Chapter 41 1. Zhuge ruled Shu

In 222 A.D., Liu Bei was defeated at Xiaoting and fled to Baidi City.In the second year, Liu Bei called Zhuge Liang to Yong'an Palace to arrange his funeral. This is the famous "Yong'an Tuogu" in history. Yong'an Tuogu divided the Shu regime into two stages, the first stage with Liu Bei as the leader, and the second stage with Zhuge Liang as the core leader.After Zhuge Liang arrived in Yong'an, Liu Bei lay on his sickbed and said to him: "You are ten times as talented as Cao Pi, and you will be able to stabilize the country and make great decisions. If your heir can assist you, assist him; if he is not talented, you can take it yourself." That is to say , sir, your talents are ten times that of Cao Pi, and you will surely be able to stabilize the country and complete our great cause.If my son can help, please help him; if he is not useful, please do it yourself.Zhuge Liang said with tears streaming down his face at that time: "I dare to do my best to serve the festival of loyalty and chastity, and then die."Liu Bei also asked Liu Chan to treat the prime minister like his father.

Regarding Yong'an Tuogu, there have always been different views in history.Chen Shou believed that Liu Bei completely trusted Zhuge Liang, and this state is the highest model of the relationship between ancient and modern monarchs and ministers.Some people also questioned that Liu Bei's words "If you are not talented, you can take it yourself" did not come from the heart. Liu Bei was suspicious of Zhuge Liang, but he had to rely on him, so he said such words, forcing Zhuge Liang to nowhere. There is no room for him, and he has to be loyal to death.Is it a model of the trust of monarchs and ministers, or a precedent of thick and black studies? Choosing another one as emperor is an unsolved case that needs to be considered.The truth still exists in the depths of history, and everyone can offer their own opinion.

In April 223 AD, Liu Bei died, and Zhuge Liang helped Liu Bei's coffin back to Chengdu.In May, 17-year-old Liu Chan ascended the throne. History calls Liu Bei the first master and Liu Chan the latter master.After Liu Chan ascended the throne, he enfeoffed Zhuge Liang as Marquis of Wuxiang, led Yizhou Shepherd, and allowed him to open a mansion to manage affairs.Since the territory of the Shu Han was basically dominated by Yizhou, letting Zhuge Liang lead Yizhou Mu was to grant him the administrative power of the whole country.The so-called Kaifu means that Zhuge Liang established his own set of offices with relatively independent power.In addition, Liu Chan also said this sentence: "Government is up to the Ge family, and sacrifices are for the widows." It means that all military and political power is handed over to Zhuge Liang, and Liu Chan is only responsible for offering sacrifices to heaven, earth and ancestors.

In this way, Zhuge Liang will handle all military and state affairs in Shu, and Liu Chan will only be the nominal head of state. The Shu Han regime has entered a new era headed by Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Liang will continue the unfinished journey of Liu Bei.However, this road is destined to be long and difficult.The defeat of Yiling not only greatly weakened the military power of the Shu Han, but also led to the instability of the internal political situation. In order to stabilize the political situation, develop production, restore the economy, and deal with Cao Wei with all his strength, Zhuge Liang's first major task after assisting the government was to restore the alliance with Soochow.He sent Deng Zhi as an envoy to Sun Wu in 223. After negotiations, Sun Quan severed his relationship with Cao Wei and re-allocated with Shu Han.Since then, the envoys of Wu and Shu have been in constant communication.Alleviating the worries of Donggu, Zhuge Liang was able to concentrate on rectifying internal affairs.

The Shu Han regime is very special, it is like a glass of well-defined cocktails, composed of three forces.The first force is the people brought by Liu Bei from Jingzhou, including Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others. They are the highest class of Shu Han and hold the main power of the country; the second force is the people left by Liu Zhang, such as Li Yan Wait, this force is at the middle level of the Shu Han regime; the third force is the native officials and local wealthy families in Yizhou, and this force is at the bottom of the regime. Of course, the regime structure formed by these three forces will not be stable, especially the lower two levels are not convinced.Liu Bei was defeated and died in Baidi City, and now a prime minister is acting as the king, and all classes have their own thoughts, watching Zhuge Liang's every move.Under such circumstances, Zhuge Liang had to adopt the principle of ruling the country by law, everyone is equal before the law, and only by using fair and just legal means to solve problems can he convince people of different classes.

