(181 AD) Zhuge Liang was born into an official family in Yangdu County, Langya County, Xuzhou. Zhuge Liang was the empress of Zhuge Feng, the official of the Han Dynasty. His father Gui, named Jungong, was the capital of Taishan in the late Han Dynasty. His father Zhuge Gui married Zhang and had three boys and two girls. The eldest son Zhuge Jin, the second son Zhuge Liang, and the youngest son Zhuge Jun. After his eldest brother, Zhuge Liang has two sisters. Zhuge Liang's eldest brother Zhuge Jin focused on studying Confucian classics when he was young and was known for his filial piety. Later, he fled the chaos in Jiangdong and was reused by Sun Quan, and was gradually promoted to the highest military position in Soochow, the general. Zhuge Liang's younger brother Zhuge Jun has very few records in historical books. It is only said that he has always followed Zhuge Liang and later served as the Changshui captain of the Shu Kingdom. Zhuge Liang had a cousin named Zhuge Dan. He held important military and political positions in Wei State and was a highly respected minister. During this period, the Zhuge family not only produced numerous talents, but they also held power in three mutually hostile countries. This is extremely rare in Chinese history. And the most dazzling star among them is undoubtedly Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang’s childhood and even his life were extremely rough. When he was very young, his parents passed away. Later, the brothers and sisters were raised by Liu Biao, a good friend of their uncle Zhuge Xuan. Zhuge Liang received systematic Confucian training from an early age. When the young student was 17 years old, he decided to become independent. He lived in seclusion in a place not far from Xiangyang City, doing half farming and half studying. He lived in Longzhong, Xiangyang, and read many books. First he read Confucian works. For example: "Poetry", "Book", "Book of Rites", "Spring and Autumn", etc. Secondly, he also read books by military strategists, such as "Zuo Zhuan", "Warring States Policy", "Sun Tzu's Art of War", etc. In particular, Zhuge Liang's famous Eight Formations evolved from studying the military works of his predecessors. Zhuge Liang only absorbed the nutrients of these theories, but did not blindly believe in them. He once commented on various schools of thought: "Lao Tzu is good at cultivating one's nature and cannot face danger; Shang Yang is good at theory and law, but cannot be educated; Su and Zhang are good at Chi Ci, and cannot form alliances and oaths."

According to historical records. According to records, Zhuge Liang made friends with a group of like-minded intellectuals in Jingzhou, including the famous academic leader and master figure Pang Degong in Xiangyang, and the great scholars Sima Hui and Huang Chengyan. Among them, Huang Chengyan especially admired Zhuge Liang's character and knowledge. One day he suddenly said to Zhuge Liang, I have an ugly daughter with yellow hair and a dark face, but her talents match yours. After hearing this, Zhuge Liang actually agreed to the marriage. Maybe she is not pretty, but Zhuge Liang's choice of wife was based on her talents, not her appearance. This is what makes Zhuge Liang's character unique. Therefore, people commented on Zhuge Liang and said that he had a "high and elegant temperament". According to legend, the couple lived a happy married life. After Zhuge Liang came out with Liu Bei, he continued to fight in the north and south. Huang Yueying worked hard at home to take care of the housework and raise her children. Legend has it that this lady was also extremely smart. She invented a wooden robot that could grind noodles. Later, Zhuge Liang's "Wooden Cow and Flowing Horse" was invented with Huang Yueying's help. Although Huang Yueying is smart and virtuous, she is a bit ugly after all. Throughout the ages, many people have always felt sorry for Zhuge Liang. However, in Huang Yueying's hometown of Xiangfan, Hubei, in the temple built by the locals for this talented woman, she is not ugly at all. There are also touching stories about her in the local area.

Although there were crouching tigers and hidden dragons in Jingzhou, Liu Biao, the herdsman of Jingzhou, never saw that Zhuge Liang was a talent. Maybe in his eyes, Zhuge Liang is just the poor nephew of his good friend Zhuge Xuan. Even if he heard that a respected person like Pang Degong called Zhuge Liang "Wolong", he would not believe it. After all, that requires vision. Chen Shou, the author of "Three Kingdoms", commented that Liu Biao was "tolerant on the outside but taboo on the inside, fond of schemes but unable to make decisions. He has talents but cannot use them, and hears good things but cannot accept them." This is an important reason why there are many talents in Jingzhou, but Liu Biao has made no achievements.

Throughout the ages, many people have always wondered why Zhuge Liang didn't go to Cao Cao? Politically, Cao Cao had a political advantage by holding the emperor in power to control the princes. In terms of strength, he unified the north, with many soldiers and generals, and sufficient money and food. In terms of personal ability, he was a man of great talent, and no other politician at that time could compare with him. Especially when it comes to treating talents, Cao Cao is very thirsty for talents and issued the "Talent Seeking Order" three times to recruit talents from all over the world.

