When it comes to Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms period, the first thing that later generations think of is the noble character of the Shu Han Xiang who "bows down and does his best, and after death", as a military strategist who is "clever and resourceful", and as a generation of famous soldiers, "lupine scarf, radiant". In Luo Guanzhong's novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it is also regarded as the protagonist, combining traditional virtues such as loyalty, wisdom, and integrity; Mr. Lu Xun said that "the romance of the Three Kingdoms" is "like the wisdom of Zhuge and close to a demon" After the promotion of historical texts and modern film and television, Zhuge Liang has completely transformed into the first person in our hearts.
Is the historical Zhuge Liang really as fascinating as described in the Three Kingdoms? Refer to the history books to restore the history of Zhuge Liang as much as possible.
1. Background of origin
Zhuge Liang was born in Langya Commandery (琅琊郡, in modern Yinan County, Shandong Province) in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, where his father Zhuge Jue served as a county magistrate in the Eastern Han Dynasty and his uncle Zhuge Xuan as a Taishou. Unfortunately, when Zhuge Liang was young, his parents passed away one after another, and he followed his uncle Zhuge Xuan to Yuzhang (present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi). Later, he went to Liu Biao in Jingzhou with his uncle Zhuge Xuan, and after Zhuge Xuan's death, he lived in seclusion in the Longzhong area (present-day Xiangyang, Hubei) while farming and studying.
After his early experience of running around with his uncle, through the contact with the scholar class, he increased his insight and further understood the social situation at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. During the ten years of seclusion in Longzhong, Zhuge Liang befriended a large number of like-minded celebrities at that time, calmly and objectively analyzed the general trend of the world, and compared himself to Guan Zhong and Le Yi in the Spring and Autumn And Warring States periods, he liked to recite "Liang Fu Yin" when he was fine, and while lamenting the chaos of the world, he hoped that he could find a Ming Master to make a meritorious career.
2. Follow Liu Bei
In the sixth year of Jian'an, Zhuge Liang met his own master, the emperor's uncle Liu Bei. At that time, Liu Beigang was attached to Liu Biaotun bing Xinye, and under the recommendation of Xu Shu, Liu Beisan Gu Maolu finally met Zhuge Liang, and the meeting between the two became the beginning of the reshuffle of the situation of the group of heroes at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In Longzhong, which was admired and longed for by later generations of literati, Zhuge Liang gave Liu Bei a detailed analysis of the situation under the world, and also planned a perfect blueprint for Liu Bei's political career, and this dialogue was called "Longzhong Pair" by later generations. It should be noted that before the "Longzhong Pair", Lu Su of Eastern Wu also presented another version of the Longzhong Pair to Sun Quan. History is called "the policy on the bed". In order to flatter Zhuge Liang's image in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there is no mention of Lu Su's version of Longzhong.
3. Lian Wu resisted Cao
Thirteen years after Jian'an, Cao Cao eliminated Liu Biao of Jingzhou and then went south to conquer Sun Quan. Liu Zong's second son, Liu Zong, surrendered, and Liu Bei was forced to flee to Xiakou. Here there is a chapter in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms that zhuge Liang burned Xinye, but there is no record of this in history. In the official history, when Zhuge Liang first joined Liu Bei's clique, he only served as an official in charge of logistics and taxes, and did not command the army. After Liu Bei fled to Xiakou to join Liu Qi,Liu Qi's cousin-in-law, Cao Cao wanted to go south to conquer Sun Quan. Zhuge Liang weighed the current situation and took the initiative to propose to Liu Bei the strategy of uniting with Eastern Wu to resist Cao Cao, and asked Miao to go to Eastern Wu to lobby Sun Quan. At this time, Zhuge Liangcai first stepped onto the political stage of Liu Bei's army.
After Zhuge Liang arrived in Eastern Wu, he did not "talk about confucianism" as described in the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but directly met with Sun Quan and proposed two plans. The first was: to break off diplomatic relations with Cao Cao, and to fight Cao Cao with the military strength of Eastern Wu plus Liu Bei's military strength; the second was to claim subjection to the north and stop resisting. Sun Quan was hesitant at first, but after being persuaded by Zhou Yu, Lu Su and others, he finally decided to fight a decisive battle with Cao Cao Chibi.
4. Envoy to Eastern Wu
The Battle of Chibi is one of the classic examples of a battle in history in which less wins more. In the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", many bridge sections such as Zhuge Liang's "grass boat borrowing arrows" and "casting spells to borrow the East Wind" are fabricated to highlight the characteristics of Zhuge Liang's miraculous powers. But unfortunately, none of this has been done in history. The commander-in-chief of the Chibi War was Zhou Yu, and Zhou Yu was not a small one. On the contrary, Zhou Yu was a great Confucian general in history. Zhuge Liang only played a role in convincing Sun Quan and cooperating with Eastern Wu in the Chibi War, but these were enough to show that Zhuge Liang broadened his horizons politically and had extraordinary diplomatic ability.
After the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei took the opportunity to take over the four counties of Jiangnan, appointed Zhuge Liang as a military commander, and made him the governor of lingling, Guiyang, and Changsha counties, like Xiao He in the early Han Dynasty, to manage logistics and engage in internal affairs. In the sixteenth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei led an army into Sichuan, and let Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Zhuge Liang guard Jingzhou, Guan Yu was in charge of the military, and Zhuge Liang was in charge of internal affairs. In the nineteenth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei's military master Pang Tong who attacked Xichuan died, and Zhuge Liang was ordered to leave Jingzhou to assist Liu Bei in capturing Xichuan with Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun. After taking Chengdu, the heart of Xichuan, Liu Bei made Zhuge Liang a general of the military division. After that, whenever Liu Bei went out, Zhuge Liang stayed in Chengdu to provide Liu Bei with soldiers and money.
