Chapter 11 102 Seven Captures of Meng Huo

Liu Bei, the former lord of the Shu Han Dynasty, became more and more ill in Yong'an.He summoned Zhuge Liang from Chengdu to Yong'an to instruct him about his funeral.He said to Zhuge Liang: "Your talent is ten times higher than Cao Pi, and you will definitely be able to govern the country well. My son A Dou (Prince Liu Chan's nickname), if you think you can help him, you can help him; if not, you can do it yourself Come and be the ruler of the country." Zhuge Liang choked with tears and said, "How dare I not do my best to repay His Majesty until I die!" Liu Bei called his youngest son Liu Yong to his side and told him, "After I die, you brothers should respect the prime minister like your father."

After Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang returned to Chengdu and helped Liu Chan ascend the throne. He was historically known as the Empress of Shu Han. After Liu Chan came to the throne, Zhuge Liang decided all matters in the court, no matter how big or small.Zhuge Liang worked hard to govern the country and wanted to make the Shu Han prosperous.Unexpectedly, a few counties in the Nanzhong area (to the south of the Dadu River in today's Sichuan Province and around Yunyu and Guizhou) would be the first to make trouble. There was a powerful Yongkai (sound kai) in Yizhou County. When he heard that Liu Bei was dead, he killed the prefect of Yizhou and launched a rebellion.On the one hand, he took refuge in Soochow, and on the other hand, he recruited Meng Huo, a leader of a minority in the South Central region, and asked him to contact some tribes in the southwest to rise up against the Shu Han.

After Yong Kai's instigation, Zangke (sound zangke, in today's Zunyi area of ​​Guizhou Province) Zhu Bao, the prefect, and Yuexuan (now southeast of Xichang County, Sichuan, Xichang County, Sichuan, sound xi) tribal chief Gao Ding also responded to Yong Kai.In this way, the Shu Han lost almost half of the land, so why didn't Zhuge Liang worry? However, at that time, the Shu Han had just suffered a major defeat at Xiaoting and the death of the First Lord, so there was no time to send troops.On the one hand, Zhuge Liang sent people to renegotiate peace with Soochow to stabilize this end; on the other hand, he rewarded production, built water conservancy, saved food, and trained soldiers and horses.After two years, the situation stabilized, and Zhuge Liang decided to send troops to the south.

In March 225 AD, Zhuge Liang led an army to set off.Zhuge Liang's good friend Ma Liang's younger brother, Ma Su (sound su), who joined the army, sent Zhuge Liang out of the city for dozens of miles. When parting, Zhuge Liang held Ma Di's hand and said sincerely, "We have been together for several years. We are parting today. Do you have any good ideas to tell me?" Ma Di said: "The people in Nanzhong rely on the difficult terrain and the distance from the capital, so they have long refused to obey. Even if we conquer them with a large army, they will still make trouble in the future. I heard that the method of using troops is mainly to attack the heart and attack the enemy. The city is secondary. The prime minister's southern expedition must convince the people of the south, so that it can be done once and for all."

Ma Di's words are exactly what Zhuge Liang wanted.Zhuge Liang couldn't help nodding his head and said: "Thank you for your help, I will definitely do this." Zhuge Liang led the Shu army to march south, winning every victory.The army was still on the way, and the Yuexi chief Gao Ding and Yong Kai had already clashed.Gao Ding's subordinates killed Yong Kai.The Shu army entered Yuejuan and killed Gao Ding again. Zhuge Liang sent two generals, Li Hui and Ma Zhong, to attack in two directions. In less than half a month, Ma Zhong broke through Zangke and wiped out the rebels there.The rebellion in the four counties was quickly quelled.

But things are not over yet.Meng Huo, the chief of Nanzhong, collected Yong Kai's scattered soldiers and continued to resist the Shu soldiers.After Zhuge Liang inquired, he knew that Meng Huo was not only brave in battle, but also very prestigious among the people of all ethnic groups in the Nanzhong area. Zhuge Liang remembered Ma Di's parting words, and decided to win Meng Huo over.He issued an order that he was only allowed to capture Meng Huo alive and not to harm him. Fortunately, Zhuge Liang was good at using tactics. When the Shu army and Meng Huo's army confronted each other, the Shu army deliberately retreated.Relying on the fact that there were many others, Meng Huo chased after him with all his strength, and was soon ambushed by Shu soldiers.The southern soldiers were beaten and scattered, and Meng Huo himself was captured alive.

Meng Huo was taken to the camp, and he thought to himself that there must be no way out this time.Unexpectedly, after entering the camp, Zhuge Liang immediately asked someone to untie him, and persuaded him to surrender with kind words.But Meng Huo was not convinced, and said: "I accidentally fell into your trick, how can I convince people?" Zhuge Liang didn't force him, and rode with him around the camp to see the camp and lineup of the Shu army.Then he asked Meng Huo, "What do you think of our troops?" Meng Huo said arrogantly: "Before I didn't know your truth and reality, so I lost. Thank you for showing me your formation today, and I think it is nothing more than that. With such a formation, it is not difficult to defeat you. "

Zhuge Liang laughed heartily and said: "In this case, you should go back and prepare well before fighting!" After Meng Huo was released, he fled back to his tribe, regrouped and attacked the Shu army again.But he was a brave and foolhardy person, no matter how Zhuge Liang's opponent was, he was obediently captured alive the second time. Zhuge Liang persuaded him, but seeing that Meng Huo still refused to accept, he let him go again. Like this, they released and caught Meng Huo again and again, until Meng Huo was caught seven times. When Meng Huo was arrested for the seventh time, Zhuge Liang wanted to release him again.Meng Huo was unwilling to leave.With tears in his eyes, he said: "The prime minister has captured seven times, and treated me with the utmost benevolence and righteousness. I respect him from the bottom of my heart. From now on, I dare not rebel against him again."

After Meng Huo returned, he persuaded all the tribes to surrender, and the Nanzhong area was returned to the control of the Shu Han. After Zhuge Liang pacified Nanzhong, he ordered Meng Huo and the leaders of the various tribes to continue to manage their original areas.Someone said to Zhuge Liang: "We finally conquered Nanzhong, why didn't we send officials here, but let these leaders take charge?" Zhuge Liang said: "It's not good for us to send officials here, it's only inconvenient. Because we send officials, we have to keep soldiers. There are a large number of soldiers left behind, and they can't provide enough food. What can we tell them to eat? Besides, they have just fought, and it is inevitable that they will be killed or injured. Some people, if we leave the officials to rule, disasters will definitely happen. Now we don’t send officials, we don’t need to keep the army, and we don’t need to transport the army food. Let the tribes manage themselves, and the Han people and the tribes will live in peace. Wouldn’t it be better? ?”

After hearing what Zhuge Liang said, everyone admired his thoughtfulness. Zhuge Liang led the army back to Chengdu.The empress and court ministers all went to the suburbs to greet them, and everyone was happy to calm down Nanzhong. After that, Zhuge Liang accumulated wealth while training men and horses, and prepared for the large-scale Northern Expedition wholeheartedly.