Zhuge Liang's childhood and even his life were extremely bumpy. His parents died when he was very young. Later, their brother and sister were raised by Uncle Zhuge Xuan's good friend Liu Biao. Zhuge Liang received systematic Confucian training since childhood. When the young student 17 years old, he decided to stand on his own feet. He lives in seclusion not far from Xiangyang City, working and studying. He lives in Longzhong, Xiangyang and has read many books. First of all, he has read Confucian works. For example: poems, books, rites, spring and autumn, etc. Secondly, he also read books by military strategists, such as Zuo Zhuan, Warring States Policy and Sun Tzu's Art of War. In particular, Zhuge Liang's famous eight-array map evolved after studying the military works of predecessors. Zhuge Liang just absorbed the nutrition of these theories, but did not blindly believe it. He once commented on a hundred schools: "Laozi is good at nurturing nature, so it is not dangerous;" Shang Yang is good at reasoning and law, and cannot be educated. Su Yu and Zhang Yutai are too arrogant to make an oath. "
According to historical records, Zhuge Liang made a group of like-minded intellectuals in Jingzhou, including Pang Degong, a famous academic leader and master in Xiangyang, a great scholar and Huang. Huang especially appreciates Zhuge Liang's character and knowledge. One day, he suddenly said to Zhuge Liang, I have an ugly girl with yellow hair and a black face, but her talent matches you very well. Zhuge Liang actually agreed to this marriage after hearing this. Maybe she is not really beautiful, but Zhuge Liang pays more attention to her talent than her appearance when choosing a wife. This is the uniqueness of Zhuge Liang's character. Therefore, people evaluate Zhuge Liang and say that his temperament is "superior". According to legend, their married life is very happy. After Zhuge Liang came out with Liu Bei, he has been fighting in the south and fighting in the north. Huang Yueying worked hard to raise his children at home. Legend has it that this lady is extremely clever. She invented a wooden robot that can grind noodles. Later, with the help of Huang Yueying, Zhuge Liang invented the "wooden ox and flowing horse". Although Huang Yueying is clever and virtuous, she is a little ugly after all. Throughout the ages, many people have been sorry for Zhuge Liang. However, in Huang Yueying's hometown of Xiangfan, Hubei Province, this talented woman is not ugly at all in a temple built by local people, and there are touching stories about her.
Although crouching tiger hides dragon in Jingzhou, Liu Biao, a shepherd in Jingzhou, never regarded Zhuge Liang as a talent. Perhaps in his eyes, Zhuge Liang is just a poor nephew of his good friend Zhuge Xuan. Even if he heard that a respected man like Pang Degong called Zhuge Liang "Wolong", he wouldn't believe it. After all, you need vision. Chen Shou, the author of the History of the Three Kingdoms, commented on Liu Biao's "being broad outside and taboo inside, being resourceful and indecisive." People can't use it, but they can't accept it when they smell it. "This is an important reason why Jingzhou is full of talents, but Liu Biao has made no achievements.
Throughout the ages, many people have never understood why Zhuge Liang didn't go to Cao Cao. Politically, Cao Cao held the emperor to give the princes a political advantage. In strength, he unified the north, with a large number of troops and sufficient money and food. As far as personal ability is concerned, he is brilliant, and no politician can compare with him at that time. Especially in the treatment of talents, Cao Cao was thirsty for talents, and issued the "Order of Seeking Talents" three times to recruit talents from all over the world.
In history, Cao Cao was a man with two sides and complicated personality. At first, he had the ambition and ambition to help the Han Dynasty, then he had the idea of replacing it, and finally he did it. When Cao Cao saw that the people were displaced by the war, he shed tears and introduced policies to appease the refugees, resume production and stabilize society. But he will also take it out on others because of his father's death and slaughter hundreds of thousands of innocent people. When it comes to talents, he can run out without socks to welcome talents to visit, and he will turn against some trivial things and kill his old friends who have followed him for many years. Zhuge Liang would never like Cao Cao. This is closely related to his political ideas. History books have always put Cao Cao and Wang Mang together, which shows their low character. For such people, Zhuge Liang just wants to get rid of them and make a quick decision, but he can never work for Cao Cao.
