Zhuge Liang's childhood and even his life were extremely bumpy. His parents passed away when he was very young. Later, their brothers and sisters were raised by Liu Biao, a good friend of uncle Zhuge Xuan. Zhuge Liang received systematic Confucian training since childhood. When the young student 17 years old decided to stand on his own feet, he lived in seclusion in a place 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: Poetry, Book, Book of Rites, Spring and Autumn Annals, etc. Secondly, he also read books by military strategists, such as Zuo Zhuan, The 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 only absorbed the nutrition of these theories, but he did not blindly believe in them. He once commented on hundred schools of thought: "Laozi is good at nurturing nature and can't be in danger; Shang Yang is good at reasoning and law, so he can't be educated. Su Yu and Zhang Yu are too arrogant to make an alliance 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, Si Mahui and Huang Chengyan, great scholars. In particular, Huang Chengyan appreciated Zhuge Liang's personality and knowledge. One day, he suddenly said to Zhuge Liang, I have an ugly girl with yellow hair and black face, but her talents match you. Zhuge Liang actually agreed to this marriage after hearing this. Maybe she is not really beautiful, but Zhuge Liang values her talent rather than her appearance when choosing a wife. This is what makes Zhuge Liang's personality unique. Therefore, people commented on Zhuge Liang and said that his temperament was "superior". According to legend, their married life is very happy. After Zhuge Liang came out with Liu Bei, he has been fighting in the north and the south, and Huang Yueying worked hard at home to raise his children. Legend has it that this lady is extremely clever. She invented a wooden robot that can grind noodles. Later, Zhuge Liang's "wooden ox and flowing horse" was invented with the help of Huang Yueying. Although Huang Yueying is clever and virtuous, she is a little ugly after all. Throughout the ages, many people have always felt sorry for Zhuge Liang. However, in Huang Yueying's hometown of Xiangfan, Hubei Province, the talented woman was not ugly at all in a temple built by local people, and there were moving stories about her.
Although crouching tiger hides dragon in Jingzhou, Liu Biao, a shepherd in Jingzhou, never saw Zhuge Liang as a talent. Perhaps in his eyes, Zhuge Liang is just the poor nephew of his good friend Zhuge Xuan. Even if he heard that such a respected person as Pang Degong called Zhuge Liang "Wolong", he wouldn't believe it. After all, it takes vision. Chen Shou, the author of the History of the Three Kingdoms, commented that Liu Biao was "lenient outside and taboo inside, and good at planning without decision." Talent can't be used, smell good but can't accept it. " 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 never understood why Zhuge Liang didn't go to Cao Cao. Politically, Cao Cao held the emperor to make the princes have political advantages. In terms of strength, he unified the north, with a large number of soldiers and sufficient money and food. In terms of personal ability, he was brilliant, and no politician at that time could compare with him. 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.
Cao Cao in history is a man with double faces and complicated personality. At first, he had the ambition and ambition to help the Han dynasty, and later he had the idea of replacing it, and finally he did it. When Cao Cao saw that people were displaced by the war, he would shed tears, and introduced policies to appease refugees, resume production and stabilize society. But he will also be angry with others because of his father's death and slaughter hundreds of thousands of innocent people. When it comes to talents, he can run out to welcome talents to visit without even putting on his socks, and he will turn his face on some trivial matters 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 called Cao Cao and Wang Mang together, which shows their low character. For this kind of person, Zhuge Liang only wants to get rid of it and then be quick, but it is absolutely impossible to 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 declined. Later, someone asked why. Zhuge Liang said: "Of course, Sun Quan is a hero among people, but I think by his measure, he may be good to me, but he will not obey me." So I can't stay. " This was after Zhuge Liang had taken refuge in Liu Bei. To say the least, even if Sun Quan can listen to Zhuge Liang, he will not betray Liu Bei and cling to Sun Quan.
Zhuge Liang later wrote a famous saying in his famous Book of Commandments: "If you are indifferent, you will not have a clear ambition, and if you are quiet, you will not be far away." However, when a person is ambitious and has no way to serve, it is very difficult to truly be "indifferent and quiet". Zhuge Liang "kneels and screams" in the dead of night, which shows that it is difficult for him to do this. However, from this incident, it can be seen that Zhuge Liang is also an ordinary person with joys and sorrows, rather than the 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 very wonderful. Before finally meeting Zhuge Liang, the novel made a long preparation. How Liu Bei took Guan Yu and Zhang Fei with him, and how to visit him on a snowy day; How to see Zhuge Liang again and again but only his friends and his family; How to take a nap when I went to Zhuge Liang for the third time and let Liu, Guan and Zhang wait for a long time to see the above, and so on. In addition to rendering Liu Bei's corporal Li Xian, these compiled stories have another purpose, that is, to introduce the immortal Zhuge Liang step by step like "the stars hold the moon". However, in the authoritative history book "The History of the Three Kingdoms", none of the above contents are recorded. Regarding this paragraph, there are only five words in the book "Every three trips are seen". Therefore, later generations commented on the "History of the Three Kingdoms": cherishing ink as gold and being too brief.