Cao Cao in history was a man with two faces and a very complex personality. At first, he had the ambition and ambition to help the Han Dynasty, but later he had the idea of ??replacing it, and finally achieved this.

When Cao Cao saw people displaced by war, he would shed tears and introduce policies to appease the refugees, restore production, and stabilize society. But he would also get angry at others because of his father's death and massacre hundreds of thousands of innocent people. When it comes to treating talents, he can not only rush out to welcome talents without even putting on his socks, but he can also become ruthless over some trivial matters and kill old friends who have been with him for many years. Zhuge Liang will never like Cao Cao. This is closely related to his political philosophy. Historical books have always referred to Cao Cao and Wang Mang together, which shows his low character. For this kind of person, Zhuge Liang just wants to get rid of him quickly, and it is absolutely impossible to serve Cao Cao.

Why didn’t Zhuge Liang go to Sun Quan? Historical records record that before the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei sent Zhuge Liang to Soochow to persuade Sun Quan to unite against Cao Cao. At that time, Zhang Zhao, the minister of Soochow, wanted to keep Zhuge Liang, but he politely declined. Later someone asked why. Zhuge Liang said: "Of course Sun Quan is a hero among men, but I think based on his size, he may be very good to me, but he will not obey my words. So I can't stay." This was after Zhuge Liang had defected to Liu Bei. thing. To put it another way, even if Sun Quan could obey Zhuge Liang, he would not betray Liu Bei and rely on Sun Quan.

Zhuge Liang later had a famous saying in his famous "Book of Commandments" that has been passed down through the ages: "Without indifference, there is no clear ambition, and without tranquility, there is no progress." However, it is difficult for a person to truly be "indifferent and tranquil" when he has great ambitions and has no way to repay his ambitions. Zhuge Liang "hugged his knees and roared" in the dead of night, which shows that it was difficult for him to do this. However, it can be seen from this incident that Zhuge Liang is also an ordinary person with joys, sorrows and joys, not the half-man, half-god superman depicted in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

The story of "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage" is very wonderfully written in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". The novel makes a long foreshadowing before finally meeting Zhuge Liang. Talk about how Liu Bei took Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to visit him on a windy and snowy day; how he did not see Zhuge Liang twice but only saw his friends and his family; the third time he went to Zhuge Liang again How to take a short nap while Liu, Guan and Zhang waited for a long time before meeting the top, etc. In addition to exaggerating Liu Bei's courtesy and virtuous corporal, these compiled stories also have the purpose of introducing the immortal figure Zhuge Liang step by step like "the stars holding the moon". However, in the authoritative history book "Three Kingdoms", none of the above content is recorded. Regarding this paragraph, there are only five words in the book: "Every time you go three times, you will see." Therefore, later generations commented on "Three Kingdoms": it cherishes ink like gold and is too simple.

After meeting Zhuge Liang, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" gave another description of the protagonist's appearance: wearing a silk scarf, a crane cloak, holding a feather fan, and sometimes riding a four-wheeled car. Luo Guanzhong, the author of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" who lived in the Ming Dynasty, had been away from the Three Kingdoms period for more than a thousand years. What is the basis for his description? Pei Qi of the Jin Dynasty recorded Zhuge Liang's appearance in a book he wrote called "Yu Lin". The book says that when Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi were confronting each other at Wuzhangyuan, Sima Yi once sent someone to secretly observe Zhuge Liang. The man reported that Zhuge Liang was riding in an undecorated car, wearing a turban made of Gebu and holding a white feather fan, commanding the three armies. After hearing this, Sima Yi sighed and said, Zhuge Liang is really a famous scholar! This is the only record of Zhuge Liang's appearance in the documents of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. It may be the basis for Luo Guanzhong to shape Zhuge Liang's appearance.

Another point that needs to be explained is that Zhang Fei is always described in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as a rough guy with a bad temper and illiteracy. In fact, this is very different from history. Historical records say that Zhang Fei was a son of a wealthy family, with good calligraphy and a major hobby in his life, which was to paint beautiful women. Of course, he is also very good at martial arts.

It is said in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" that after Zhuge Liang followed Liu Bei out of the mountains, Liu Bei treated Zhuge Liang with the courtesy of a teacher and appointed him as a military advisor. 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 Bowang Slope", and then won the victory of "Burning Xinye". Unfortunately, history is not like that at all. After Zhuge Liang came out of the mountain, there is no record in the history books that Liu Bei appointed him as military advisor. In fact, there was no such position in the army at that time. Liu Bei was stationed in Xinye, and he was still under someone else's care. How could he give Zhuge Liang any official position? He was just a guest, providing military advice to Liu Bei. Zhuge Liang really began to have a position after the Battle of Chibi. Liu Bei gradually seized some territory in Jingzhou. After he became the shepherd of Jingzhou, he appointed Zhuge Liang as the "strategist and general".

