Preface
Zhuge Liang, as an outstanding strategist in the Three Kingdoms period, his wisdom and strategy have been praised by future generations, however, Zhuge Liang lit 49 lamps before his death, which seemed to be to continue his life on the surface, but in fact he secretly hid two poisonous schemes.
So, what is the reason for Zhuge Liang to take such a move? What kind of undercurrent is hidden behind the 49 lamps? Let's walk into that magnificent history and explore the stories hidden under the surface.
The resourceful Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang, a famous general during the Three Kingdoms period, was unmatched in his resourcefulness, and his tactics often made the enemy unguardable. However, even such a strategic, on his deathbed, will inevitably have some small actions, but these small actions contain huge conspiracies.
Lighting the lamp and probing the mind
In the tenth year of Jianxing, Zhuge Liang personally led a large army to the north and camped under the Wuzhang Plain on the south bank of Weishui. At the same time, Emperor Cao Rong of Wei Ming sent Sima Yi to garrison against Zhuge Liang's attack.
During the confrontation between the two armies, Zhuge Liang decided to take the initiative to attack, but Sima Yi acted as an old turtle, no matter how provoked by Shu Han, he just couldn't hold out. Seeing this, Zhuge Liang divided his troops into Tuntian and planted grain with the people in the territory of Wei, intending to stay there for a long time.
However, Zhuge Liang, who worked day and night, became seriously ill. Knowing that his time was running out, he lit 49 lamps before he died, and these lamps were arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper, seven in each constellation. Zhuge Liang even declared to the public that if these lights are not extinguished for seven days, then he will be able to prolong his life for 12 years.
On the surface, this is nothing more than a superstitious ritual to prolong life. But in fact, Zhuge Liang's move contains two major conspiracies. The first conspiracy is to test Wei Yan's psychology. Wei Yan is a tiger general in the Shu Han camp and has outstanding skills, but Zhuge Liang has always had prejudices against him and suppressed his talents. The conflict between the two has been going on for a long time.
When Wei Yan saw the seven-star lamp lit by Zhuge Liang, he immediately disdained it and said bluntly to Zhuge Liang: "I heard that people die like lights go out, and today the public takes the lamp as his life, why not?" This sentence is undoubtedly provoking Zhuge Liang's authority.
Zhuge Liang immediately saw Wei Yan's rebellious mentality, so he secretly instructed his subordinates to get rid of this potential disaster. In this way, a seemingly harmless lighting ceremony became a key step for Zhuge Liang to test Wei Yan and get rid of his henchmen.
A plan to defraud Sima Yi
In addition to testing Wei Yan, another purpose of Zhuge Liang lighting the lamp was to deceive his opponent Sima Yi. At that time, the Shu Han army had reached a dilemma. Take the initiative to attack, Sima Yi will not accept the move; passive defense, Zhuge Liang will not have much time; if he retreats decisively, Sima Yi will definitely take advantage of the victory to pursue.
Zhuge Liang understands that to deal with the cautious and sophisticated Sima Yi, it is necessary to be true and false, false and real. So he announced in a high-profile manner that he wanted to borrow 12 years of life from the sky, but Sima Yi didn't know if he had borrowed it or not.
Taking advantage of Sima Yi's hesitation, Zhuge Liang had already set a retreat for Shu Han: he did not mourn, retreated calmly, and when Sima Yi pursued, he took out the wood carving carved in his own shape to scare Sima Yi away.
Everything went according to plan. Jiang Wei and the others secretly retreated, and when Sima Yi pursued, they moved out Zhuge Liang's wood carving. After Sima Yi saw "Zhuge Liang", he thought that the news was inaccurate, and was afraid that he would fall into Zhuge Liang's trap, so he immediately ordered the withdrawal of the army.
When the Shu army entered the valley, Jiang Wei announced the news of Zhuge Liang's death to the public, and Sima Yi regretted it, but it was too late. In this way, Zhuge Liang's small action before his death successfully deceived the scheming Sima Yi and won precious retreat time for the Shu Han army.
