Objective evaluation of Zhuge Liang and Lu Su

Historical truth - Zhuge Liang in official history

First of all, let’s talk about Zhuge Liang’s emergence and the process of consolidating his status. Everyone knows the story of his three visits to the thatched cottage, but few people know the story of Zhuge Liang's initiative to seek an audience with Liu Bei as recorded in "Wei Lue" and "Jiuzhou Spring and Autumn". The book said: "At that time, Cao Gong decided to set up Hebei Province. Liang knew that Jingzhou would be attacked by enemies next time, but Liu Biao was slow-tempered and did not know about military affairs. Liang went north to see the preparations. The preparations were not the same as Liang's, and because of his young age, he treated him with all kinds of business. ..." Later, Liu Bei made up his own hat, but was stopped by Zhuge Liang, and then he noticed this young man - this plot was slightly adapted and added to "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

There were many famous scholars in Jingzhou at that time. Because of Xu Shu’s words, Liu Bei went to see Zhuge Liang, who was not very famous among the scholars in Jingzhou. It is unlikely, unless it is based on the following two considerations: 1. All the famous scholars were raided by Liu Biao, so Liu Bei had no choice but to find second-rate celebrities; secondly, Liu Bei wanted to imitate the story of "a thousand gold buys a horse bone" and improve his reputation as a lover of talents by visiting a young man.

In short, no matter what reason Liu Bei went to find Zhuge Liang in person, since this statement is adopted in official history, let's just believe it. But there is another big problem later, and that is "Longzhong Pair". "Longzhong Pair" has always been considered an extremely brilliant strategic policy, but upon careful study, it can be found that it has two major flaws. The first is the contradiction between "Lian Wu" and "Ju Jing" (Sun Wu has also wanted Jingzhou for a long time. Both dogs are staring at the same bone, how can they not bite it? However, this issue has nothing to do with the topic, so let's not talk about it for now. ), and the second is the issue of how to obtain Jingzhou. Regarding the second question, it would be understandable if Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Dui" was dedicated to Liu Biao. Liu Bei only had a small Xinye at that time. How could he get Jingzhou? No matter how smart Zhuge Liang is, he is not a cult monster. He will not know when Liu Biao will die, he will not know when Cao Cao will go south, and he will not know that Liu Cong will surrender so easily. Without the implementation method of this first step, "Longzhong Dui" is a piece of paper. It may still be a good strategic guideline, but it is large and useless and will not attract Liu Bei who could not even sit still on his butt at that time.

Therefore, some people estimate that Liu Bei had already understood the basic strategy of "Longzhong Duel". He just wanted to see if this young man's ideas were the same as his own. Since they were roughly the same, he didn't care about the details. , hire someone first and then talk about it. Others believe that the so-called "Longzhong Dui" is just some fragments of a long conversation between Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei, connected together, and is not a strategic countermeasure in the true sense.

Let's put aside "Longzhong Dui" for now, Zhuge Liang finally came out of the mountain. But not long after he came out of the mountain, Cao's army went south and beat Liu Bei so miserably that he fled eastward. The "Burning Bowang" and "Burning New Wilderness" that are exaggerated in the romance are actually not recorded at all in the official history. Zhuge Liang's first achievement after coming out of the mountain was actually to cross Jiangdong, talk to Sun Quan, and unite against Cao Cao. After the Battle of Chibi, "the First Lord then took over the south of the Yangtze River, and appointed Liang as the military advisor Zhonglang General, envoy to oversee the three counties of Lingling, Guiyang, and Changsha, and transferred their taxes to strengthen the army." The four counties were originally in vain, and until this time, Zhuge Liang was mainly responsible for domestic affairs and foreign affairs, and had never been on the front line to fight.

