Those who are familiar with the history of the Three Kingdoms understand that after Liu Bei's army defeated Yiling, Shu Han had actually been sentenced to "death". Zhuge Liang's role was only to temporarily delay the process of Shu Han's demise, not because his Northern Expedition led to its eventual destruction. After the defeat of Yiling, Cao Pi did not take the opportunity to attack Shu Han, but chose to clash with Sun Quan, which is a puzzling decision.
In fact, for Cao Pi, the defeat of Yiling had already put Shu Han in jeopardy, and after solving Sun Quan, no matter how powerful Shu Han was, Cao Wei could not be shaken.
Before Liu Bei's death, many people had expectations for Cao Pi, believing that he should take the opportunity to destroy Shu Han and unify the Three Kingdoms in advance.
However, Cao Pi chose to fight Sun Quan, an IQ that is incomprehensible. In fact, almost no one had expectations for Shu Han at that time, and Liu Beituogu's responsibility to Zhuge Liang was more like delivering a desperate mission.
Why is Zhuge Liang's historical status so lofty?
He brought the dying Shu Han to the pinnacle, forcing Cao Wei to pay homage to him. Liu Bei's deathbed orphan is also very special, containing three key matters, each of which hides unspeakable secrets.
The first thing, Liu Bei's "you can take it yourself" in the orphan has caused widespread controversy. Some people think that this is a good story between monarchs and ministers, but some people think that it is Liu Bei's hypocritical temptation.
The reason why Liu Bei dared to trust Gu like this was because Sun Ce had made a similar statement before his death, and on the other hand, because Liu Bei trusted Zhuge Liang more and believed that he would not betray. This special approach is a response in times of crisis.
The second thing is that Liu Chan recognized Zhuge Liang as his father, in order to solve the problem of "you can take it yourself".
In this way, Liu Bei achieved the goal of handing over the fate of Shu Han to Zhuge Liang and ensured the legitimacy of Zhuge Liang on behalf of Shu Han. Liu Bei's careful arrangement made it so that even if Shu Han perished, the responsibility would not fall on Zhuge Liang.
However, it is a pity that Liu Bei's third confession was forgotten by Zhuge Liang. This involved the problem of Ma Tan, whose mistakes led to the failure of Shu Han's First Northern Expedition, and finally caused Zhuge Liang to die of exhaustion in Wuzhang Plain.
Before his death, Liu Bei clearly warned Zhuge Liang not to rely too much on Ma Yan, but Zhuge Liang failed to follow this advice and eventually paid a heavy price.
On the whole, Zhuge Liang's role in the Three Kingdoms period is complex and contradictory.
He made great efforts for Shu Han, but also faced failure and death because of certain decisions. Liu Bei's deathbed confession, although it contained important information, Zhuge Liang failed to fully understand and implement it, which eventually led to the fall of Shu Han.