Zhuge Liang ignored the rebellion in South China. The first choice is to make peace with Wu Dong, and then hold a state funeral and mourning for Liu Bei for one year. At the same time, he actively cleaned up the house, rested and practiced foot soldiers. Another year passed, and Zhuge Liang personally led the army to quell the rebellion in South China, and Shu Han entered a period of stable development. At the same time, Zhuge Liang began to actively prepare for the Northern Expedition.
From these actions, Liu Chan and Zhuge Liang can see the strategic planning of Zhuge Liang after he came to power, and also can see the shadow of Longzhong on strategy in those years, because the first political event after Zhuge Liang came to power was to make peace with Dongwu regime. Soochow robbed Jingzhou of Shu Han and killed Guan Yu. The battle of Yiling defeated Liu Bei and wiped out nearly 50,000 elite troops of Shu Han. Why did Zhuge Liang make peace with Dongwu?
First of all, Zhuge Liang is a political figure and needs to consider the problem from a political perspective, not personal feelings. The Dongwu regime and the Han Shu regime do have enemies, but there are only eternal interests between countries. After Zhuge Liang took office, the first thing to consider was to ensure the stability of Han Shu regime internally and create a favorable international environment externally.
The alliance between Zhuge Liang and Dongwu reduced a foreign enemy for Shu Han. Cao Wei regime and Shu Han regime are natural enemies. Zhuge Liang, even if he was an enemy of Cao Wei, could not continue to be an enemy of Soochow. Shu Han's national strength is the weakest. Between the three kingdoms, he can only choose to form an alliance with one side and be an enemy with the other. If both sides are enemies, it is unclear whether the Shu-Han regime can still exist. Therefore, it is not known whether Zhuge Liang will make peace with Soochow. Secondly, the strength of Shu Han at that time was the weakest among the three countries. Even if Zhuge Liang concentrated on attacking the Wu Dong regime, it was only the second battle of Yiling. Although it may not be as miserable as Liu Bei's defeat, it is impossible to win Jingzhou. Since the strength of the Shu-Han regime represented by Zhuge Liang is not enough to win Jingzhou, why launch an impossible war?
Secondly, the strength of Shu Han at that time was the weakest among the three countries. Even if Zhuge Liang concentrated on attacking the Wu Dong regime, it was only the second battle of Yiling. Although it may not be as miserable as Liu Bei's defeat, it is impossible to win Jingzhou. Since the strength of the Shu-Han regime represented by Zhuge Liang is not enough to win Jingzhou, why launch an impossible war?
Finally, if Zhuge Liang doesn't make peace with Wu Dong, he can't guarantee peace on the eastern border, so Wu Dong and Shu Han are actually at war. Generally speaking, if the warring parties have not concluded a peace agreement, then both sides are at war. If Shu Han and Wu Dong were at war, Zhuge Liang could not concentrate on developing production, recuperating and accumulating strength in the years after Liu Bei's death, but would pay a higher price politically.
Here's a problem. Zhuge Liang's strategy is to negotiate with Dongwu first, and then explore Cao Wei in the north. Is this strategy correct? What would happen if Jingzhou was taken first and then Cao Wei was explored in the north? Let's talk about the second question first. What if Zhuge Liang first attacked Jingzhou in Wudong and then made a northern expedition to Cao Wei?
In this case, Shu Han will perish in Zhuge Liang's hands, because when Zhuge Liang attacked Jingzhou in Dongwu, the Cao Wei regime would not sit idly by. Liu Bei attacked Dongwu, and Cao Pi chose to stand by. If Zhuge Liang makes the same mistake again, Cao Pi or his successor Cao Rui will not make the same mistake again. They will choose to attack Shu Han from Guanzhong and Monk Yong. In this case, the Shuhan regime is tantamount to fighting on two fronts. This stupid strategy,
It was a serious strategic mistake for Zhuge Liang to attack Wu Dong first and then explore Cao Wei in the north. In fact, it was a helpless choice for Zhuge Liang to negotiate with Wu Dong first and then explore Cao Wei in the north, and there was nothing he could do at that time. As I said before, Zhuge Liang cannot fight on two fronts, and at the same time he is the enemy of Cao Wei and Wu Dong. He can only choose to unite Wu Dong against Cao Wei, and since Guan Yu was defeated in the battle of Xiangfan, which led to the fall of Jingzhou, Shu Han lost the strength to unify the world.
Strength includes not only military ability, political ability and economic ability, but also strategic position. The geographical location of Jingzhou determines that whoever wants to unify the world in the three countries must occupy Jingzhou. Zhuge Liang's Longzhong pair also planned in this way. After Jingzhou fell, it was impossible to come back. Zhuge Liang had to settle for the second best and make a northern expedition from Hanzhong, which was Zhuge Liang's only northern expedition route.
Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition. Can Zhuge Liang stop the Northern Expedition? No, because there are many problems in Shu Han, such as factional disputes, such as Yizhou local strongmen's disobedience to Shu Han's rule, and the Shu Han regime had to go north for eternal political correctness and the ideals of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's two generations of Shu Han leaders. The Northern Expedition was a point of no return and it was impossible to win, but Zhuge Liang went north without hesitation.
Without the Northern Expedition, there would be contradictions and struggles in the first part of Shu Han, such as the power struggle between Zhuge Liang and Li Yan, and the struggle between Yizhou local strongmen and the dominant Jingzhou faction. The second part lacks cohesion. War is the best cohesion, which can unite people with different political views and the outside world. Without the Northern Expedition, the Shu Han would have internal friction and serious political turmoil like Cao Wei and Wu Dong.
Zhuge Liang devoted himself to the third Northern Expedition. If Zhuge Liang comes to see it, he thinks there is still hope of success, although the hope is slim. Because Cao Wei was not the only enemy of Shu Han, there were many enemies of Cao Wei at that time, such as Soochow regime, such as Xianbei people and Xiongnu people in the northwest, Wuhuan people in the north and Gongsun regime in the northeast. These forces are hostile to Cao Wei. In fact, Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition not only unified the Sun Quan regime in the East.
At the same time, the Xianbei people in the northwest joined forces to deal with Cao Wei. Although Cao Wei is very strong, he is not enough to destroy all the enemies at once. There is always a sequence. The Northern Expedition in Zhuge Liang's era is still a great threat to Cao Wei's regime, at least in Zhuge Liang's view, there is a chance of success. Therefore, after Liu Bei's death, the only correct choice left to Zhuge Liang is the strategy formulated by Zhuge Liang, because the strategy chosen by Zhuge Liang is the best and the most correct strategy for Shu Han. If you choose something else, Shu Han may exist for a shorter time.