Therefore, in terms of internal affairs, Zhuge Liang put strict laws and regulations and rectifying the administration of officials in the first place.He presided over the formulation of the code called "Shu Ke" and the eight rules, seven precepts, six fears and five fears of "training officials".In the process of enforcing the law, Zhuge Liang is fair and just, regardless of closeness, the guilty must be punished.Although the law is almost harsh, it is not hated. The father of Chen Shou, the author of "Three Kingdoms", was sentenced to severe punishment for breaking the law. However, Chen Shou still praised Zhuge Liang for his strict law and discipline; After the news of Zhuge Liang's death, he still cried bitterly for it.Some people say that Zhuge Liang's laws are too strict, but Liu Zhang is good at buying people's hearts with kindness and making people miss him.Zhuge Liang said tit-for-tat that the world should be governed by great virtues, not small favors.

In terms of army management, Zhuge Liang also paid attention to the strict law and discipline of the army. He said: "A soldier with discipline, an incompetent general, cannot be defeated; a soldier without discipline, a capable general, cannot win." According to "Three Kingdoms" records , Zhuge Liang "legislated and enforced, organized the army, ... the science and education are strict, and the rewards and punishments must be trusted", so that the troops "are in order, the rewards and punishments are strict, and the orders are clear."Under Zhuge Liang's training, the Shu army resisted the strong with the weak, and came and went freely among the mountains, "advancing and retreating like the wind". The high mobility enabled the Shu army to repeatedly grasp the initiative in battles.

In addition, Zhuge Liang is also good at creating and inventing new weapons. "Three Kingdoms" also wrote: Zhuge Liang was in charge of the military and government, "the skills of engineering and machinery are the utmost."He invented the Liannu (a bow and arrow capable of firing ten arrows at the same time), the Yongshou armor cap (an armor that even a strong crossbow can't shoot through), the wooden ox and the flowing horse (in fact, the wooden ox is a small cart with a front shaft, and the flowing horse is similar to the unicycle of later generations. Not the perpetual motion machine in Romance).The combat effectiveness of the Shu army is very strong, which is inseparable from the use of various new weapons.

Zhuge Liang has a deep understanding of the art of war. He deduced the art of war and made eight diagrams.Due to the exaggeration of the Romance and the attachment of later generations, the eight formations are covered with a layer of mystery. In fact, the eight formations are the fortifications or military formations used to conceal soldiers and hinder the enemy in ancient battles.Due to the mountains of Shu State, the army is used to fighting in the mountains and forests. Once it goes north to the Central Plains, it will be difficult to compete with the cavalry of Wei State.In order to improve the combat effectiveness of the Shu army, Zhuge Liang changed the eight formations in "Sun Tzu's Art of War" into the "Eight Formation Diagram".The eight formations have eight rows in each of the vertical and horizontal lines, with the carriages as the main shelter, and the army commanded by the sound of drums and flags, and many formations can be changed.After the fall of the Kingdom of Shu, Emperor Wu of Jin also ordered Chen Xie to "accept Zhuge Liang's method of encircling the formation and using troops to lean on him".Yuan Zhun said that Zhuge Liang's march "everywhere you go to camps, wells, pits, fences, and barriers, you should respond to Shengmo. After a month's trip, you will go as if you started."

After Zhuge Liang's vigorous rectification, Shu Han appeared "Strict science and education, trustworthy rewards and punishments, no evil is not punished, no good is not shown, as for officials, no rape is tolerated, people are self-motivated, the way does not pick up what is lost, the strong does not invade the weak, and the weather is solemn" situation. After Liu Bei's Eastern Expedition failed, great changes took place in the southern area of ​​Shu Han.Emperor Yongkai of Yizhou County killed the prefect and defected to Soochow, and instigated Zhu Bao, prefect of Zangke, Gao Ding, king of Yizhou, and others to rebel against Shu Han.In "Longzhong Dui", Zhuge Liang envisioned "Fu Yiyue in the South" and built this place into the rear of the Liu Bei Group's rule.After Liu Bei occupied Yizhou, Zhuge Liang selected Deng Zhi, a general who was good at handling ethnic relations, to govern Nanzhong, and achieved good results.After Nanzhong was in great turmoil, because Liu Bei died and the successor was weak, Zhuge Liang forbeared for the time being, and did a good job of preparing for farming, planting grain, retreating the people, and stabilizing internal affairs.When the Wu-Shu alliance was restored, the internal political situation was stable, and the time was right to quell the rebellion, Zhuge Liang divided his troops into three groups and marched into Nanzhong in 225 AD.

