Zhuge Liang

Zhuge Liang is a politician who served Liu Bei and one of the main protagonists in the later parts of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He was a wise advisor who was both loved and feared as the "Sleeping Dragon". When he became Shu's Prime Minister, he led an exhausting expedition to conquer Wei. The reasons for Shu's failure are argued –lack of man power, bad weather, or his misjudgment– but he is praised today for his unmistakable loyalty to his masters.

History
Zhuge Liang was born in Yangdu and was raised primarily by his uncle after being orphaned at a young age. He eventually moved to Jing providence and settled down at Wolonggong where he took up a hermit lifestyle, gardening by day and studying by night. It was during this time that Zhuge Liang became acquainted with several other famous scholars, including Xu Shu, Sima Hui, and Pang Tong.

At some point during this time as a recluse, Huang Chengyan offered his daughter in marriage to Zhuge Liang, stating, "I've an ugly daughter and I heard you're looking for a wife. She's red-haired and dark-skinned, but I think her talent matches yours." Zhuge Liang accepted the proposal and was soon wed.

Zhuge Liang's life as a recluse, however, would soon come to a premature end. Liu Bei had heard about the talent Liang possessed and made three personal visits to recruit him as his strategist. Impressed by Liu Bei's behavior, Zhuge Liang relented and joined Liu Bei's forces. Once under his service Zhuge and Bei became unable to be separated, sleeping in the same room as Liu Bei had once with his sworn brothers.

Zhuge Liang's first major operation under Liu Bei confirmed by historical sources was providing reinforcements and a naval path for retreat at the Battle of Changban. After ensuring Liu Bei's arrival at Xiakou, Kongming went with Lu Su to seek an alliance with Sun Quan against Cao Cao. Gaining an audience with the Wu leader, Zhuge Liang set out to persuade him into action against Wei. He eventually won him over when he presented the two realities Sun Quan faced with the approaching Wei force, telling him "If you can use the forces of Wuyue to resist the central government, why not break ties (with Cao Cao) in advance? If you cannot oppose, why not demobilize the troops, discard your armor and surrender to the north?"

Having helped persuade Sun Quan into action, Zhuge Liang returned to Liu Bei and aided his forces in attacking Cao Cao at Chibi. Once victorious, Liang assisted Liu Bei in seizing control of Jing providence. After securing the land, Zhuge was appointed Military General of the Household, given charge of tax collection for Liu Bei's army. When Liu Bei departed to take Yi providence from Liu Zhang, Zhuge Liang remained with the other two brothers to defend and manage Jing providence. However, as the year progressed and Liu Bei struggled with his takeover, Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun were all dispatched with reinforcements, leaving only Guan Yu to guard Jing.

Once in command of Yi providence, Zhuge Liang was promoted to the rank of Military Advisor General, placing him firmly in charge of domestic affairs and the defense of Chengdu. Zhuge maintained this role stoutly, allowing Liu Bei to lead all future campaigns. When Cao Pi declared himself emperor, Kongming advised Liu Bei to do the same, persuading him to become ruler of Shu Han. Upon taking this role, Liu Bei in turn appointed Zhuge Liang chancellor, second only to himself. After the disastrous battle of Yiling, Liu Bei took ill and instructed Zhuge Liang to carry on his ambition of uniting the land, telling him in private to depose his son, Liu Shan, should he prove inept. Zhuge Liang tearfully promised to "do my utmost and serve with unwavering loyalty until death."

Fortunately for Liu Shan, Zhuge Liang considered him adept enough to help him become the second emperor of the Shu Han dynasty. Despite Shan’s ascension to the throne, he quickly appointed Kongming as governor of Yi, giving him full authority over any matter of state.

However, Liang wasted no time in rebuilding Shu from its previous defeat, working to reestablish the alliance between them and Wu by sending a constant stream of ambassadors to keep relations good. Despite these efforts and advances, Zhuge Liang was delayed in preparing for war with Wei by the rebellion of the Nanman tribes.

