A major shortcoming in traditional Chinese politics and metallurgy is that there are many mountains and the party is fighting differently. Whether a person is reliable or not, whether he can be reused politically, is not based on his ability, but only on whether he is a person in his own circle. This kind of style of drawing lines according to social circles and relying on relatives and alienation to employ workers has been pervasive for a long time, which will cause a situation of "one glory and one loss".
Therefore, sayings such as "one heavenly son and one courtier" and "only seek the new, and people only use the old" have always been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
We can find an answer to the reasons for clarifying some concepts and discussing Zhuge Liang's lofty and broad trust in Ma Mo, and even promoting him to the position of commander-in-chief of the former enemy in the first Northern Expedition to the Central Plains and the strategic attack on Qishan.
As the supreme ruler of the entire Shu Han regime, Liu Bei was well aware of the evolution trend of the political ecology of the imperial court.
Zhuge Liang's outstanding talents and his reuse of his close associates Jingxiang were also clear and vigilant.
For the sake of the steady development of the political situation, and for the sake of the relative balance and mutual restraint between the Jingxiang clique and the Yizhou clique, the two pillars of the imperial court, after taking over Yizhou, he deliberately supported the Yizhou forces represented by Fazheng and Xu Jing to control and weaken the increasing power of Jingxiang, so as to prevent them from dominating the political situation and controlling everything.
This is the reason why Liu Bei obeyed the fazheng and was relatively indifferent to Zhuge Liang, so that for a long time he only served as a miscellaneous general, only responsible for military service in the rear, and "adjusted his taxes to replenish the army".
Zhuge Liang was such a wise man, and of course he understood the profound intentions of Liu Bei's Fa Zheng, Xu Jing, and other members of the Yizhou clique. However, judging from his words and deeds, it seems that he did not face Liu Bei's reminder squarely.
From his remarks after the Battle of Yiling, "If the law is filial piety, it can control the lord and make him not go east", we can only see the loss in his heart, but we can't see his true enlightenment.
Unfortunately, Liu Bei's well-intentioned efforts to balance the two major groups of Jingxiang and Yizhou failed to achieve the final implementation as desired.
Fa Zheng, Xu Jing, and others died too early, so that the Yizhou clique lost the leaders that were expected by the public and could effectively compete with Zhuge Liang. After the Battle of Yiling, Liu Bei was full of sorrow and anger, his health deteriorated sharply, and he quickly came to the end of his life, which made Liu Bei have to consider from the perspective of stabilizing and maintaining the fate of the Shu Han regime, and entrusted the heavy responsibility of entrusting orphans to Zhuge Liang.
Even so, Liu Bei still made Li Yan, who had a relationship with the Yizhou clique, the second most important minister of the orphans, and this arrangement was very clear, still containing the implication of balancing the two major forces of Jingxiang and Yizhou.
However, things have developed to this point, and no one has the strength to restrain Zhuge Liang from letting go of his hands and feet to run his own Jingxiang inner circle. Without the competition of such a political key figure as Fazheng (which can also be regarded as an opponent), without the control of a superior like Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang was completely in power, and he could do his own thing without scruples and kill and seize it.
On the one hand, he used high-sounding reasons to crack down on and weaken the power of the Yizhou clique, especially focusing on cutting out any representative figure in the Yizhou force who might monopolize power over himself and pose a potential threat to the smooth development of the Jingxiang forces. His suppression and dismissal of Li Yan, who was also Liu Beituo's lone minister, was a typical example.
Of course, Li Yan had shortcomings and faults, but it was debatable whether these faults were serious enough to warrant the dismissal of officials and the demotion of a commoner.
Ma Mo was an excellent staff officer, and the world called him "a talented weapon to pick the ball and discuss military planning." Zhuge Liang was very appreciative of him, although Liu Bei had long emphasized that Ma Mo "sold his reputation and reputation, could not be used generously, and Jun Qizhi observed it", but Zhuge Liang's love and selfishness prompted him not to take Liu Bei's hint as his intention, and he did not shy away from suspicion, "just as if it were otherwise, he would join the army as a rumor."
