of its founding, and if it did not go north, it would fall into a situation of unjustified names. Therefore, even for the sake of the Legal System of the Great Han, the Shu State must resolutely and resolutely follow the path of the Northern Expedition.
The gap in the foundation, the requirements of the legal system, and the ambition to chase the deer all required the Shu state to take the initiative to attack, rather than trapping the southwest natural danger. Gu Zuyu said in the "Minutes of Reading the History of Public Opinion" that "Sichuan is not a place to sit." To fight for the world with Sichuan, the upper is enough to be king, the second is enough to dominate, and if you sit in danger, you will perish. ”
Therefore, the Shu kingdom really could not keep its home at ease. This is a dilemma of drinking and quenching thirst, whether to survive in death, the Northern Expedition to find a glimmer of life, or to sit back and watch Cao Wei develop and wait for the army to overwhelm the territory. Zhuge Liang could only drink the poisonous wine of the "Northern Expedition" to continue his life.