Why didn't Zhuge Liang go to Sun Quan? According to historical records, before the Chibi War, Liu Bei sent Zhuge Liang to Soochow to persuade Sun Quan to unite against Cao. At that time, Zhang Zhao, the minister of Soochow, wanted to keep Zhuge Liang, but he politely refused. Later someone asked why. Zhuge Liang said: "Of course, Sun Quan is a hero among people, but I think he may be kind to me by his standards, but he will not obey me." So I can't stay. "This was after Zhuge Liang took refuge in Liu Bei. To say the least, even if Sun Quan could listen to Zhuge Liang, he would not betray Liu Bei and cling to Sun Quan.
Zhuge Liang later wrote a famous saying in his famous book "The Commandment": "Indifference is unclear, and quietness is not far away." However, when a person is ambitious, but has no way to serve, it is very difficult to really be "indifferent and quiet". Zhuge Liang "screamed on his knees" in the dead of night, which shows that it is difficult for him to do this. However, it can be seen from this incident that Zhuge Liang is also an ordinary person with joys and sorrows, not the kind of superman who is half man and half god depicted in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
About the story of "three visits to the thatched cottage", the romance of the Three Kingdoms is wonderful. Before finally meeting Zhuge Liang, the novel was prepared for a long time. How Liu Bei took Guan Yu and Zhang Fei with him and how to visit him in snowy days; How to see Zhuge Liang again and again but only his friends and family; The third time I went to Zhuge Liang, I asked Liu Guanzhang to wait for a long time before I saw the above, how to take a nap, and so on. These stories, in addition to rendering corporal Li Xian of Liu Bei, have another purpose, that is, to introduce the immortal Zhuge Liang step by step like "stars holding the moon". However, in the authoritative history book "The History of the Three Kingdoms", the above contents are not recorded. About this paragraph, there are only five words in the book, "Every now and then". Therefore, later generations commented on the History of the Three Kingdoms: it is too simple to cherish ink as gold.
After seeing Zhuge Liang, Romance of the Three Kingdoms describes the appearance of the protagonist in this way: wearing a black silk scarf, wearing a crane, holding a feather fan, and sometimes riding a four-wheeled car. Luo Guanzhong, the author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, who lived in the Ming Dynasty, has been away from the Three Kingdoms period for more than one thousand years. What is the basis of his description? Pei Qi of the Jin Dynasty recorded Zhuge Liang's appearance in a book called Yu Lin. The book says that when Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi confronted each other in Wuzhangyuan, Sima Yi once sent someone to secretly observe Zhuge Liang. The man reported that Zhuge Liang was sitting in an unadorned car, wearing a turban made of plaid and holding a white feather fan to command the three armed forces. Sima Yi sighed and said, Zhuge Liang is really a celebrity! This is the only record of Zhuge Liang's appearance in the documents of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. It may be the basis for Luo Guanzhong to shape Zhuge Liang's appearance.
Another thing to note is that Zhang Fei is always described as a grumpy lout in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In fact, this is very different from history. According to historical records, Zhang Fei is a rich boy and writes very well. Another big hobby in his life is painting beautiful women. Of course, his martial arts is also very good.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms said that after Zhuge Liang followed Liu Bei out of the mountain, Liu Bei treated Zhuge Liang with courtesy as a teacher and appointed him as a military adviser. Later, Cao Cao's army went south to conquer Jingzhou. Zhuge Liang commanded Liu Bei's army for the first time and won the victory of "burning Bowangpo" and "burning a new field". Unfortunately, history is completely different. After Zhuge Liang came out of the mountain, there was no record in the history books that Liu Bei appointed him as a military adviser. In fact, there was no such position in the army at that time. Liu Bei was stationed in Xinye, but he still attached himself to others. How can he give Zhuge Liang any official position? He is just a guest, giving advice to Liu Bei. Zhuge Liang really began to take a stand. It was after Battle of Red Cliffs that Liu Bei gradually seized some territory in Jingzhou. After he became a shepherd in Jingzhou, Zhuge Liang was appointed as a "military commander". Before that, he had no position at all and could not command Liu Bei's army, let alone "burn Bowangpo" and "burn a new field".
