Zhuge Liang is known as "the first adviser of the Three Kingdoms" and "Sleeping Dragon and Phoenix Chick", and his clever calculation and strategic wisdom are unmatched in the Three Kingdoms period. However, looking back at history, we will find an interesting phenomenon: Zhuge Liang's magic tricks seem to exist only when Liu Bei was alive, and once Liu Bei died, Zhuge Liang frequently miscalculated and was defeated repeatedly. Why is this? Could it be that Liu Bei was the "catalyst" for Zhuge Liang's wisdom? Or was it that the successor Liu Chan was unable to give Zhuge Liang enough support and trust? Let's find out.
The first half of Zhuge Liang's clever life
When it comes to Zhuge Liang, people will naturally think of his miraculous strategies and strategies. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang's resourcefulness is indeed unmatched.
The earliest time was when Zhuge Liang lived in seclusion in Longzhong, when Liu Bei came to visit. At that time, the world was in turmoil, and although Liu Bei had established himself as the king of Hanzhong, his strength was weak. After Zhuge Liang saw Liu Bei, he made an analysis of the situation in the world, which gave rise to the famous "Longzhong pair". Zhuge Liang pointed out that although Cao Cao was in power for a while, he would eventually be destroyed by Lü Bu; although Sun Quan was rich, he would eventually be annexed by Yuan Shu; and only Liu Bei was the true descendant of the Han family and would certainly be able to dominate the world in the future. These words gave Liu Bei great confidence and courage, and also gave him a preliminary understanding of Zhuge Liang's wisdom.
Then Zhuge Liang really went out of the mountain to assist Liu Bei, and in the battle of burning Bowangpo, Zhuge Liang's magic plan was shown again. At that time, the general of the Cao army, Xiahou Dun, was approaching Xinye, and Liu Bei was worried about it. Zhuge Liang proposed a plan of fire attack, although it was opposed by Guan and Zhang, but Liu Beili overrode public opinion and finally adopted Zhuge Liang's strategy. As a result, Xiahoudun really fell for the plan, was ambushed by Liu Bei's army, and returned defeated. This battle not only established Zhuge Liang's status in the army, but also made Guan and Zhang dare not underestimate him from now on.
Since then, Zhuge Liang has formulated a series of exquisite strategies for Liu Bei, such as the Battle of Chibi, which used the power of the east wind to burn Cao's ships, and the empty city plan of Fuqin's empty seat to avoid dying, etc., all of which showed his wisdom and foresight beyond ordinary people. With the assistance of Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei finally captured Jingzhou, attacked Hanzhong, and proclaimed himself the "King of Hanzhong", laying the foundation for the later establishment of Shu Han.
It was this series of clever calculations that made Zhuge Liang famous during the Three Kingdoms period and was known as the "Sleeping Dragon and Phoenix Chick". People seem to think that as long as Zhuge Liang is there, it is only a matter of time before Liu Bei unifies the world. However, just when people were looking forward to Zhuge Liang's wisdom, Liu Bei died in June 223 AD, and what followed was the abrupt end of Zhuge Liang's clever calculation.
Liu Bei's absolute trust in Zhuge Liang
The reason why Zhuge Liang was able to fully display his magic under Liu Bei was largely due to Liu Bei's absolute trust and support for him.
Everyone knows that when Zhuge Liang first arrived under Liu Bei, he was suspicious and opposed by Guan and Zhang. After all, Zhuge Liang is just a scholar and has never participated in actual combat, so Guan and Zhang naturally look down on him. However, Liu Bei treated Zhuge Liang differently and firmly believed in his wisdom and talent.
The most obvious one was the burning of Bowangpo. At that time, Zhuge Liang proposed a plan of fire attack, which was strongly opposed by Guan and Zhang. They thought that Zhuge Liang was just a scholar, where did he know military strategy, and insisted on asking Liu Bei to make another strategy. But Liu Bei overrode public opinion and insisted on adopting Zhuge Liang's strategy. As a result, after the First World War, Xiahoudun's army was defeated, and Zhuge Liang's ingenuity was impressive.
From then on, Guan and Zhang never dared to underestimate Zhuge Liang, and Liu Bei regarded Zhuge Liang as a confidant, whether it was military or political, he completely trusted his judgment and decision-making. It is with Liu Bei, a strong supporter, that Zhuge Liang can give full play to his talents and formulate exquisite strategies.
Liu Bei's trust in Zhuge Liang can be said to be unconditional and absolute. Even when Liu Bei was dying, he instructed his son Liu Chan to assist Zhuge Liang well and let him do his best for Shu Han. It can be seen how much Liu Bei admires and trusts Zhuge Liang's wisdom and talent.