The records on the southern campaigns and Zhuge Liang's participation in them is mixed, with claims ranging from complete victory for Shu to mixed victories until their superior numbers overcame the southern tribes. The most famous of the accounts claims Ma Su recommended winning the hearts of the Nanman through mercy, which Zhuge Liang showed by capturing and releasing Meng Huo, the Nanman leader, seven times. However, these campaigns could have been handled entirely by Fa Zheng instead. Either way, the tribes were subdued to ensure their obedience as well as gather supplies for Zhuge Liang's northern campaigns.

Now sufficiently prepared, Kongming now turned his attention towards Wei. Zhuge Liang engaged in several campaigns which he fought in a very conservative manner, never incurring more than five percent losses in his forces. In his first campaign, Zhuge Liang attacked both Tianshui and Jieting in order to gain the upper hand on his true objective, Chang'an. Although successful in the campaign at Tianshui, even managing to convince Jiang Wei to serve as his pupil and serve Shu instead of Wei, the battle at Jieting proved catastrophic and Zhuge Liang was forced to withdraw.

The second campaign focused on Chencang and once again went poorly for Zhuge Liang, this time due to the efforts of the city’s defender Hao Zhao. Zhao managed to provide a staunch defense for three weeks while holding out for reinforcements. Despite this loss, Liang gained a small victory after retreating when he destroyed the pursuing Wei force with a well placed ambush.

The third campaign consisted of Zhuge Liang attacking Jianwei. Although he was successful and able to drive off Guo Huai, the lands he seized required too much man power for Kongming to hold, causing him to fall back. On his way back to Shu, the Wei army attacked under the lead of Sima Yi, Zhang He, and Cao Zhen, which Zhuge Liang repulsed mightily, partly due to the large amount of rain blocking smaller access roads for the Wei army’s advance and limiting where they could fight.

On the fourth campaign, Zhuge Liang attacked both Mt. Qi and Shanggui, splitting his efforts between the two battles, forcing Sima Yi to constantly shift between both battles. He also cleverly harvested the land’s own spring wheat to feed his army. Despite these victories, Sima Yi's army proved to be too numerous for any victory to prove decisive, eventually depleting Kongming's resources and forcing him to retreat. Once again, Zhuge Liang proved his cleverness in his retreat by placing a crossbow ambush which defeated Zhang He’s pursuit force, costing the Wei officer his life.

Zhuge Liang's final northern campaign targeted the Wuzhang plains in an attempt to surround Chang'an once again. Unfortunately for him, Guo Huai predicted this often repeated strategy and the Wei forces were able to force Zhuge Liang into a stalemate at the plains. The standoff remained even as a failed attempt at a two pronged attack with Wu failed, leaving Zhuge Liang frustrated and exhausted. Such exhaustion eventually gave way to sickness, which claimed his life. Before dying, he instructed Shu to keep his death secret, with Yang Yi spearheading another ambush against Wei's probing vanguard to convince Sima Yi that Kongming still lived. It was only once the army returned to Shu that his death was made public.

While Zhuge Liang's handling of political affairs were greatly praised, it was often noted that fellow colleagues such as Chen Shou and Fa Zheng were not so fond of him. Chen Shou in particular had a heavy bias towards Zhuge Liang and vice versa, often deeming him to be too over-confident in his abilities as well as sticking to his own personal bias that eventually made him reject many of Wei Yan's reasonable-and-insightful proposals (as well as trusting only his closest friends with most of the important positions).

Naturally, historians may have also noted that Zhuge Liang's own bias contributed to some of the overblown statements of certain individuals when he himself was chronicling the events, which also may have lead to some of Wei Yan's villainization. Also, much of Zhuge Liang's military experience was unfounded as while he mitigated his losses very well with organized retreats, he was said to be unable to adapt his plans to the ever-changing elements of the battlefield.

Trivia

 * It's explicitly invoked by him in 7 about choosing Guan Yu (indebted to Cao Cao) to pursue after the Battle of Chi Bi; the narration explains the continued threat of Cao Cao kept Wu distracted long enough for Liu Bei's forces to seize Jing Province.