Chapter 2 93 Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Countermeasures

After the Battle of Guandu, Liu Bei fled to Jingzhou and joined Liu Biao.Liu Biao allocated some troops to him and asked him to stay in Xinye (now Xinye County, Henan). Liu Bei lived in Jingzhou for several years, and Liu Biao always treated him as a first-class guest.But Liu Bei is an ambitious person, because his ambition has not been realized, he is always depressed. Once, when he touched his thigh, he felt something in his heart and shed tears.Liu Biao found out and asked him what unpleasant things happened to him.Liu Bei said: "It's nothing! I used to fight a lot, and I didn't leave the saddle every day. The flesh on my thighs is very strong. Now I live a leisurely life here, and the flesh on my thighs has grown fat again. Look at the days passing by like running water, everyone I’m getting old, and I can’t do any big business, and I feel sad when I think about it.”

Liu Biao comforted him for a while.But Liu Bei is always thinking about long-term plans.For this, he wanted to find a good assistant. He found out that there was a famous man named Sima Hui in Xiangyang, so he made a special trip to visit him.Sima Hui received him very politely and asked him why he came. Liu Bei said: "To tell you the truth, sir, I came here to ask you about the general trend of the world." Sima Hui laughed loudly after hearing this, and said, "An ordinary person like me knows what the general trend of the world is. I want to talk about the general trend of the world." , depends on talented heroes.”

Liu Bei begged him for advice, "Where can I find such a hero?" Sima Hui said, "There are Wolong and Fengchu (sound chu) here. If you can invite one of them, you can bring peace to the world. " Liu Bei hurriedly asked who Wolong and Fengchu were, and Sima Hui told him: Wolong's name is Zhuge Liang, whose name is Kongming; Fengchu's name is Pang Tong, whose name is Shiyuan. Liu Bei thanked Tong Ma Hui and returned to Xinye.It happened that a scholar came to see him.Liu Bei saw his generous manner and thought he was either a crouching dragon or a phoenix chick, so he received him warmly.

After some conversations, I found out that this person was named Xu Shu, and he was also a local celebrity. Because he heard that Liu Bei was recruiting talents, he came here to join him. Liu Bei was very happy, so he kept Xu Shu in his subordinates as a counselor. Xu Shu said: "I have an old friend Zhuge Kongming. People call him Wolong. Would you like to see him, General?" Liu Bei learned about Zhuge Liang's situation from Xu Shu.It turned out that Zhuge Liang was not a local, his hometown was in Yangdu County, Langya County (now south of Yishui County, Shandong).His father died when he was young.His uncle Zhuge Xuan was friends with Liu Biao, so he brought him to Jingzhou.Soon, his uncle also died, and he settled down in Longzhong (today's west of Xiangyang, Hubei), building a thatched hut, plowing the land and planting crops while studying.At that time, he was only twenty-seven years old, but he was knowledgeable and knowledgeable. His friends admired him very much, and he often compared himself to Guan Zhong and Le Yi in ancient times.But he saw that the world was in chaos, and the local Liu Biao was not a person who could use talents, so he would rather live in seclusion in Longzhong and live his peaceful life.

Liu Bei listened to Xu Shu's introduction and said, "Since you are so familiar with him, please do your best to invite him here!" Xu Shu shook his head and said, "That's not acceptable. For a person like this, the general must invite him in person to show your sincerity." Liu Bei heard Sima Hui and Xu Shu praise Zhuge Liang one after another. Knowing that Zhuge Liang must be a great talent, he took Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to Longzhong to find Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang learned that Liu Bei was coming to visit him, so he avoided it on purpose.When Liu Bei got there, he was in vain.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei who went with Liu Bei felt impatient.But Liu Bei remembered Xu Shu's words, and went to invite him patiently. If he didn't see him once, he would go again the second time; Zhuge Liang was finally moved by Liu Bei's sincerity, and received Liu Bei in his thatched hut. Liu Bei left Guan Yu and Zhang Fei outside, and followed Zhuge Liang into the house.When there was no one in the room, Liu Bei said frankly: "Now the Han Dynasty is in decline, and the power is in the hands of treacherous officials. I know that I am weak, but I really want to save this situation, but I can't think of a good way. So I came here to invite Mr. Instructions."

Zhuge Liang saw Liu Bei asking for advice with such an open mind, so he talked to Liu Bei about his own ideas from the bottom of his heart.He said: "Now Cao Cao has defeated Yuan Shao, has a million troops, and he is holding the emperor hostage to give orders. This can't just rely on force to compete with him. Sun Quan has occupied the Jiangdong area for three generations. The Jiangdong area is dangerous. Now the people Belonging to him, there are still a group of talented people working for him. It seems that we can only join forces with him and not play his ideas." Then, Zhuge Liang analyzed the situation in Jingzhou and Yizhou (now part of Sichuan, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Hubei, and Guizhou), and believed that Jingzhou was an important military location, but Liu Biao could not defend this place.Yizhou is fertile and vast, and has always been known as the "Land of Abundance", but Liu Zhang, the owner there, is also a cowardly and incompetent person, and everyone is dissatisfied with him.

Finally, he said: "The general is a descendant of the royal family and is famous all over the world. If you can occupy Jingzhou and Yizhou, unite with Sun Quan externally, and rectify internal affairs internally, once you have the opportunity, you can march from Jingzhou and Yizhou. , Attack Cao Cao. At that time, who would not welcome the general? If this can be done, the achievements can be made, and the Han Dynasty can be restored." As Liu Bei listened, he couldn't help admiring the young man in front of him from the bottom of his heart, and said, "What you said really opened my eyes.

I will definitely follow your advice.Let's go down the mountain together now. " Seeing Liu Bei's enthusiasm and sincerity, Zhuge Liang happily followed Liu Bei to Xinye.Later, people called this incident "three visits to thatched cottage", and Zhuge Liang's conversation was called "Longzhong Dui". After that, Liu Bei treated Zhuge Liang as a teacher, and Zhuge Liang also regarded Liu Bei as his master.The two grew closer. Seeing this, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei felt very unhappy and murmured behind their backs.They thought that Zhuge Liang might not have much ability due to his young age, and blamed Liu Bei for thinking too highly of him.

Liu Bei explained to them: "I have Mr. Kong Ming, just like a fish finds water. You are not allowed to make random comments in the future." After listening to Liu Bei's words, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had nothing to say.