Chapter 21 Chapter Five: Marquis Wu governs Shu

The relationship between Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei is actually very subtle. That's right, Zhuge Liang was invited out of the mountain by Liu Bei's visit to the thatched cottage, and he lived up to high expectations in the Battle of Chibi.He was sent as an envoy to Soochow, made a breakthrough, forged an alliance, defeated Cao Cao, and spent a "honeymoon period" with Liu Bei like a fish in water. However, after the war, he seemed to retreat to the second line.It was Pang Tong who tried his best to instigate and make suggestions to seize Yizhou; it was Fazheng who strongly advocated the attack on Hanzhong and went through life and death.Therefore, when Pang Tong died in battle, Liu Bei "shed tears for words"; Fa Zheng died of illness, and Liu Bei "shed tears for days".The treatment after Fazheng's death was even higher than that of Guan Yu.

Pang Tong and Fazheng are Liu Bei's right-hand men. No wonder that for fifteen years after the Chibi War, we rarely saw Zhuge Liang or heard his voice.It's no wonder that Guan Yu conquered Xiangfan, Liu Bei conquered Soochow, Zhuge Liang neither opposed nor agreed, and simply kept silent. Zhuge Liang remained silent. The silence is understandable.After Liu Bei defeated Xiaoting, Zhuge Liang once sighed and said: If Xiaozhi (Fazheng) is still alive, he will definitely be able to prevent the emperor from marching eastward.Even if they went to the east, they wouldn't be defeated so badly!

What is this indicating?It shows that Zhuge Liang did not approve of cutting Wu, but he could not effectively stop it, because Liu Bei only listened to Fa Zheng.He treats Zhuge Liang with respect.To be upright with the Fa is to obey what one says.Now that Fazheng is gone, Liu Bei will not listen to anyone, and Mr. Kong Ming has no choice but to do "after the fact". The question is: why? Because of a conflict of ideas. As we all know, Zhuge Liang is a great statesman.The difference between politicians and politicians is that politicians have ideals, while politicians only have interests.Zhuge Liang had ideals, so he gave up Cao Cao, Liu Biao and Sun Quan, and followed Liu Bei, who had nothing at that time and even had his life in danger.

So, does Liu Bei have ideals? It might have been there before, but I forgot about it.The time I forgot was about after I got Jingzhou and Yizhou.At this time, he who turned salty fish over, only had no ideal interests, so he did not attack Wei but Wu.The so-called "Hans and thieves are not at odds with each other" is just a signboard to call themselves king and emperor. What Liu Bei forgot, Zhuge Liang did not.However, the embarrassing thing is that no one can tell the truth about this subtle change.Liu Bei had to pretend not to forget, and Zhuge Liang couldn't remind him.So I had no choice but to tacitly say: Zhuge Liang worked hard to do his job well, while Liu Bei relied on Pang Tong and Fazheng to grab more benefits.

The problem is that now Fazheng is dead, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, Pang Tong, Xu Jing, Liu Ba, and Ma Liang are all dead.Only Zhao Yun and Wei Yan have prestige and ability.Only Zhuge Liang can support Gu. Can Liu Bei rest assured? Both relieved and worried. Don't worry, it's easy to understand.Liu Bei never doubted Zhuge Liang's loyalty and ability.What's more, what Zhuge Liang wants is ideals, what Liu Bei wants is interests, and the demands of the two do not conflict.What's more, Liu Bei knows very well that idealists will not break through the moral bottom line for personal gain, regardless of the righteousness of monarchs and ministers, and he is not worried that Zhuge Liang will become Cao Cao or Cao Pi.

However, what reassures Liu Bei the most is Zhuge Liang's style, which is cautious.Liu Bei is very clear: Zhuge is only cautious in his life.Therefore, when Liu Bei decided to take a big gamble, he had to rely on Pang Tong and Fazheng; when he needed to keep his family business, the prudent Zhuge Liang was the right person. In fact, Zhuge Liang himself thought so.His afterthoughts and sayings are: the former emperor and his ministers were cautious, so he sent his ministers to make important decisions when he was about to collapse. This is the truth. So, why is Liu Bei not at ease? Because it matters.