5. Shu Han Cheng Xiang
In the twenty-sixth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor in Chengdu and appointed Zhuge Liang as chancellor. Since then, the three kingdoms have officially taken shape. At the beginning, Zhuge Lianglong's idea of capturing Xichuan and Jingzhou was completely realized, and the Shu Han regime reached its peak in history. At this time, Zhuge Liang was in charge of internal affairs and foreign affairs within the Shu Han Dynasty, but he was not the second in command, and the real second in command was Guan Yu, because Guan Yu was in charge of the military and political affairs of Jingzhou, while Zhuge Liang was only in charge of the internal affairs of Xichuan, and had no military.
In the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei led an army to attack Eastern Wu, but was defeated by Eastern Wu Luxun at the Battle of Yiling and retreated to the White Emperor's City. In the third year of Zhang Wu, Liu Bei entrusted his son Liu Chan to Zhuge Liang and Li Yan before the death of the White Emperor. After that, Liu Chan ascended the throne, made Zhuge Liang the Marquis of Wuxiang, opened the government, and soon led the Yizhou Pastor. From this time on, the Shu Han regime entered the zhuge liang era.
There are many precedents in history for the reign of The Emperor, and here there is a question of imperial power and power. When the government was opened, it had the power to be independent of the imperial power, and it was possible to appoint its own officials. So, what is the concept of Lingyi State Pastoral? This is because the Shu Han only occupied one state in the world, that is, Yizhou. Yizhou Mu was the highest official in Yizhou and was a magistrate. However, Zhuge Liang also served as a minister, which was the highest official in the center of the country, so it is said that Zhuge Liang at this time gathered great power in one and was the actual leader of the Shu Han Dynasty.
Although Zhuge Liang gathered great power in one, he did not forget the legacy of his ancestor Liu Bei, and he rebuilt with Eastern Wu externally, recuperated internally, vigorously developed agriculture, and accumulated strength to prepare for the north to attack Cao Wei. At this time, there was a rebellion in the south of the Shu Han Dynasty, and Zhuge Liang decided to go to the south before the Northern Expedition. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms makes the Pingding Southern Yanyi a factual section of the "Seven Captures of Meng", but the name "Meng" does not appear in history, including the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and other historical materials. In addition, the "Spring and Autumn of the Han Dynasty", which is almost the same era as the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", records Zhuge Liang's combat deeds against Meng Yu. In the third year of Jianxing, Zhuge Liang led an army to the south, quickly quelled the rebellion, and swept away the hidden dangers in the south.
6. Northern Expedition to Cao Wei
In the fourth year of Jianxing, the Wei Emperor Cao Pi died, and his son Cao Rui took the throne. Zhuge Liang seized the opportunity of the unstable situation in the handover of the Wei regime and opened the prelude to the successive five-cut central plains.
The first time, due to a mistake in employment, Ma Mo lost the street kiosk and finally returned to Hanzhong;
The second time, he stubbornly resisted with the Wei general Cao Zhen and returned without food;
The third time, he captured Wudu and Yinping Counties, and repelled Guo Huai, the assassin of Yongzhou;
The fourth time, he returned to Qishan and killed Zhang Guo during the retreat without food;
The fifth time, the garrison of Gojohara confronted Sima Yi and died of overwork.
After Zhuge Liang's death, he was buried at Dingjun Mountain in Hanzhong with the posthumous title of Marquis Zhongwu. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is written about Zhuge Liang's six expeditions out of the Qishan Mountains during the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains. However, there have been only five Northern Expeditions in history, and most of them have not returned.
Throughout Zhuge Liang's life, there are two key turning points, one is: leaving the grand ceremony to assist Liu Bei; the other is: the White Emperor's city is lonely. From Longzhong to the White Emperor's city of Tuoguo, Zhuge Liang mostly held official positions in internal affairs, similar to Xiao He, one of the three masters of the early Han Dynasty, who was responsible for internal affairs and foreign affairs. After the White Emperor entrusted himself with isolation, Zhuge Liang, in addition to assisting Liu Chan in handling the government, spent more time and energy on the preparation and implementation of the Northern Expedition. In his lifetime, Zhuge Liang took the lead in performing honest government and performing official duties in politics, and worked hard to create an atmosphere of honest government; he worked with officials to formulate the Shu Han code "Shu Ke", built water conservancy projects, opened up farmland, and enabled the people to live and work in peace and contentment; he was a politician who governed the country and administered the government with morality; he also educated soldiers with morality in governing the army, but at the same time he also gave strict orders and clearly distinguished rewards and punishments; and he was a military expert who managed the army well; and he also made great achievements in literature and calligraphy.
However, we can also see that Zhuge Liang was not a perfect man after all, misused Ma Mo in the employment of people, alienated Wei Yan, and reused Jiang Wei, which was too much to judge talents by virtue; the White Emperor ignored the strength of Shu Han after entrusting himself to the lonely and insisted on several Northern Expeditions, strategically cautious and cautious, and was not good at scheming; in the later period, he neglected the construction of the official echelon when monopolizing the government, resulting in the lack of figures in the late Shu Han Dynasty who had the strength to turn the tide.