Cautious Sima Yi
Sima Yi, a well-known military strategist during the Three Kingdoms period, was cautious and sophisticated, and was often called the "Vertical and Horizontal Family". However, even such a scheming person could not escape Zhuge Liang's tricks.
When Zhuge Liang personally led a large army to the north and camped under the Wuzhang Plain on the south bank of Weishui, Emperor Cao Rong of Wei Ming sent Sima Yi to garrison against Zhuge Liang's attack.
In Sima Yi's view, as long as he can hold on, then Zhuge Liang is just a showman, after all, food is needed to fight a war, and Zhuge Liang's first few Northern Expedition failures were planted on the lack of grain and grass.
Sure enough, Zhuge Liang, who worked day and night, became seriously ill. But at this juncture, Zhuge Liang lit 49 bright lanterns and declared to the public that if these lamps were not extinguished for seven days, then he would be able to prolong his life for 12 years.
This move undoubtedly made Sima Yi very suspicious. As a scheming man, he naturally does not believe in such superstitious tricks. But at the same time, he had to guard against the trap that Zhuge Liang might set.
So, when Jiang Wei and others secretly retreated and moved out Zhuge Liang's wood carving, Sima Yi really fell for it. After he saw "Zhuge Liang", he thought that the news was inaccurate, and he was afraid that he would fall into Zhuge Liang's trap, so he immediately ordered the withdrawal of the army.
When the Shu army entered the valley, Jiang Wei announced the news of Zhuge Liang's death to the public, and Sima Yi knew that he had been deceived, but it was too late, and he could only regret it.
In this way, a seemingly innocuous lighting ceremony successfully deceived the cautious and sophisticated Sima Yi, causing him to miss a great opportunity to turn the tide of the battle. This is also one of Sima Yi's biggest regrets in life.
The arrogant Wei Yan
Wei Yan, a well-known general during the Three Kingdoms period, was brave and fearless, and won the trust of Liu Bei. However, Zhuge Liang has always had prejudices against him and suppressed his talents, and the contradictions between the two have been around for a long time.
In Zhuge Liang's several Northern Expeditions, Wei Yan has always asked Zhuge Liang to divide 10,000 troops to himself, and Zhuge Liang's troops will attack Hanzhong in two ways, and finally the two armies will meet Tongguan to complete the great cause of the Northern Expedition. But Zhuge Liang didn't adopt it at all, and he didn't even let Wei Yan be a pioneer at all.
This made the arrogant Wei Yan feel deeply wronged, and he repeatedly told Zhuge Liang for his cowardice in front of the public, so that his talents could not be brought into play. Wei Yan's actions were naturally seen by Zhuge Liang, and the more Zhuge Liang suppressed Wei Yan, the greater Wei Yan's rebellious mentality.
At this juncture, Zhuge Liang lit 49 bright lanterns and declared that if these lamps were not extinguished for seven days, then he would be able to prolong his life for 12 years. When Wei Yan saw this scene, he immediately disdained it and said bluntly to Zhuge Liang: "I heard that people die like lights go out, and today the public takes the lamp as his life, why not?"
This sentence undoubtedly challenged Zhuge Liang's authority, and also made Zhuge Liang completely see Wei Yan's psychology, so he secretly instructed his subordinates to get rid of this potential disaster. In this way, a seemingly harmless lighting ceremony became a key step for Zhuge Liang to get rid of Wei Yan.
epilogue
In that turbulent Three Kingdoms era, a few small actions of a person before his death actually affected the entire situation. A seemingly ordinary lamp illuminates the dark side of human nature and the light of wisdom.
Zhuge Liang used the technique of lighting the lamp to test Wei Yan's psychology and deceive Sima Yi's strategy, and finally won valuable retreat time for the Shu Han army. Although Sima Yi is cautious and sophisticated, he cannot escape Zhuge Liang's tricks. As for Wei Yan, his arrogant character doomed him to the conflict with Zhuge Liang to be unresolved, and eventually led to a tragedy.
These stories tell us that in that turbulent era, everyone was fighting for survival, everyone had their own calculations, and everyone had their own dark and bright sides. And Zhuge Liang, with his extraordinary wisdom, won in this game of life and death.