The first time Zhuge Liang went into battle was when Liu Bei attacked Sichuan. The troops were trapped in Jiameng and Pang Tong died in the battle. There was no other way, so he summoned "(Zhuge) Liang, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and others to lead the troops back to the river. , divided into prefectures and counties, and surrounded Chengdu with the First Lord." After Sichuan was pacified, "(Zhuge) Liang was appointed as the military advisor general and was in charge of the affairs of General Zuo. When the First Lord was away, (Zhuge) Liang always guarded Chengdu and had enough food and troops." He was still a civilian. It is said that Zhuge Liang is like a god in using troops, at least it was not seen during Liu Bei's lifetime - Liu Bei rarely let Zhuge Liang lead troops, and it seemed that he did not trust him very much.

Predecessors have long argued that Liu Bei has three major groups: the Yuan Cong (originally followed) group, whose representatives are Guan, Zhang, Zhao, Huang, and Wei (Wei Yan is not a surrendered general, by the way, let me clarify) ); the Jingzhou Group, represented by Pang Tong, Zhuge Liang, and Ma Liang; the Sichuan Group, represented by Fazheng, Huang Quan, Liu Ba, and Li Yan. Liu Bei trusts the Yuancong Group the most (they are all old buddies, understandable), the second is the Sichuan Group, and he is much less trustworthy to the Jingzhou Group - especially after his old brother Guan Yu died in Jingzhou.

Later, Fazheng became the most popular person under Liu Bei. "He was the prefect of Shu County and General Yangwu. He controlled the capital outside and was the mastermind inside." He loved to report personal grudges. Some people advised Zhuge Liang to advise Liu Bei and take charge of Fazheng. But he didn't dare and replied: "My lord is in Gong'an. He is afraid of the power of Duke Cao in the north, the pressure of Sun Quan in the east, and the fear of Mrs. Sun's life changing at the elbow and armpit when approaching. At this time, he is advancing and retreating like a wolf, and Fa Xiaozhi will assist him." Wings, make them soar and cannot be copied. How to prevent the righteousness of the law from carrying out its evil intentions?" From this sentence, it can be seen that Zhuge Liang's position at the time was not the first one under Liu Bei, at least the righteousness of the law was still suppressed! above him.

In 222 AD, Liu Bei went on an eastern expedition and was defeated by Lu Xun in Yiling. He fled back to Baidi City miserably. Before he marched eastward, countless ministers came forward to dissuade him, but Zhuge Liang, who had always advocated the alliance between Sun and Liu, remained silent. Some people think that Zhuge Liang agreed with Liu Bei's risky move, while others think that Zhuge Liang just made a fortune in silence knowing that it would be useless. When Liu Bei was defeated and returned, Zhuge Liang looked up to the sky and sighed: "If the law and filial piety are upright, we can control the Lord and stop the eastward journey; if we resume the eastward journey, we will not be in danger." It can be seen that in fact, Zhuge Liang's status in Liu Bei's mind is It's not as important as the novel says. The so-called "being like a fish in water" is just a facade used by Liu Bei to win over his subordinates.

When Liu Bei was dying, the ministers who were more important than Zhuge Liang in his mind, such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Pang Tong, Fazheng, Huang Quan, etc., died and left, so he "entrusted Gu Yu to "Zhuge Liang, Shangshu ordered Li Yan to be his deputy", which actually put Zhuge Liang in charge of civil affairs and Li Yan in charge of military affairs. "In the first year of Jianxing, (Zhuge) Liang was granted the title of Marquis of Wuxiang, opened a government to manage affairs, and soon after that, he was also appointed as the pastor of Yizhou. All political affairs were large and small, and he was determined by (Zhuge) Liang." As for Zhuge Liang's grasp of military and political power, what about it? That's a matter for the future.

After talking so much, what issues should be explained? What we want to explain is that Zhuge Liang is not a military and political wizard who "knows astronomy and geography" as described in the novel, and he did not become Liu Bei's most important minister as soon as he came out of the mountain. To say that his greatest talent lies in political struggle, we must start with the conflict between the three major groups...

