In fact, after Zhuge Liang came out of the mountain, he did not persuade Liu Bei to burn Bowangpo and Xinye as in the romance. And he basically didn't do anything in the Chibi War (he just promoted the alliance between Sun and Liu as a diplomat). Later, in a series of major events such as Liu Bei's entry into Sichuan, the attack on Hanzhong, Guan Yu's loss of Jingzhou and the battle of Yiling, Zhuge Liang was basically the logistics minister, responsible for the supply of materials in the rear. It was not until Liu Bei died that he really became active in the political arena. After Liu Bei's death, the situation faced by Shu Han was "three points in the world, and the profit is exhausted, which is also a dangerous autumn", which can be described as internal troubles and foreign invasion. At that time, Wu Shu became evil, and Lu Xun looked at Yongan; When Cao Pi peeped at Shu, he always weighed the problem of cutting Shu first and then taking Wu. Southern jungle, ethnic minorities rebelled, killed state officials and plundered the people; Luanchen took advantage of the new death of his predecessor to unite barbarians to rebel and become independent; Disputes between various factions in the Shu and Han dynasties intensified, and so on.
In this case, Zhuge Liang stabilized the overall situation, put down the civil strife, and ensured the stability of the Han Shu regime for more than 40 years, which shows that he is very capable. His contribution to the society at that time was mainly reflected in the following points:
First, inherit the legalist thought, strictly govern Shu, uphold the supremacy of law, and give full play to the power of the state for foreign operations; You can also use legal means to maintain the internal stability of Shu and Han, maintain the balance and unity between factions, and go abroad forever.
Second, it was extremely rare at that time to win the war against the southern minorities and adopt various policies to maintain the stability and harmony of ethnic relations.
Third, continue to implement the correct diplomatic strategy of jointly dealing with Cao Wei, instead of attacking Wu again because of the failure of Yiling War and wasting national strength.
Fourth, there are some great inventions, such as crossbows and wooden oxen. It is said that he also invented the Kongming Lantern and the Eight Arrays.
The fifth is to annotate the art of war. At that time, Zhuge Liang did the same thing except Cao Cao. In fact, interpreting Sun Tzu's Art of War is not a simple matter, but the accumulation of many years of military experience.
Sixth, his self-discipline spirit of self-denial and dedication to public service, and his spirit of doing his best to die before doing it, have always inspired future generations.
As for whether Zhuge Liang hindered the progress of society, I don't think so. Compared with Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang's historical achievements may be slightly lower, because the former quickly ended the division of northern China, and the relatively peaceful environment was conducive to the recovery and development of productive forces, which laid a good foundation for the later unification of the Western Jin Dynasty. As mentioned earlier, when Cao Cao was alive, Zhuge Liang did not have much decision-making power over the war, nor did he talk about promoting the war.
After Zhuge Liang came to power, he quickly eased the grim situation faced by the Han Shu regime, rebelled against Sun Wu and Nanding in the East, and the internal contradictions were also eased, so Han Shu quickly recovered its national strength and began the Northern Expedition. So Zhuge Liang can promote the war at this time. It can be said that he really hindered the reunification of the country.
Generally speaking, national reunification is definitely better than division. However, what was the situation under the historical conditions at that time? I think even if Wei unified the world ahead of time, the situation would not be much better. Because the state of Wei at this time was completely different from the northern part of China under Cao Cao's rule. During the reign of Cao Cao, a large number of talents from humble origins were employed to maintain centralization, which dealt a heavy blow to the gate valve system that gradually rose after the Eastern Han Dynasty. After Cao Pi came to power, he adopted Chen Qun's Nine Grades System, completely overthrew Cao Cao's political system and employment mechanism, and fully recognized the gate system and the privileges of various families. Therefore, since then, various families have emerged in the state of Wei, grabbing power, and finally Sima won a total victory, monopolizing military and political power and finally replacing the state of Wei. This trend is irreversible.
What about the situation in the Western Jin Dynasty? Personally, I don't feel as good as during the Three Kingdoms period. At the beginning, the general dynasty should be characterized by the recovery of productive forces, the clarity of politics and the improvement of people's living standards. In short, it presents a new atmosphere. However, the Western Jin Dynasty was not. From the beginning, it entered the political darkness, the rulers were ignorant and autocratic, the families fought for power and profits, and the people's lives went from bad to worse. This is a depressing scene. Not to mention that. A few years later, the Eight Kings Rebellion broke out. A nationwide war consumed the already insufficient national strength of the Western Jin Dynasty, so the northern minorities successfully entered the Central Plains without much effort. This is the "Five Chaos in the Central Plains", which completely ruined the achievements of China's development after the Qin and Han Dynasties. China was divided for hundreds of years, and it was not until the Sui and Tang Dynasties that it was reunified.
Therefore, from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms, and then to the Western Jin Dynasty, although the country was unified again, when it comes to social progress, it is simply invisible. Politics has been dark, the country has been turbulent, productivity has not recovered, and people's lives have been miserable. Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition actually wanted to end the division of the country through his efforts, which was essentially the same as Cao Cao's attempt to achieve great harmony in the world and end the war by force, but his position was different. We can't say that Cao Cao is just and Zhuge Liang is reactionary, which is a distorted understanding of history. Moreover, if Zhuge Liang insists on going against the historical trend, then hundreds of years later, Jin Jun invaded and Yue Fei led the army to resist. Is this also an obstacle to national unity and social progress? If this is the case, then our nation will lose its indomitable spirit and be irresponsible for history.