We read all the lead to present a different history.
In the twelfth year of Jianxing (234), Zhuge Liang died of illness in Wuzhangyuan, and died before he could complete his life. Upon learning of Zhuge Liang's death, the Wei dynasty and the public were ecstatic, believing that the Shu kingdom would soon perish.
But they guessed wrong, and the Shu kingdom lasted for nearly thirty years after Zhuge Liang's death before it was finally destroyed. So what did the Shu kingdom rely on to continue to hold out for so long after Zhuge Liang's death? It's mainly three people
The first was Wang Ping, a general of Cao Cao who surrendered to Liu Bei during the Battle of Hanzhong. After that, he has been following Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, and if it were not for Ma Mo's strategy of not following Wang Ping's strategy, it would not have led to the defeat of the street pavilion and the failure of the Northern Expedition. Afterwards, Zhuge Liang promoted him to join the army and gave him the title of Hou.
After Zhuge Liang's death, because Wei Yan was killed in rebellion, Wang Ping took over the position of Taishou of Hanzhong, which originally belonged to Wei Yan, and was responsible for guarding Hanzhong, the most important military stronghold of the Shu state. Later, he was given the title of Grand General of Zhenbei and commanded the Hanzhong army. In the spring of the seventh year of Yanxi (244), the Wei general Cao Shuang led more than 100,000 infantry and cavalry to attack Hanzhong, but was repulsed by Wang Ping.
In the eleventh year of Yanxi (248), Wang Ping died, and his son Wang Xun succeeded him to the title. Wang Ping himself did not have any culture, and usually relied on others to ghostwrite letters, and books related to the art of war and strategy were also read to him by others, but fighting a war was terrible.
The second was Ma Zhong, a local general in Yizhou, who met Ma Zhong for the first time after Liu Bei's crushing defeat at the Battle of Yiling, and Liu Bei felt that he was a talent. He asked him to follow Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Liang sent him to the post of Taishou in Mu Mu County.
In the following years, he basically spent time in the southern central part of the Shu state, and has been quelling the rebellions of all major and small areas in the southern central region. He was made a general of Annan by the imperial court and was made the Marquis of Pengxiang. Because the southern central region of the Shu kingdom has always been a place where barbarians are entrenched, they have to rebel every few years, but since Ma Zhong took office, he has beaten them all obediently, and it can be said that since Zhuge Liang's death, he is the only one who can suppress the southern barbarians.
In the fifth year of Yanxi (242), Ma Zhong was made a general of Zhennan. In the twelfth year of Yanxi (249), due to illness, after Ma Zhong's death, the local ethnic minorities all came to mourn, wept bitterly, and built a temple for him, which is still there.
The third was Deng Zhi, who was originally a granary administrator in the Shu state, but was later recognized by Liu Bei and promoted to guanghan taishou. He once sent an envoy to Eastern Wu for Zhuge Liang, and had a good conversation with Sun Quan, so that Shu Han and Eastern Wu could reconcile the old ones.
In view of the good relationship between Deng Zhi and Sun Quan, the two exchanged greetings for many years, and Sun Quan also gave Deng Zhi a very generous gift. Therefore, Zhuge Liang placed Deng Zhi in the Jiangzhou area, the eastern border of the Shu State, and Deng Zhi was promoted to general on the spot.
In the fourteenth year of Yanxi (251), Deng Zhi died. Deng Zhi served as a general for more than twenty years, with clear rewards and punishments, and loved and cared for non-commissioned officers. He has a strong and simple personality, so the relationship with his colleagues is not very good, but he is the only one who weighs Jiang Wei.
The above three are all excellent generals who have long been rooted in the borders of various parts of the Shu Han Dynasty, and their existence ensures that the Shu Kingdom can still stand for twenty or thirty years after Zhuge Liang's death!