Under Liu Bei, the most trusted one is of course the Yuan Cong Group. Among them, Guan Yu was defeated and captured by Sun Quan in 219, Zhang Fei was killed by his generals Zhang Da and Fan Qiang in 221, Mi Zhu died of "embarrassment and illness" because his brother Mi Fang surrendered to Soochow, and Sun Qian was killed by Liu Bei. He died shortly after entering Shu. The year of Jian Yong's death is not recorded in history, but there is no record of his deeds in Liu Chan's court. He is estimated to have died before Liu Bei. The only ones left from the original group until Zhuge Liang's time were probably the less qualified Zhao Yun and Wei Yan.

The second person Liu Bei trusted was the Sichuan Group. Among them, Fazheng died in 220, Huang Quan was forced to surrender to Cao Wei in the north after Liu Bei defeated Yiling, and Xu Jing and Liu Ba both died. 222 years. There is only one important person left, Li Yan, who was born in Nanyang but returned to Sichuan.

This means that Liu Bei died in the third year of Zhangwu (AD 223), Liu Chan came to the throne, and changed his reign name to Jianxing. At this time, the Yuancong Group had declined, and the Sichuan Group had the right to There is only one powerful person left, Li Yan. Zhuge Liang finally got rid of Li Yan carefully and was able to take charge of the government.

Historical records indicate that Li Yan, also known as Li Ping, died of illness. "(Li) Yan and Zhuge Liang also received the imperial edict to assist the young master; with (Li) Yan as the central protector, he unified the internal and external military affairs and left "Zhen Yong'an", he was the assistant minister, and was promoted many times, and his reputation was inferior to that of Zhuge Liang. However, after Liu Chan ascended the throne, although Li Yan's official title rose, he gradually lost his actual status as the number one military leader. First, Zhuge Liang personally led the southern expedition, completely evading his role as a military commander. Then Li Yan moved from Yong'an to Tunjiang Prefecture, and then went to Hanzhong with the name of resisting Cao Zhen's southern invasion, getting closer and closer to the central political power controlled by Zhuge Liang. When Zhuge Liang made his third Northern Expedition, he simply took away his military control and only asked him to escort grain and grass. The road to Shu is difficult, and food and grass are often not available in advance. Even Zhuge Liang himself said that "every time he fails to keep food and grass, his ambition will not be fulfilled." Now this hot potato has been thrown to Li Yan. It would be strange if Li Yan did not make any mistakes - and, If someone is looking for trouble with you, you can't escape even if you want to!

As for Li Yanzhi’s demotion, history books say: “In the spring of the ninth year (of Jianxing), Liang led troops to Qishan to supervise the transportation of goods. In autumn and summer, it was raining and the food transportation could not continue. Ping sent Hu Zhong to join the army and the governor became a vassal, calling Liang to return; Liang agreed to retreat. When Ping heard that the army had retreated, he was even more alarmed and said, "There is enough food for the army, why can't we return?" The responsibility is to show the mistake of not advancing.

He also expressed his intention to the emperor, saying, "The army is retreating in vain, in order to lure the thieves into fighting." Liang Qi revealed the manuscripts and manuscripts written by him before and after, and Ping violated the rules and made mistakes... He deposed Ping as a citizen and moved to Zitong County. "At first glance, Li Yan (Ping) really deserves his punishment. It doesn't matter if he can't deliver food and grass to the front line. Why would he lie to others? Why would he offer slanderous words to call Zhuge Liang back? But after thinking about it carefully, I feel that there are more doubts. How can Li Yan be like a human being? He was a subordinate of Shu and was used by Liu Bei as a trusted minister. Zhuge Liang also said that he was "partly like a stream, but he was always willing to give up." No matter what his intentions were, he could at least be outstanding. He is not a coward. How could such a person play such a clumsy trick? When Zhuge Liang was in power and the emperor was dead, he could ignore his own letter and still hold it in the hands of others. It was two-faced. This is a lie. Even an idiot would not believe this so-called "conspiracy".