With Liu Bei as a powerful backer, Zhuge Liang can naturally let go of his magic tricks and don't have to worry about other people's criticism and suspicion. Because of this, Zhuge Liang was able to make great achievements under Liu Bei, formulate exquisite strategies one after another, and finally help Liu Bei capture Jingzhou and attack Hanzhong, laying the foundation for the establishment of Shu Han.
The dilemma of the withering of Shu Han talents
However, Zhuge Liang's magic tricks don't last forever. With the death of Liu Bei, the Shu Han Dynasty fell into a predicament of withering talents, which also directly led to the frequent miscalculation of Zhuge Liang in the later period.
Everyone knows that Liu Bei relied on a group of loyal and brave generals who were good at fighting, such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, etc., known as the "Five Tiger Generals". They were all extremely brave and had great achievements, and they were the mainstay of Liu Bei's capture of Jingzhou and the attack on Hanzhong. It's a pity that the good times didn't last long, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei soon died one after another, and when Liu Bei died, the five tiger generals were left with only the elderly Zhao Yun.
There were a large number of vacancies in Shu Han's general lineup, but no one stood out. Although Zhuge Liang is both wise and brave, he is only the power of one person after all, and if he wants to unify the world, he alone is far from enough. He urgently needs a new group of generals to carry out his plan.
It's a pity that Shu Han at that time had already withered in talent, and there was no one available at all. Zhuge Liang had to set his sights on his henchman Ma Jian and others, and reused them as generals. Ma Jian was originally just Zhuge Liang's cronies and had no military experience at all, but Zhuge Liang had to hand over the heavy responsibility to him.
As a result, it is conceivable that Ma Tan lost the street pavilion during the first Northern Expedition, which led to the complete failure of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition plan. Although Zhuge Liang was heartbroken, he could only make mistakes and continue to reuse Ma Yan. It wasn't until Ma Jian failed again that Zhuge Liang had to dismiss him.
In addition to Ma Yan, Zhuge Liang also reused Wei Yan, Yang Yi and others in the later period, but their military abilities were only average, and they could not be compared with the Five Tiger Generals of the year. It was precisely because of the lack of sufficient talents that Zhuge Liang's clever calculations could not be well executed, resulting in frequent miscalculations in the later period.
When he was under Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang's strategies could be accurately implemented by Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others, and he could naturally achieve complete success. But once Liu Bei died, Shu Han fell into the predicament of withering talents, and Zhuge Liang could only hand over the strategy to generals with mediocre strength such as Ma Tan and Wei Yan, and the strategy naturally could not be implemented well.
Zhuge Liang is getting older, and his intelligence is declining
In addition to the dilemma of the withering of Shu Han talents, another important reason for Zhuge Liang's frequent miscalculations in the later period was that he was getting older and his intelligence was declining.
Everyone knows that Zhuge Liang was over half a hundred years old when Liu Bei died. Although he is still in good spirits, he is no longer young after all. As he grew older, Zhuge Liang's judgment, decision-making and ability to control the battle situation have declined to varying degrees.
The most obvious one was the Battle of the Upper Valley. At that time, in order to be able to annihilate Sima Yi in one fell swoop, Zhuge Liang deliberately chose to launch an attack in the upper valley. He originally planned to take advantage of the terrain of the valley above to besiege Sima Yi's army in the valley. However, Zhuge Liang failed to accurately predict the local weather, and as a result, at the critical moment of the attack, heavy rain suddenly fell in the upper valley, making Zhuge Liang's encirclement plan a complete failure.
This was absolutely impossible to happen in the first half of Zhuge Liang's life. At that time, he was well versed in astronomy and geography, so how could he make such a low-level mistake in weather forecasting? Obviously, this was a clear proof that Zhuge Liang was getting older and his intelligence was declining.
In addition, Zhuge Liang also had many miscalculations in the later period, such as the imbalance of the relationship with Li Yan, which led to the obstruction of the Northern Expedition, and the plan to behead Wei Yan, which resulted in Shu Han having no generals available, etc. These were all low-level mistakes that he could not have imagined in his youth.
Of course, the decline of Zhuge Liang's intelligence is also an inevitable natural law. After all, he is over half a hundred years old, and no matter how smart a person is at this age, it is inevitable that his judgment and decision-making will decline. But it is precisely because of this, coupled with the dilemma of the withering of Shu Han talents, that it led to the situation of frequent miscalculations in the later period of Zhuge Liang.
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If Zhuge Liang can maintain the intelligence level of his youth, or Shu Han has enough talent to carry out his strategy, I believe he will not make frequent miscalculations in the later period. It's a pity that the reality is often skinny, Zhuge Liang can no longer be as wise and brave as he was when he was young, and Shu Han also lacks enough talents as his right-hand man, so his magic calculations can no longer be carried out as before.