After seeing Zhuge Liang, Romance of the Three Kingdoms described the protagonist's appearance: wearing a black silk scarf, wearing a crane, holding a feather fan, and sometimes riding in 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 1000 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 confronted each other in Wuzhangyuan, Sima Yi once sent someone to secretly observe Zhuge Liang. The man reported that Zhuge Liang was in an unadorned car, wearing a turban made of Gebu and holding a white feather fan to command the three armed forces. After listening to Sima Yi, he 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.
One more 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 his handwriting is very good. He also has a big hobby in his life, that is, he loves to draw beautiful women. Of course, his martial arts are 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 the courtesy of treating teachers 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 then "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 is stationed in Xinye, and he is still dependent on others. How can he give Zhuge Liang any official position? He is just as a guest, advising Liu Bei on military affairs. Zhuge Liang really began to have a position. It was after the Chibi War that Liu Bei gradually seized some sites in Jingzhou. After he became a Jingzhou shepherd himself, Zhuge Liang was appointed as a "military commander". Before that, he didn't have any position at all, so he couldn't command Liu Bei's army, let alone "burning Bowangpo" and "burning a new field".
According to historical records, even after the Chibi War for ten years, Zhuge Liang never commanded any battle or led any army. The reason why Zhuge Liang was great was not that he was entrusted with a heavy responsibility at the beginning, and then he was smooth sailing and good news spread frequently. On the contrary, in the following more than ten years, he has been engaged in some inconspicuous grass-roots work, and has done them well, winning the respect of Liu Bei and everyone with his excellent work, and finally assuming the important position of Prime Minister of Shu.
It is natural for Zhuge Liang to make an alliance with Soochow, because there are really no civil servants under Liu Bei's account, and Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Liang's brother, is working for Soochow. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it was written that Zhuge Liang was made difficult by the counselors headed by Zhang Zhao as soon as he arrived in Dongwu, but this is not the case in history. Zhang Zhao is already a contemporary celebrity, and there is no need to be flushed with a fledgling boy. There is also the intellectual stimulation of Zhou Yu. How unfair it is to describe Zhou Yu as a jealous and narrow-minded person in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the historical evaluation of Zhou Yu is broad-minded and extraordinary. Also, it was said at the time: Zhou Lang paid attention to the wrong song, which shows that Zhou Yu is a helpful person! Also, Zhou Yu was originally a hawk, and he didn't need Zhuge Liang's stimulation.
According to historical records, Zhuge Liang returned immediately after completing his alliance with Soochow, instead of staying in Soochow and Zhou Yu * * * breaking Cao Cao as described in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there would be no stories such as "borrowing arrows from grass boats" and "borrowing the east wind". Battle of Red Cliffs Cao Cao's crushing defeat of Sun Liu's army did not pursue it, and of course there would be no stories such as Huarong Road. After Cao Cao retreated, Zhou Yu captured the strategic places of Jingzhou, Jiangxia, Nanjun and Liu Beize, and led the army to capture Jiangling, Wuling, Changsha, Guiyang and Lingling. Cao Jun continued to keep Xiangyang. After Liu Bei captured the five counties, Zhuge Liang was appointed as the military commander to manage the tax collection of the five counties. After that, Liu Bei borrowed Nanjun from Dongwu to make a trip to the west. After Liu Bei captured Xichuan, he appointed Zhuge Liang as the military adviser 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, the queen of Shu, succeeded to the throne, and Zhuge Liang was appointed as the marquis of Wuxiang and took charge of Yizhou. He made great efforts to govern, strictly rewarded and punished, carried out the policy of reclaiming farmland, and improved the relationship between all ethnic groups in southwest China and Shu Han, which was conducive to the development of local economy and culture. Zhuge Liang also mended the relationship with Soochow, but in the book of Soochow's peace to Shu, there was no praise for Liu Chan, the late ruler. Generally speaking, there should be words, which showed Zhuge Liang's rights in Shu at that time! Shu gave up half of its country's land (Jingzhou), which is the pressure to bear! It can be seen that Zhuge Liang's rights in Shu at that time!