In short, Li Yan's political career is over, and Zhuge Liang has become the most important minister of the Shu Han Dynasty. At best, it is better than Huo Guang. At worst, he is compared to Lu Buwei (actually, he is not bad. He is not compared to Cao Cao and Wang Mang, because he has the power to dominate and has no intention of forcing the palace). Li Yan has a bad character. Maybe Zhuge Liang killed him, but it was just. It is not the behavior of a gentleman to use that kind of conspiracy. What we want to remind everyone is that in politics, there is no perfect gentleman, otherwise he will definitely not survive. Don't regard Zhuge Liang as a saint. The only saint is Confucius. So the old guy couldn't display his political ambitions at all.

Continuing, as Zhuge Liang's power was consolidated, the Yuan Cong Group and the Sichuan Group completely retreated to the second line, and there were always people praising Zhuge Liang for his use of people. Merit, then let us first take a look at the origins of those "virtuous" - the younger generation that Zhuge Liang was close to and supported by himself is nothing more than Jiang Wan, Fei Yi, and Jiang Wei who succeeded him in power. They are as close as father and son. Ma Su, who was entrusted with future affairs on his deathbed, and Dong Yun, Guo Youzhi, Xiang Chong, etc., who were recommended to the emperor by the "Shi Shi Biao". These people, except Jiang Wei, were the generals of Guanxi, Jiang Wan, and Fei Yi were from Lingling. Ma Di, Yang Yi, Xiang Chong were from Xiangyang, Dong Yun and Guo You were from Nanjun - while Lingling, Jiangxia, Xiangyang and Nanjun were all under the Jingzhou Governor's Department at the end of the Han Dynasty, that is to say, they were all Jingzhou people. Zhuge Liang Not to mention the original group, the Sichuan Group has many famous ministers and they are in the hometown. It is unbelievable to say that their descendants have no one to use, so they have to choose talents from the Jingzhou people who have already occupied their hometown. .

Therefore, Zhuge Liang’s employment is not, or at least not entirely, meritocratic, but based on group interests. There is no doubt that his political struggle ability is first-rate.

It is said that Zhuge Liang was a great politician. If the so-called "politics" refers to political struggle, we have nothing to say. But if it mainly refers to civil affairs, I am afraid that Kong Ming cannot wear this high hat. Zhuge Liang's transportation and supply ability is good. When he was the local civil affairs chief, he could always provide "enough food and troops" for the front line, which is very similar to Xiao He's legacy. However, behind this transportation and supply ability is reasonable overall arrangements and encouragement. Production still depends on plundering, but no one knows.

Zhuge Liang finally climbed to the top position and became the home of the entire Shu Han, but what he received was a mess. Economically, "Longzhong Dui" mentioned that "Yizhou is a dangerous fortress, with fertile fields thousands of miles away, and a land of abundance." However, as soon as the upstart Liu Bei entered Chengdu, he rewarded military exploits so much that the treasury was empty. Although later, according to Liu Ba's suggestion, he distributed Big money and leveled prices can only be a measure of profit and loss. If implemented for a long time, it will be like drinking poison to quench thirst. Politically, Shu's laws were strict. It is said that as soon as they were promulgated, "gentlemen and villains started to feel resentful and resentful." Later generations explained that this was because heavy laws were needed to control chaos. However, Zhuge Liang ruled the Shu Han Dynasty for twelve years, and there was no sign of any change in these policies. Economically, he only relied on exporting Shu brocade to Soochow. He himself said that "Yizhou was exhausted"; It shrank, and not even a history book was left - so Chen Shou, a Shu native, suffered from not getting enough historical materials, so he wrote "Shu Shu", which is the thinnest volume in "Three Kingdoms". Can Zhuge Liang be considered a great statesman if he blindly adheres to the old laws and never changes according to the times?

Perhaps Zhuge Liang deliberately maintained this "wartime structure" in order to accumulate strength and wait for the Northern Expedition to achieve certain results before making changes.