According to historical records, even after ten years in Battle of Red Cliffs, Zhuge Liang never commanded any battles or led any army. The reason why Zhuge Liang is great is not that he was entrusted with a heavy responsibility at the beginning, and then he was smooth sailing and the good news spread frequently. On the contrary, in the following ten years, he has been engaged in some humble grass-roots work, and he has done a good job, winning the respect of Liu Bei and everyone with his excellent work, and finally sitting on the important position of the prime minister of Shu State.
Zhuge Liang's alliance with Dongwu is natural, because there is really no civilian under Liu Bei's account, and Zhuge Liang's younger brother Zhu Gejin works for Dongwu. In The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is written that Zhuge Liang was made difficult by counselors headed by Zhang Zhao as soon as he arrived in Wu Dong, but this was not the case in history. Zhang Zhao is already a contemporary celebrity, so there is no need to be flushed with a fledgling teenager. And Zhou Yu's intellectual stimulation. How unfair it is to describe Zhou Yu as a jealous and narrow-minded person in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, while the historical evaluation of Zhou Yu is broad-minded and extraordinary. Also, at that time, someone said: Zhou Lang misheard the song, which shows that Zhou Yu is a helpful person! Also, Zhou Yu was originally a hawk and didn't need Zhuge Liang's stimulation.
According to historical records, Zhuge Liang returned immediately after completing his alliance with Dongwu, instead of staying in Dongwu and Zhou Yu * * * breaking Cao Cao as described in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there would be no such stories as "borrowing an arrow from a grass boat" and "borrowing the east wind". Battle of Red Cliffs Cao Cao trounced Sun Liujun without pursuit, and there would certainly be no stories like Huarong Road. After Cao Cao retreated, Zhou Yu captured Jingzhou, Jiangxia, Nanjun, Liu Beize and other strategic places, and led troops to capture Jiangling, Wuling, Changsha, Guiyang and Lingling. Cao Jun continued to guard Xiangyang. After Liu Bei captured the five counties, he appointed Zhuge Liang as the military commander to manage the tax revenue of the five counties. After that, Liu Bei borrowed Wu Dongnan County to go to the Western Ocean. After Liu Bei captured Xichuan, Zhuge Liang was appointed as a strategist and general, in charge of political and material work in Xichuan.
In 222 AD, Liu Bei established Shu State and named Zhuge Liang as Prime Minister. In 223 AD, Liu Chan succeeded to the throne after Shu, and Zhuge Liang was appointed as the marquis of Wuxiang, in charge of Yizhou. He made great efforts to govern, strictly rewarded and punished, and implemented the policy of reclaiming farmland, which improved the relationship between the southwest nationalities and Shu Han and was conducive to the development of local economy and culture. Zhuge Liang also mended the relationship with Dongwu, but in the Book of Harmony of Dongwu, he did not praise the late ruler Liu Chan. Generally speaking, there should be words, which shows Zhuge Liang's rights in Shu at that time! Shu gave up half of its territory (Jingzhou), which is a pressure to bear! It can be seen that Zhuge Liang's rights in Shu at that time!
After repairing relations with Wu Dong, you can rest assured to quell the rebellion in the south. In 225 AD, Zhuge Liang led an army to counter the rebellion. It is unrealistic to write in Romance of the Three Kingdoms that Zhuge Liang led 500,000 troops to the south. The population of Shu is only a few million, so it is impossible to dispatch such a huge army. Moreover, Yunnan and Guizhou are all areas with inconvenient transportation. It is impossible to provide food and grass for 500 thousand troops. In history, Zhuge Liang led only 20,000 people south.
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang could not capture Meng Huo alive in barbarian king. Even if he wanted to win the hearts of the people, the casualties were too heavy. In that cold weapon era, killing 10,000 people and losing 3,000 people was already remarkable. It is impossible to risk the lives of 20 thousand soldiers for one person. Historians believe that Zhuge Liang's army is invincible, attacking the city and plundering the land all the way, and breaking through the seven cities of Menghuo. This is relatively simple for the Shu army with the most advanced weapons at that time, such as car washers and catapults. It is relatively simple to break the city built by Meng Huo's wood and bamboo, and it is understandable that Meng Huo was arrested once or twice. In the end, Meng Huo surrendered to the south and settled down. Zhuge Liang did not let Meng Huo help the south of the city forever, as mentioned in the Romance, but moved Meng Huo and the gentry who supported the rebellion to Chengdu.