Before that, he had no position at all and could not command Liu Bei's army, let alone "burning Bowangpo" and "burning Xinye".

According to historical records, even in the ten years after the Battle of Chibi, Zhuge Liang never commanded any battle or led any army. The reason why Zhuge Liang is great is not that he was entrusted with important tasks at the beginning and then everything went smoothly and good news came frequently. On the contrary, in the next ten years or so, he has been engaged in some inconspicuous grassroots work, and he has done it very well. He has used his outstanding work to win the respect of Liu Bei and everyone, and finally assumed the role of Prime Minister of Shu. important duties.

It is logical for Zhuge Liang to send an envoy to Soochow to form an alliance, because there are indeed few civil servants under Liu Bei's account, and Zhuge Liang's brother Zhuge Jin is currently serving Soochow. It is written in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms that Zhuge Liang was challenged by the counselors of Soochow headed by Zhang Zhao as soon as he arrived in Soochow. However, this was not the case in history. Zhang Zhao was already a famous figure in the world and there was no need to argue with a fledgling boy. There was also It is his wisdom that inspires Zhou Yu. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhou Yu is described as a jealous and narrow-minded person. How unfair this is. However, Zhou Yu has been evaluated in history as broad-minded and extraordinary. Also, it was said at the time: Qu Youcuo Zhou Lang Gu, which shows that Zhou Yu is a person who is good at helping others! There is also the fact that Zhou Yu is originally the main war faction and does not need Zhuge Liang's stimulation.

According to historical records, Zhuge Liang returned immediately after completing the alliance with Soochow, instead of staying in Soochow with Zhou Yu to defeat Cao Cao as written in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, let alone Stories such as "borrowing arrows from a straw boat" and "borrowing the east wind" happened. In the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao defeated the Sun and Liu coalition forces and did not pursue them. Of course, there would be no stories such as Huarong Dao. After Cao Cao retreated, Zhou Yu captured the strategic areas of Jiangxia and Nanjun in Jingzhou, while Liu Bei led his army to capture Jiangling, Wuling, Changsha, Guiyang, and Lingling. Cao Jun continued to retain Xiangyang. After Liu Bei captured the five counties, he appointed Zhuge Liang as the Military Advisor Zhonglang General to manage the tax collection of the five counties. Afterwards, Liu Bei borrowed Nan County from Soochow to control Xichuan. After Liu Bei captured Xichuan, he appointed Zhuge Liang as military advisor general and was responsible for Xichuan's political work.

In 222 AD, Liu Bei established the Kingdom of Shu and made Zhuge Liang the prime minister. In 223 AD, Liu Chan, the empress of Shu, succeeded to the throne, and Zhuge Liang was granted the title of Marquis of Wuxiang and became the pastor of Yizhou. He worked hard to govern, strictly enforced rewards and punishments, implemented the farmland policy, and improved the relationship between various ethnic groups in the southwest and the Shu Han, which was conducive to the development of local economy and culture. Zhuge Liang also repaired the relationship with Soochow, but in the peace book from Soochow to Shu, there is no text praising the later master Liu Chan, which generally should be there. This shows the power of Zhuge Liang of Shu at that time! The Shu Kingdom gave up half of its country's land (Jingzhou). This is a lot of pressure to bear! This shows Zhuge Liang’s power in Shu at that time!

After repairing the relationship with Soochow, you can safely put down the rebellion in the south. In 225 AD, Zhuge Liang led his army to quell the rebellion. In The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is written that Zhuge Liang led an army of 500,000 to the south. It was unrealistic. The Shu Kingdom had a population of only a few million and it was impossible to dispatch such a huge army. Furthermore, Yunnan and Guizhou are areas with very inconvenient transportation. It is simply impossible to supply food and fodder for 500,000 troops. Historically, Zhuge Liang only led 20,000 people in the southern expedition.

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is written that Zhuge Liang captured and manipulated the barbarian king Meng Huo seven times. This is impossible. Even if he wants to win over people's hearts, the casualties will be too great. In that era of cold weapons, he killed ten thousand enemies and suffered three losses. Thousands are already very impressive. It is impossible to bet the lives of 20,000 soldiers for one person. The historians believe that Zhuge Liang's army was invincible, conquering cities and conquering Menghuo's seven cities along the way. This was relatively different for the Shu army. The simple Shu army had the most advanced weapons at the time, such as rams, catapults, etc. It was relatively simple to break through Meng Huo's city built of wood and bamboo. It is understandable that Meng Huo was released once or twice after being captured. In the end, Meng Huo surrendered and the south was pacified. Zhuge Liang did not let Meng Huo permanently control the Southern Gang as mentioned in the novel. Instead, he transferred Meng Huo and the gentry who had supported the rebellion to Chengdu.