But firstly, the Northern Expedition was not successful in the end. Even if he had this intention, it became a dream; secondly, when talking about history, we cannot rely on speculation. If something is not reflected, we cannot say that it exists. Even if Zhuge Liang wrote down his long-term plan in a flashy way, , there are many elements of fantasy, and without implementation, no one can say that it will definitely succeed, thus giving him the high hat of a great politician.

In the spring of the third year of Jianxing (AD 225), Zhuge Liang went on a southern expedition. It is said that because he used the strategy of "attacking the heart first and attacking the city below", "the autumn was flat" and "military resources were flat". The country will be rich when it comes out." "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" also said: "In the age of the end, the barbarians will no longer be able to rebel." This has always been regarded as a major evidence of Zhuge Liang's skill in governance and military use. But is this really the case?

You must know that although most authors of ancient Chinese history books have a relatively correct attitude towards history and will not tamper blindly, the feudal concept of "the difference between China and Yi" is very strong. They do not regard ethnic minorities as human beings at all, and feel that if the central government does not slaughter them all, it is already good governance. Therefore, it is certain that there are too many praiseworthy words for Zhuge Liang's campaign in Nanzhong.

The productivity in the South Central area is low, and Zhuge Liang only pacified it. "The country is rich with military supplies." Is there any actual plundering? And do the Yi people really "never rebel"? "Three Kingdoms" records the deeds of the famous minister Li Hui: "When the rear army returned, the Nanyi rebelled again and killed the guard. (Li) Hui went to fight against them, hoeing away the evil ones, moved his heroes to Chengdu, and gave them to Sou, There must have been a lot of money to collect cattle, horses, gold, silver, rhinoceros and leather to replenish the military resources. Needless to say, there must have been a lot of looting. Zha Lihui died in the ninth year of Jianxing (AD 231), while Zhuge Liang died. It was the twelfth year of Jianxing, so this rebellion should have occurred during Zhuge Liang's lifetime.

It is also mentioned in the deeds of Zhang Yi: "In the beginning, after the prime minister came out to ask for Gaoding in Yuexun County, many barbarians rebelled and killed the prefects Gong Lu and Jiao Huang..." The above two evidences , it can be shown that the so-called "barbarians will never rebel" is completely fictitious. Some ethnic minorities in the southwest still have the legend that "Meng Huo captured and manipulated Zhuge Liang seven times, and Liang did not dare to invade the south again." This shows what kind of impression the southwest Yi people actually have on Kong Ming.

After talking about politics, let’s talk about military affairs. First of all, we must first confirm that 90% of the so-called "Six Out of Qishan" and its process in the novel are fictitious. From the sixth to the twelfth year of Jianxing, in just seven years, Zhuge Liang personally led the army in the Northern Expedition four times. Qishan, who did come out for the first time, was defeated by Zhang He, and "more than a thousand families in Xi County were wiped out and returned to Hanzhong." That winter, Zhuge Liang "left Sanguan and surrounded Chencang. Cao Zhen refused, and (Zhuge) Liang returned after running out of food." "Wei general Wang Shuang led his cavalry to pursue (Zhuge) Liang, (Zhuge) Liang fought, defeated and killed (Wang) Shuang". In the second year, Chen Shi sent a partial army to attack Wudu and Yinping, but Guo Huai came to resist. "(Zhuge) Liang went out to Jianwei, (Guo) Huai returned, and then pinged the two counties." This was a response to the attack and was not included in the calculation. In the eighth year of Jianxing, Wei sent Cao Zhen and others to attack Hanzhong. "(Zhuge Liang) waited for them in Chenggu and Akasaka. The heavy rain stopped them, and (Cao) Zhen and others all returned." This was a defensive war, and the scale of contact was very small, so it could not Calculate. In the ninth year of Jianxing's reign, Zhuge Liang came out of Qishan again. "Using wood and oxen to transport his troops, he retreated after running out of food. He fought with Wei general Zhang He and shot him dead." This was considered the most glorious victory during the retreat. Finally, in the spring of the twelfth year of Jianxing, Zhuge Liang came out of Xiegu and confronted Sima Yi on the south bank of the Wei River. He eventually died of illness in Wuzhangyuan.

