The "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Shu Zhi, Zhuge Zhan" records: "Zhan is now eight years old, intelligent and lovely, and he feels that he has become an early master, and I am afraid that he will not be a heavy instrument." ”. In the twelfth year of Jianxing (234), Zhuge Liang sent troops to Wugong County. In the meantime, he wrote a letter to his brother Zhuge Jian, saying, "Zhuge Zhan is now eight years old, very smart and lovely. I'm just afraid that he will mature prematurely and will not be able to become a great instrument in the future." It is worth noting that Zhuge Liang said before that Zhuge Zhan would not be able to become a great instrument after zhuge Zhan, and there may be a certain sense of self-humility. However, perhaps in a word, in the Battle of Mianzhu in 263 AD, Zhuge Zhan led the elite Yulin army of the Shu Han Dynasty, but instead lost to Deng Ai's tired division. It was precisely because of Zhuge Zhan's failure that Deng Aibing came to Chengdu, and even the later lord Liu Chan gave up resistance. It is worth noting that before Zhuge Zhan's death, he expressed regret for not getting rid of Jiang Wei. So, the question is, Zhuge Liang's son Zhuge Zhan, why is he "intolerable to water and fire" with Jiang Wei?
One
First of all, according to historical records such as the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Battle of Huayang, after being defeated by Deng Ai at the Battle of Mianzhu, Zhuge Zhan said sadly: "I can't get rid of Huang Hao internally, I can't balance Jiang Wei externally, and I can't defend the land when I march, I have three sins, what face can I go back?!" In the end, Zhuge Zhan and his son Zhuge Shang were both killed on the battlefield. For Zhuge Zhan, he said that he had three sins, one was not to get rid of Huang Hao, the second was not to get rid of Jiang Wei, and the third was not to resist Deng Ai's attack. In this regard, in the eyes of many people, it is obviously easier to understand that Huang Hao was not eliminated and did not resist Deng Ai's attack. However, as the son of Zhuge Liang, the chancellor of the Shu Han Dynasty, why did he regret not getting rid of Zhuge Liang's descendant Jiang Wei? In other words, how did the relationship between Zhuge Zhan and Jiang Wei reach the point where water and fire were intolerable?
Two
In this regard, in the author's opinion, the reason why Zhuge Zhan said this is probably because he believes that Jiang Wei is one of the culprits that led to the demise of Shu Han. In the fifth year of Jing Yao (262), Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition was defeated, and Zhuge Zhan and Dong Yue and others believed that Jiang Wei was belligerent and ineffective, resulting in domestic fatigue, so they sent a table to the later lord Liu Chan, asking Jiang Wei to serve as the assassin of Yizhou and stripping him of his military power. As a result, in the eyes of Zhuge Zhan, Dong Jie, and other Shu Han ministers, Jiang Wei repeatedly went north to the Central Plains, not only did not make any military achievements, but also depleted the national strength of Shu Han. Based on this, Zhuge Zhan and Dong Yue hoped that the later lord Liu Chan could cut jiang Wei's military power. Therefore, it is very obvious that the contradiction between Zhuge Zhan and Jiang Wei should not be a personal grudge, but a difference in ideas.
Three
So, furthermore, is it reasonable for Zhuge Zhan to oppose Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition? In this regard, in the author's opinion, Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition is not wrong, which is practicing Zhuge Liang's theory of "offensive defense". However, the frequency of Jiang Wei's mistake in the Northern Expedition was too high. As far as Zhuge Liang was concerned, he was first-class in terms of governing ability, and even so, after restoring the national strength of the Shu Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang only went north to Cao Wei five times. Correspondingly, Jiang Wei was inferior to Zhuge Liang in both military ability and statecraft. On this basis, the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms records that between 238 AD and 262 AD, Jiang Wei carried out eleven Northern Expeditions. In the context of the Shu Han Dynasty's national strength being far inferior to that of Cao Wei, Jiang Wei's excessive use of troops was obviously exhaustive.
Four
Finally, in the Battle of Wei and Shu in 263 AD, the reason why Shu Han was defeated like a mountain was naturally directly related to Jiang Wei's long-term Northern Expedition and the loss of Shu Han's national strength, and this made Zhuge Zhan sigh that he regretted not getting rid of Jiang Wei. On the other hand, Jiang Wei's change in Hanzhong's defensive strategy may also be one of the reasons why Zhuge Zhan blamed him. As we all know, Hanzhong is the gateway and throat of Yizhou, and once Hanzhong is lost, Yizhou will naturally open its doors. During the period when Wei Yan, Wang Ping, Wu Yi and other generals were guarding Hanzhong, they pursued the strategy of keeping the enemy out of the door. However, before the fall of Shu Han, Jiang Wei changed this strategy, wanting to lure the enemy deeper and thus annihilate the invading Cao Wei army, as a result, because of the gap in strength, this move led to the rapid loss of Hanzhong, thus accelerating the demise of Shu Han. Therefore, Zhuge Zhan regretted not getting rid of Jiang Wei, perhaps because Hanzhong quickly fell at the hands of Jiang Wei.
Text/Sentimental History