Zhuge Liang was pacified in the south and he could feel at ease in the Northern Expedition. However, later generations have always questioned the idea of ??leaving the Ziwu Valley only by leaving Qi Mountain and not by Wei Yan. It was a good strategy to leave the Ziwu Valley, but the city of Chang'an was so strong that it could not be broken by a small team. Even if Wei Guo's reinforcements break through Chang'an, they can arrive immediately. It is impossible for the Shu army to arrive immediately. The Shu army that breaks Chang'an by then will definitely die. Zhuge Liang does not want to risk a general. This is certain in the Shu country where generals have died one after another.

After leaving Qishan, you can capture the Guanzhong Plain to supplement the strength of Shu. If you retreat, you can defend Hanzhong. It can be said that there is not much danger.

Just when Zhuge Liang's victory news came frequently, he encountered a blockade in Tianshui and other cities, which contained the main force of the army. Wei's reinforcements arrived at this time, and Zhuge Liang sent Ma Su to guard the street pavilion to delay Wei's reinforcements. In the novel, it is said that Ma Su led an army of 100,000 to guard the street pavilion, but in history, Zhuge Liang only sent 30,000 troops to guard the street pavilion. When the main force was restrained, this was the largest number of troops that Zhuge Liang could send! Zhuge Liang's advice to camp on the road is not unreasonable. Jieting City is built on a small hill, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The natural geological fissures are like city walls, but why did Ma Su choose to stay in the mountains instead of stationed in the city? The reason may be that there were many leaks in the geological fissures. The Wei army could easily break through these places, but the Shu army did not have time to repair them, so Ma Su camped on the mountain. The Shu army is mainly infantry and mostly crossbowmen. It is easier to shoot from the mountains! However, Wei general Zhang Zha adopted a siege instead of attacking, which caused the Shu army to be disorganized and defeated. Many people are complaining about Ma Di, saying that victory or defeat is a matter of military strategists, so let's take a look at what Ma Di did! Historical records record that when he was surrounded by Zhang Jaw, Ma Su actually abandoned the army and ran away alone. This violated the basic qualities of a soldier, so why not kill him? It is written in the novel that after the fall of Jieting, the "empty city strategy" that was praised by later generations was staged. However, this did not exist in history. The reason is very simple. The Wei army did not pursue it, and the person who commanded the Wei army was not Sima Yi but Zhang Jia!

In the Fifth Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang faced off against Sima Yi. The two armies faced each other without fighting. The Shu army took the initiative to retreat to lure the Wei army, but the experienced Sima Yi did not pursue it, but followed the Shu army from a distance. This At that time, Sima Yi's generals could not bear it anymore and strongly demanded Sima Yi to fight. Sima Yi then fought a decisive battle with the Shu army. The Wei army was defeated and the Shu army retreated due to lack of food and grass. This was the first time Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi fought against each other!

Zhuge Liang dared to find the main force of the Wei army in his six Northern Expeditions. It is unimaginable for an army mainly composed of infantry to find an army mainly composed of cavalry! The reason is Zhuge Liang's formation and the Zhuge Liannu invented by Zhuge Liang. The Zhuge Liannu was developed to restrain cavalry. It is as powerful as today's machine gun fire! General Wei opened his jaw and was killed by Zhuge Liannu. It's a pity that it has been lost now. The Eight Formations Diagram has also been lost long ago!

In 234 AD, Zhuge Liang became ill due to overwork. He died of illness in Wuzhangyuan and was buried in Dingjun Mountain (southeast of today's Mian County, Shaanxi Province).

Zhuge Liang’s life spanned two twenty-seven years. The twenty-seven years before 207 AD were the preparation stage for his self-cultivation and determination to serve the world. After he accomplished his studies, he did not go north to Cao Cao, nor did he return south to Sun Quan. Instead, he assisted Liu Bei, who was "little known". Although this was objective, it was not accidental. The reason why he chose the path of reviving the Han Dynasty shows that he is an orthodox thinker who upholds feudal principles and advocates Confucian loyalty and morality. The twenty-seven years from 207 AD to 234 AD were the period when Shuge Liang was loyal to the Shu Han. Both the first master and the later master trusted him very much. He did not abide by Confucian dogma. He respected the king but did not resist the barbarians. He marched into Nanzhong, pacified the barbarians and Yue, and implemented the best national policy among the Three Kingdoms. He understood the law, upright his body, and Wu, and managed the army, and fought until the last breath of his life with the selfless dedication of "dedicate himself to death." His spirit of loyalty to the public and the country was deeply loved by the Shu people during his lifetime, and was admired by future generations for a long time after his death. It has become a legacy of the traditional culture of the Chinese nation.