This is how Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition is recorded in the history books. He repeatedly entered the army, but not only failed, it can even be said that he did not gain an inch of land. It is said that Zhuge Liang is a great military strategist - there is no successful example at all. How to prove that he has strong military ability? What's more, if you carefully analyze his military use, you will always see mediocrity. Mr. Li Zhen, a Taiwanese military historian, said it well: "Looking at Zhuge Liang's military use, in terms of strategy, we can only see its righteousness and not its surprises, so there is no defense. As for the romance novels that claim Zhuge's military use is miraculous and unpredictable, it is groundless. "

Take the first Northern Expedition as an example. The timing of this Northern Expedition can be said to be the best. Cao Wei thought that after Liu Bei was finished, there would be no one left in Shu, so he had no defense at all, so he was stunned by a stick. Zhuge Liang "raised his voice to capture Yi from the Xiegu Road, and made Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi suspect the army. They occupied Jigu, and Wei General Cao Zhen raised an army to reject it. (Zhuge) Liang personally led the army to attack Qishan... Nan'an, Tianshui, and Anding rebelled against Wei In response to (Zhuge) Liang, Guanzhong was shaken." The situation was excellent. Therefore, later generations commented, "If (Zhuge) Liang advances quickly, the three counties will not be owned by China."

It is a pity that Zhuge Liang "slowly marched but failed to advance. Now that the officers and soldiers went to Long and the three counties were restored, (Zhuge) Liang had no great achievements." Zhuge Liang strived for stability in his march and refused to move quickly. In the past, Cao Cao's "light cavalry traveled more than 300 miles in a day and a night" and defeated Liu Bei at Changban in Dangyang. The advantage is that he must move forward; but Liang's plan was not up to this, and he clung to death. According to the ancient saying "you must defeat the general", how different is it from Zhao Kuo?

War is a continuation of politics. When Zhuge Liang governed Shu, he could not enrich the country but sought to strengthen the army. How was it different from seeking fish by relying on trees? Moreover, the use of troops is really mediocre. Scholars such as Chen Liang of the Southern Song Dynasty said that "Kongming marched thousands of miles westward with more than 100,000 infantry, marching steadily, hoping to fight with him, while Zhongda could only defend himself with 300,000 strong cavalry, and did not dare to attack when he came and did not dare to pursue him when he went. , He is not a clear enemy." He believed that the Shu army had the initiative in the war, which was a clear proof that Zhuge Liang was a good soldier. In fact, the success or failure of a war must be judged based on whether the strategic goal is achieved. Zhuge Liang's goal is to occupy Longyou from the west and enter the Central Plains. Has he achieved his goal? Can he be considered to have taken the initiative? As soon as he came out of Qishan, Zhang He directly attacked the street pavilion, which destroyed Ma Su, and all his previous efforts were wasted. When he came out of Qishan the second time, Cao Zhen expected that he would come out of Chencang, so that Hao Zhao would guard it and wait for work, which greatly defeated Zhuge Liang's sharpness; the third and fourth came out. After leaving, Sima Yi used the strategy of holding on and teaching him to retreat when his food was exhausted. From the beginning to the end, Zhuge Liang tried his best, but could not move forward; Wei Lao had fewer soldiers in the battle, but he took full advantage of the defensive battle. In fact, the initiative in the war has always been in the hands of the Wei army. Therefore, Shu became weaker due to the war, and Wei was not injured by the soldiers. Finally, two soldiers defeated Shu. Therefore, the Wei people said that "(Zhuge Liang) was exhausted when he was short of food, and he was so worried that he vomited blood. He burned the camp overnight and ran away, and entered the valley, where he became ill and died." Although the words are ironic, it is not unreasonable if you think about it carefully.