As we all know, Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu are outstanding figures in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The two of them had equal ability, but unfortunately, Zhou Yu left early, which made Zhuge Liang one less opponent.
So, was Zhou Yu really killed by Zhuge Liang?
"Longzhong Pair" is the material for us to understand Zhuge Liang's judgment of the general situation of the world, and when Zhuge Liang planned the policy of seizing the world for Liu Bei, the first step was to sit in Jingzhou and Yizhou. As we all know, the Nine Counties of Jingxiang are the hinterland of the Central Plains, and its location is very important, which is a necessary place for many forces to compete, and the Battle of Chibi can determine the ownership of the Nine Counties of Jingxiang.
At that time, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang joined forces to reject Cao Cao, and in the end, Cao Cao did not get this fertile land. However, in the process of union, they also fought with each other. Although Eastern Wu gained Jingzhou, Zhou Yu was defeated by Zhuge Liang, so much so that after he left the phrase "He Shengyu, He Shengliang", he died. Therefore, some people said: Zhou Yu was killed by Zhuge Liang because of his small qi.
In fact, this is the image of Zhou Yu that the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" deliberately created, and the historical Zhou Yu is a person with a broad mind, he just has some discord with Cheng Pu. The "Biography of Jiang Biao" mentions: "(Cheng) Pu Po is older and insults Yu. Yu folded the festival to tolerate, and finally did not work with the school. Pu is self-respecting and affectionate, but tells people: 'If you have good relations with Zhou Gong, if you drink alcohol mash, you will not feel drunk. 'When people apologize, they convince people to do so. ”
Therefore, the historical Zhou Yu is very different from the Zhou Yu in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. But the strange thing is that the descendants did not defend Zhou Yu, but instead followed this statement of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, it was believed that the commander of the Battle of Chibi was Zhou Yu. Li Bai mentioned in his work "Chibi Song Farewell": "The two dragons compete with each other for male and female, and the Chibi building ship sweeps the ground." The fire opened the sky, illuminating the sea of clouds, and Zhou Yu broke the Cao Gong here. Su Dongpo also mentioned in his work "Nian Nu Jiao": "When Gongjin was thinking of Gongjin, Xiao Qiao was first married and had a majestic and heroic hair. Between the conversations and laughter, the trees ashes and smoke. ”
It can be seen that none of these works mention Zhuge Liang! Moreover, during the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi justified Liu Bei's name in the "Outline of Tongjian", explaining his orthodox status as a royal family and taking the opportunity to improve Zhuge Liang's status. Zhu Xi then mentioned that the rulers of Eastern Wu suffered from gains and losses, and took advantage of Guan Yu's absence to sneak into Jingzhou, so that Zhuge Liang's strategy of restoring the Central Plains was finally aborted.
Moreover, later generations also used this saying, and the Yuan Dynasty drama "Fighting Wisdom Across the River" degraded the image of Zhou Yu. It can be seen that Zhou Yu was used to set off Zhuge Liang in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and his role was very similar to that of the later Sima Yi, so that Zhuge Liang could run through the line and maintain a wise image. Therefore, some readers believe that after reading the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, they can stop reading it.
In addition, the place where Eastern Wu and the Shu state fought was Jingzhou, and if Zhuge Liang could persuade Liu Bei to take Jingzhou as soon as possible, then there would be nothing to do with Eastern Wu. At that time, when Zhuge Liang told Liu Bei about the general trend of "dividing the world into three parts", the premise was that Liu Bei could obtain the right to govern Jingzhou. But unexpectedly, Jingzhou was taken by Eastern Wu, and Liu Bei was still borrowing Jingzhou from Eastern Wu.
Therefore, for Jingzhou, how and when Liu Bei and others seize it is very critical, and its strategic value is completely different.
At that time, Cao Cao was in the north, and Sun Quan was in a position to hold Liu Biao, so this was the best time for Liu Bei to seize Jingzhou. If Liu Bei could gain Jingzhou at that time, Cao Cao in the north would inevitably attract troops to attack. But at this time, if Liu Bei took the initiative to propose to unite Wu against Cao, then Eastern Wu would inevitably agree. Therefore, after defeating Cao Cao, Jingzhou was naturally still Liu Bei's, and Eastern Wu would not provoke an incident. Only in this way can Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Pair" be smoothly implemented.
However, the best opportunity was missed, so that Zhuge Liang could only find a way to get to Jingzhou. He used a ruse to get from Eastern Wu to Jingzhou and temporarily stationed his troops there. However, Jingzhou was always from Eastern Wu, and they repeatedly came to ask for it, but Zhuge Liang refused to return it, and could only shirk it again and again. Therefore, in this matter, the Shu state is not reasonable, and they have always been spurned, laying the groundwork for the instability of Jingzhou.
After that, Guan Yuzhen guarded Jingzhou, believing from his heart that Jingzhou belonged to Liu Bei and was unwilling to talk to Eastern Wu about returning Jingzhou. However, Eastern Wu felt that he had suffered a loss and kept asking for money from the Shu state, and in the end, Eastern Wu and Guan Yu fell in love, causing Guan Yu to lose Jingzhou.
In fact, Guan Yu cannot be blamed entirely here, but also Zhuge Liang for not taking Jingzhou early. Some people said that Zhuge Liang could not be blamed for this incident, after all, he repeatedly explained the situation to the lord Liu Bei and asked Liu Bei to take Jingzhou. However, Liu Bei was hindered by moral constraints and could only repeatedly refuse. In fact, as Liu Bei's military master, Zhuge Liang must find a reason for Liu Bei to break the moral shackles so that Liu Bei has no worries.
At this point, Pang Tong did a good job. At first, Liu Bei led troops into Sichuan, and his subordinates always advised him to take Xichuan, but he still refused to act because of moral constraints. At this time, Pang Tong gave him a reason (Pang Tong designed to make Xichuan attack Liu Bei), so that he could completely break through the moral shackles and successfully capture Xichuan. Therefore, we still have to blame Zhuge Liang for not doing a good job in the first place.
As the saying goes, no one who has no feet is perfect. Even Zhuge Liang, who was deified by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is the same, not perfect, not everything can be thought of so thoughtfully and perfectly. He was just a military master who was smarter and wiser than others, and could not decide everything that happened at that time, but could only make corresponding countermeasures according to the development of things.
Therefore, no matter how Zhuge Liang was, whether he was really so powerful or not, he did his best for the Shu Kingdom.
Resources:
[Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 35, Book of Shu, Biography of Zhuge Liang, Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 32, Book of Shu, Second Biography of the First Lord, Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 65]