After mending the relationship with Dongwu, you can rest assured that you can quell the rebellion in the south. In 225 AD, Zhuge Liang led an army to counter the rebellion. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it was written that it was unrealistic for Zhuge Liang to lead a 500,000-strong army to March south. The population of Shu was only a few million, so it was impossible to dispatch such a huge number of troops. Moreover, Yunnan and Guizhou are all areas with inconvenient transportation. It is simply impossible to supply 500,000 troops with food and grass. In history, Zhuge Liang only led 20,000 people to the south.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is impossible for Zhuge Liang to capture Meng Huo in barbarian king, even if it is necessary to win the hearts of the people, but it is too heavy for casualties. In that era of cold weapons, killing 10,000 people and losing 3,000 people is already great. It is impossible to bet on the lives of 20,000 soldiers for one person. Historians believe that Zhuge Liang's army is invincible and has attacked and plundered all the way to break Meng Huo's seven cities. This is relatively simple for the Shu army, which has the most advanced weapons at that time, such as washing cars and catapults. It is relatively simple to break through the city built by Meng Huo's wood and bamboo, and it is understandable that Meng Huo was caught 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 town forever as mentioned in the romance, but transferred Meng Huo and the gentry who supported the rebellion to Chengdu.
When Zhuge Liang was pacified in the south, he could go to the Northern Expedition with peace of mind. However, later generations have always questioned that it is a good plan to go out of the Ziwu Valley only in Qishan without adopting Wei Yan's. However, the strength of Chang 'an city cannot be broken by a small team, and even if Chang 'an Wei's reinforcements are broken, they can arrive immediately. It is impossible for the Shu army to arrive at once, and the Shu army that attacked Chang 'an will surely die. Zhuge Liang doesn't want to take a big risk in the future, which is certain in Shu, where generals have died one after another. If you leave Qishan, you can capture the Guanzhong Plain to 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 met a sniper 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 kiosks to delay Wei reinforcements. According to the romance, Ma Su led100000 troops to guard the street kiosks, but in history, Zhuge Liang only sent 30000 people to guard the street kiosks, which was the largest number of troops Zhuge Liang could send when the main force was pinned down! It is not unreasonable for Zhuge Liang to camp in the right place. The street pavilion built on a hill is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The natural geological fissure is like a city wall, but why did Ma Su choose the mountain instead of the city? The reason may be that there are many leaks in the geological fissure, and Wei Jun can easily break through these places, but the Shu army has no time to repair them, so Ma Su camped on the mountain. The Shu army is mainly infantry, and it is easier for crossbowmen to shoot from the mountains! However, Wei's encirclement of Zhang's jaw led to the Shu army's demoralization and defeat. There are many people who claim that Ma Su is unfair, saying that victory or defeat is a common occurrence in military affairs, so let's see 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 should not be killed? In the romance, it was written that 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 very simple: Wei Jun did not pursue and commanded the Wei army, not Sima Yi, but Zhang Jaw!
In the fifth Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi confronted each other, but there was no fighting between the two armies. The Shu army took the initiative to retreat to lure Wei Jun, but the sophisticated Sima Yi did not pursue, but followed the Shu army from a distance. At this time, Sima Yi's Ministry couldn't help it, and urged Sima Yi to engage in a decisive battle with the Shu army. After Wei Jun was defeated, the Shu army returned because of lack of food and grass. This was the first time that Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi met!
Zhuge Liang's six northern expeditions dared to look for Wei Jun's main force to fight, and it was unthinkable that an army dominated by infantry would look for an army dominated by cavalry to fight! The reason is that Zhuge Liang's array method and Zhuge Lian crossbow invented by Zhuge Liang were developed to restrain cavalry, just as powerful as today's machine gun strafe! General Zhang Jaw of Wei was killed by Zhuge Lian's crossbow. Unfortunately, it has been lost now. Eight arrays have long been lost!
In 234 AD, Zhuge Liang died from overwork in Wuzhangyuan and was buried in Dingjun Mountain (now southeast of Mianxian County, Shaanxi Province).
Zhuge Liang's life was * * * two twenty-seven years. 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 to Cao Cao in the north, nor did he return to Sun Quan in the south. Instead, he assisted Liu Bei, who was "a little famous". This is of course objective Harada, but it is not accidental. The reason why he chose the road of rejuvenating 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 to 234 A.D. was the stage of knowing Ge Liang and being loyal to Shu Han. Both the former and the later masters trusted him very much. He didn't abide by the Confucian dogma. He respected the king but didn't harass foreigners. He entered the South China and comforted foreigners, and carried out the best ethnic policy among the three countries. He knew the law, stood upright, ruled the army with Wu, and fought to the last breath with the selfless dedication of "doing my best and dying". His spirit of loyalty to the public and the country was deeply loved by Shu people before his death and admired by later generations for a long time after his death, which has become a heritage of Chinese traditional culture.