When Zhuge Liang pacified the south, he could feel at ease in the Northern Expedition. However, later generations have always questioned that it is a good plan to go out of Woods Valley only by going out of Qishan instead of Wei Yan's. But the strength of Chang 'an is not a team can break, even if the reinforcements of Chang 'an An Wei are broken, they can arrive at once. The Shu army can't arrive at once, and the Shu army attacking Chang 'an will surely die. Zhuge Liang doesn't want to take great risks in the future, which is certain in Shu, where one general has died. If you leave Qishan, you can capture Guanzhong and supplement the strength of Shu, but you can stay in Hanzhong. It can be said that there is not much danger.
Just as Zhuge Liang's good news spread frequently, he was blocked in Tianshui and other cities to contain the main force of the army. At this time, Wei reinforcements arrived, and Zhuge Liang sent Ma Su to guard the street pavilion to delay Wei reinforcements. According to the romance, Ma Su led 654.38+ 10,000 troops to guard the street kiosks, but in history, Zhuge Liang only sent 30,000 people to guard the street kiosks, which is the largest force Zhuge Liang can send when containing the main force! It is not unreasonable for Zhuge Liang to camp in the right place. Street kiosks built on the mountain are easy to defend but difficult to attack. Natural geological fissures are like city walls, but why did Ma Su choose mountains instead of cities? The reason may be that there are many loopholes in geological fissures, and Wei Jun can easily break through these places, but the Shu army had no time to repair them, so Ma Su camped in the mountains. The Shu army is dominated by infantry, and it is easier for crossbowmen to shoot from the mountains! However, Wei's encirclement of Zhang Jaw led to the low morale and failure of the Shu army. There are many people who claim that Ma Su is unfair and that victory or defeat is a common occurrence in military strategists. Let's look at what Ma Su has done! According to historical records, when Ma Su was surrounded by Zhang Jaw, he abandoned the army and fled alone. This has violated the basic quality of a soldier. Maybe he shouldn't have been killed? According to the romance, after the fall of the street pavilion, an "empty city plan" was staged, which was praised by later generations. However, there is no such thing in history. The reason is simple: Wei Jun didn't pursue, and it was not Sima Yi who commanded Wei Jun, but Zhang Jaw!
In the fifth Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang confronted Sima Yi, but the two armies did not fight. The Shu army took the initiative to retreat to lure Wei Jun, but the sophisticated Sima Yi followed the Shu army at a distance instead of pursuing. At this time, Sima Yi could not help it, and urged Sima Yi to fight the Shu army. After Wei Jun's defeat, the Shu army returned for lack of food and grass. This is the first time Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi met!
Zhuge Liang dared to find Wei Jun's main force in his six northern expeditions, and it was unthinkable for an infantry-dominated army to find a cavalry-dominated army to fight! The reason is that the array method invented by Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Liang's crossbow were developed to restrain cavalry, just as powerful as today's machine gun strafe! General Wei's jaw was killed by Zhuge Liang's crossbow. Unfortunately, it has been lost now. Eight arrays are long gone!
In 234 AD, Zhuge Liang broke down from overwork in Wuzhangyuan and was buried in Dingjun Mountain (now southeast of Mianxian County, Shaanxi Province).
Zhuge Liang lived in 227. Twenty-seven years before 207 A.D. was the preparation stage of his self-cultivation and determination to use the world. After his success, he did not go north to Cao Cao, nor did he go south to surrender to Sun Quan. But to assist Liu Bei, who is "a minor celebrity". This is of course an objective Harada, but it is no accident. The reason why he chose the road of rejuvenating the Han Dynasty shows that he is an orthodox thinker who adheres to feudal principles and advocates Confucian loyalty and morality. The twenty-seven years from 207 to 234 A.D. was the stage of knowing Ge Liang and being loyal to Shu Han. Both the former master and the later master trusted him very much. He doesn't follow Confucian dogma. He respects the king, but does not harass foreigners. He made a southern tour to appease foreigners and implemented the best ethnic policy among the three countries. He knows the law and violates the law, and he is upright and upright. He runs the army with Wu and fights to the last breath with the selfless dedication of "doing his best and dying". His spirit of loyalty to the monarch and benefiting the people was deeply loved by Shu people before his death, and was admired by later generations for a long time after his death, which became the heritage of China traditional culture.