During Zhuge Liang’s southern expedition, Ma Su, who joined the army, saw him off and suggested to Zhuge Liang: “The people in Nanzhong have long been dissatisfied because of the treacherous terrain. They are defeated today and will rebel tomorrow. Unrest. It would be neither kind nor quick to kill them all. Therefore, I hope you can convince them by sending troops this time. Up, the soldiers are down'." Zhuge Liang adopted Ma Di's opinion.As soon as the troops arrived in Nanzhong, they successfully beheaded Yong Kai and Gao Ding, but Meng Huo led the rest of his troops to continue to fight against Zhuge Liang.Meng Huo was very famous in Nanzhong, so Zhuge Liang decided to let him submit to him from the heart.After he captured Meng Huo alive, he took him to watch his camp.Meng Huo looked at it disapprovingly, and said with a smile, "I didn't know your truth before, so you were defeated and arrested. Now it seems like that. As long as you let me go back, I will definitely take revenge." Zhuge Liang also laughed, and immediately Meng Huo was released. In this way, Meng Huo fought the Shu army seven times in a row, but was captured alive by Zhuge Liang.For the seventh time, Zhuge Liang was about to release Meng Huo again, but Meng Huo said, "My lord, Tianwei also, the southerners will not turn back." From crossing Lu in May to Meng Huo's surrender in July, within two months, Zhuge Liang successfully pacified the south.When leaving Nanzhong, Zhuge Liang did not leave a single soldier behind, but the locals governed the area.When everyone asked the reason, Zhuge Liang explained: "If we leave our people to govern, we must keep soldiers, and then food and grass will become a burden, no; if we keep officials but not soldiers, they will definitely fear our officials. It is not allowed to cause chaos. Therefore, I will not leave troops or transport food, and both parties can live in peace." In order to change the backwardness of Nanzhong, Zhuge Liang sent people here to promote the advanced agricultural production technology of the Han nationality, build water conservancy, and develop production. Nanzhong later developed into a stable rear and financial source for the Shu Han.The gold, silver, lacquer, cattle, war horses and other materials there supplemented the financial and military needs of the Shu Han regime. When Zhuge Liang was alive, the Nanzhong region had always been stable.Until now, the ethnic minorities in Nanzhong are still deeply grateful for Zhuge Liang, and even go to the temple to worship Zhuge Liang. After quelling the rebellion in the south, Zhuge Liang reorganized his armaments, trained troops and practiced martial arts, waited for the opportunity, and launched a large-scale northern expedition to pursue a great cause. In history, there are not a few people with the same ability as Zhuge Liang.However, only Zhuge Liang was able to live at the sacred pinnacle of history, become a model of transcendence and holiness, and accept people's worship through the ages. People who had the same ideals as Zhuge Liang at the beginning abandoned their original intentions in the dark and turbulent historical trend.Cao Cao, who initiated the uprising, became a "rebellious minister and thief".Sun Quan suddenly allied with Shu Han, and suddenly became friendly with Cao Wei. He had already spared no effort to protect his own interests.Known for his benevolence and righteousness, Liu Bei either got carried away and built a mansion, or acted arrogantly to sabotage his plans.Only Zhuge Liang has always adhered to the ideal of peace and stability of the country, and the benefit of the people. From the three-point match in Longzhong, to the adherence to the Wu-Shu alliance, and then to the stabilization of the Shu Kingdom, and repeated Northern Expeditions, he always advances despite difficulties, step by step, and never give up. Work hard towards your ideals and never give up.