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, "Pei Song's Notes", refers to Ma Shi or Zhuge Liangyi as a righteous brother, or has a certain kinship relationship with Zhuge Liang: "Chen Songzhi believes that Liang Gai and Liang formed brotherhood, or had relatives; Liang was old, and Liang Was called a respected brother. ”
Ma Liang was highly regarded in the first dynasty, and the official was Langzhong. But the tragedy is that in the Yiling duel, Ma Liang went to war with the army, the Shu army was defeated, and Ma Liang was also killed. Zhuge Liang lost Ma Liang, and his sorrow was able to meet him, so he devoted a great deal of care to his brother Ma Chen.
In Ma Mo's body, Zhuge Liang's deep expectations were placed. And the strategy of attacking the heart proposed by Ma Mo in Zhuge Liang's Battle of Pacifying Nanzhong is "the way of the soldiers, the attack of the heart is the top, the attack of the city is the bottom; the heart war is the top, and the soldiers are the bottom." May the public obey his heart", and also presented the best plan for Zhuge Liang's victory, so that Zhuge Liang could successfully quell the rebellion in the southern and central regions.
"The gang discipline is rough and the Yihan is rough", which cleared the concerns of the Northern Expedition. According to this incident, Zhuge Liang appreciated Ma Mo even more, judging him to be the best candidate to inherit his own work and maintain the Jingxiang camp in the Shu Han Dynasty.
It is not enough to rely solely on ma Mo's work experience as deputy (chief of staff), but it is necessary to have the role of chief officer, be on his own, and have outstanding achievements on the battlefield, so as to block the mouth of Youyou.
Later, after carrying out the strategic plan of the first northward invasion of Qishan and the invasion of the Central Plains, Zhuge Liang abandoned Wei Yan, Zhao Yun and other generals who could recruit habitual battles, and selected Ma Mo as the commander of the former enemy.
A good chief of staff is not necessarily a qualified manager. As the chief of staff, Ma Mo was in charge of national defense and assisted the commander-in-chief, but when he was the commander of the First Army, he could not catch it, and he was partial to a general like Zhang Gao.
Therefore, when the street pavilion came out, Ma Mo abandoned the armored troops and lost the street pavilion, where the soldiers and families must fight, so that the entire battle of the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han Dynasty was passive, "there was no basis for entering", Zhuge Liang was forced to return to Hanzhong under an order, and the vigorous First Northern Expedition ended in failure.
Zhuge Liang fell on the throne because he was running the Jingxiang power group circle, but the subsequent evolution shows that he did not really learn from this.
At the level of balance of power between Jingxiang and Yizhou, it is very obvious that Zhuge Liang still consciously or unconsciously degraded the Yizhou clique with the help of the Jingxiang clique, which can be seen from the fact that he would rather use Jiang Wei, a native of Xining, Liangzhou, than hand over real power to the powerful people of the Yizhou clique.
Zhuge Liang's actions had a profound impact on the future evolutionary trend of Shu Han politics, and the Shu Han political party, as a foreign political party with Jingxiang personnel as the main body, seems to have always had difficulties in running-in and cooperation with local personnel, and the recognition and support of the officials, hao clans, and squires in bashu are likely to have been preserved to a certain extent.
When Sima Zhao sent the generals Zhong Hui and Deng Ai to attack Shu, Zhuge Zhan (Zhuge Liang's grandson) was killed in Mianzhu, while local officials such as Bashu (such as Yu Zhou) actively instigated Liu Chan to concede defeat, showing some eyebrows.
The general principle is very simple, the dominant Jingxiang clique is not willing to lack its own interests, of course, it must be thrilling to resist; and for the Yizhou interest groups that have been under pressure for a long time, and even how much has been weakened, even if the Shu Han political party is not its own political party in essence, then its survival does not need to pay too much attention, changing the court, and turning to Cao Wei to govern has not been a big disaster, so when the soldiers come to the city, it is not necessarily a wise choice to admit defeat in the city.