In fact, after Zhuge Liang came out of the mountain, he didn't advise Liu Bei as in the romance, burning Bowangpo and Xinye, etc., and he basically didn't have anything to do in the Chibi War (he just contributed to 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 a logistics minister, responsible for providing supplies in the rear. He was really active in the political arena until Liu Bei died. After Liu Bei's death, the situation faced by Shu Han was that "the world is divided into three points, and the profit is exhausted, which is also a critical autumn", which can be described as internal and external troubles. At that time, Wu Shu became evil, and Lu Xun looked at Yongan; Cao Pi peeped at Shu, always weighing the problem of cutting Shu first and then taking Wu; In the southern jungle, ethnic minorities rebelled, killing state officials and plundering the people; The chaotic ministers took advantage of the new death of their predecessors to unite with barbarians to rebel against independence; Disputes among factions in the court of Shu and Han dynasties have intensified, and so on.
In this case, Zhuge Liang stabilized the overall situation, put down the civil strife and ensured the stability of the Shuhan regime for more than 40 years, which shows that he is very capable. He contributed to the society at that time, mainly reflected in the following points:
First, inherit the legalist ideas, strictly administer Shu and maintain the supremacy of law, so as to maximize the strength of the country and use it 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 always go abroad.
The second is to win the war against the southern minorities and adopt various policies to maintain the stability and harmony of ethnic relations, which was extremely rare at that time.
Third, continue to carry out the correct diplomatic strategy of uniting with Dongwu, and * * * deal with Cao Wei together, instead of attacking Wu again because of the failure of the Yiling War, wasting the country's strength.
Fourth, there are some major inventions, such as the crossbow, the wooden ox and the flowing horse. 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, except Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang did this. In fact, it is not a simple matter to annotate the art of war, but the accumulation of many years of military experience.
Sixth, his self-discipline spirit of self-denial and devotion to duty, and his spirit of devoting all his efforts to death 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 took power, he quickly eased the severe situation faced by the Shuhan regime, rebelled against Sun Wu and Nanding in the east, and the internal contradictions were also eased, so the Shuhan quickly recovered its national strength and began the Northern Expedition. Therefore, Zhuge Liang was able to promote the war at this time. It can be said that he really hindered the reunification of the country.
Generally speaking, national unity is definitely better than fragmentation. However, under the historical conditions at that time, what was the situation? I think even if Wei unified the world in advance, the situation would not be much better. Because the state of Wei at this time is completely different from the northern part of China under the rule of Cao Cao. 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. When 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 appeared in the state of Wei, grabbing power, and finally Sima won, dominating the military and political power, and finally replacing the state of Wei. This trend is irreversible.
So what about the situation in the Western Jin Dynasty? My personal feeling is not as good as that of the Three Kingdoms period. At the beginning, the general dynasty should be characterized by the recovery of productive forces, political clarity and the improvement of people's living standards, which in short presents a new atmosphere. However, the Western Jin Dynasty was not. From the very 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. It was a gloomy scene. That's not to mention. In a few years, the Eight Kings Rebellion broke out. A nationwide war consumed the already insufficient national strength of the Western Jin Dynasty, so the northern minorities entered the Central Plains smoothly without much effort. This is the "Five Random Central Plains", which completely ruined the fruits 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 again.
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 impossible to see it at all. Politics has always been dark, the country has always been in turmoil, productivity has never recovered, and people's lives have always been painful. 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 the same 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 a hindrance to national unity and social progress? If that is the case, then our nation will lose its indomitable spirit and be irresponsible to history.