Then, under the condition of being at a disadvantage, Zhuge Liang actually went north for years, which can't help but make people feel incredible. If Zhuge Liang did not go to the Northern Expedition and set his mind at ease to rectify his internal affairs, would the future of Shu Han really be bright? To solve this question and answer, we must first find out why Zhuge Liang wanted the Northern Expedition.
There is no denying that Zhuge Liang is a politician with ideals. What is his ideal? Restore the Han dynasty, still in the old capital? This is, of course, one reason why he continued to explore the north for his own ideal. But since he is a politician, his ideal is definitely not the first. His priority is naturally the interests of his own regime. Is the Northern Expedition profitable? The answer is none. Cao Wei itself is powerful, and Shu Han can't compare with it at all; Coupled with the rugged terrain in central Sichuan, the delivery and transportation of troops are very difficult and costly. Taking such a risk, the Northern Expedition is naturally impossible to succeed.
But this is the only way for the Shu-Han regime to survive. There is a word called? Take offense as defense? In the vernacular, is it? The best defense is offense? . Zhuge Liang's continuous Northern Expedition is to make Wei spend in the southwest, that is, the Guanzhong generation, and use his outstanding military capabilities to give Wei Jun a few runs, so that Cao Wei can maintain a defensive posture here. Only in this way can we avoid Cao Wei's military attack on Shu Han.
Once Zhuge Liang stopped the Northern Expedition, Shu Han would enter a situation of competing with Cao Wei for production. As we all know, the Central Plains is superior to Sichuan in population, cultivated land area, land fertility, irrigation system perfection and technical level development. Once Shu Han and Cao Wei compete for production, the accumulation speed of Cao Wei's output will be a geometric multiple of Shu Han. When Cao Wei accumulated to a certain extent, the strength of Shu Han was irresistible, and Shu Han only had a dead end.
On the one hand, Zhuge Liang wanted to keep Cao Wei on the military defensive at the junction of Shu and Wei, on the other hand, he wanted to fight against it, so that it could not carry out large-scale stable production. To do this, we can only continue the Northern Expedition.
So Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition was a last resort. He knew that from the moment Guan Yu lost Jingzhou, Beiding Zhongyuan became an empty talk, a dream that could never be the first. But he didn't want Shu Han to die soon, so he spared no effort to extend his life. Just as Zhuge Liang said in the "Model": The first emperor was deeply divided with the Han thieves and was not partial, so he asked the minister to invite the thieves. With the knowledge of the first emperor, we can measure the talents of ministers and know that ministers can cut thieves, so that the enemy can defeat the strong with the weak. If we don't kill the thief, Wang Ye will die. But sitting still, which one is it?