In fact, what Liu Bei wants to entrust is not only his son, but also the Shu Han regime he established by himself.It is a pity that this regime is full of crises, both internal and external.There is no doubt about the foreign aggression, of course it is Cao Wei and Sun Wu, not to mention that they are colluding with each other.So, what are the internal worries? local power. We know that the Shu Han established by Liu Bei is a foreign regime.What's more troublesome is that before this foreign regime, there was another group of foreigners, namely Liu Yan, Liu Zhang, father and son and their subordinates.Coupled with the local bureaucrats and tyrants in Yizhou, there were three political forces that restricted each other within the Shuhan Dynasty.

1. The Yizhou Group, that is, the local gentry. 2. Dongzhou Group, namely Liu Zhang's old department. 3. The Jingzhou Group, that is, Liu Bei's cronies. The relationship between these three forces is intricate.When Liu Yan entered Shu, the Yizhou Group was the host and the Dongzhou Group was the guest.After Liu Bei entered Shu, the Dongzhou Group was the host and the Jingzhou Group was the guest.The host and the guest come first, the old and the new come first, resulting in Jingzhou (new guest) and Dongzhou (new host), Dongzhou (old guest) and Yizhou (old host), and Jingzhou (guest) and Dongzhou (new host and old guest) and Yizhou. The triple contradiction of the state (master).

This is no fun. What's even more not fun is that Liu Bei's defeat in Xiaoting and Yiling inevitably made some people who were already dissatisfied want to move.It can be said this way: Liu Bei founded the country without a solid foundation; Yiling was defeated and the earth was shaken. Liu Bei was deeply worried. There is no doubt that Zhuge Liang is the only one who can share Liu Bei's worries, and it is Zhuge Liang who worries Liu Bei the most, because Zhuge Liang has ideals.If he did not hesitate to fight Cao Wei with pebbles and stones in order to revive the Han Dynasty, wouldn't it be internal and external difficulties?Of course, Zhuge Liang is cautious.But what if?

This cannot but be guarded against. Liu Bei also showed amazing political wisdom. Four months after the defeat of Xiaoting, Li Yan, the prefect of Qianwei, was appointed Shangshu Ling.Six months later, Liu Bei left Zhuge Liang alone and appointed Li Yan as his deputy.Li Yan was originally a member of Liu Biao. When Cao Cao went south, he defected to Liu Zhang, and when Liu Bei entered Shu, he surrendered to Liu Bei again.It can be said that Li Yan belongs to the Dongzhou Group, but is the closest to the Jingzhou Group. The intention of this personnel arrangement is very obvious. Next, is the conversation with Zhuge Liang.

Liu Bei said: Your talent is ten times that of Cao Pi, and you will be able to govern the country in Anbang and achieve great things.So take it at your discretion sir.If you think Liu Chan is okay, ask Mr. to help him.If the kid is no good, he might as well make his own way. That's right, the original text is: If you are not talented, you can take it yourself. What's the meaning? It is generally believed that if you can take it yourself, you are authorizing Zhuge Liang to replace Liu Chan as emperor himself.But some people think that Zhuge Liang was asked to choose another one from Liu Bei's other sons, that is, to give Zhuge Liang the right to abolish and establish. Both explanations make sense. However, whether it replaces it or has the right to abolish it, it is no small matter.Therefore, these words were first spoken to Li Yan.Liu Bei's organizational line is very clear: the Jingzhou Group is the main body of the regime, the Yizhou Group is the object of prevention, and the Dongzhou Group is the object of unity.Therefore, he must tell everyone: Zhuge Liang is the person I trust the most.You can actively move closer, but you must not openly provoke. Later Zhuge Liang abolished Li Yan because of his political confidence. The message to Zhuge Liang was equally clear: The Shu Han regime is mine and yours.After I die, it will be yours, no matter who it is in name.That being the case, sir, you won't throw it away on the spur of the moment, right? Of course Zhuge Liang fully understands this.He prostrated himself on the ground, with tears streaming down his face, and said silently: I must devote myself to assist the emperor, serve the country faithfully, and even sacrifice my own life. What is politics?This is. Now, Liu Bei can die with peace of mind, because Zhuge Liang will definitely do his best to keep the Shu Han regime, and there will be no more accidents.As for how Zhuge Liang, who took over the power, would do it, that was not something Liu Bei needed to worry about.