Most distinguished and martest person Zhuge Liang

Southern Expedition

During his reign as regent, Zhuge Liang set Shu Han's objective as to restore the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty had been usurped by Cao Wei from Shu's point of view. Zhuge Liang felt that in order to attack Wei, a complete unification of Shu-Han is first needed. He was worried that the Nanman tribes in the south might rise in rebellion and press into areas surrounding the capital city of Chengdu while he was leading the army to attack Cao Wei in the north. Zhuge Liang decided to pacify the southern tribes first.

Ma Su, brother of Ma Liang, proposed that Zhuge Liang should attempt to win the hearts of the Nanman peoples and rally their support instead of using military force to subdue all of them. Zhuge Liang heeded Ma's suggestion and defeated the rebel leader, Meng Huo, seven different times. He released Meng each time in order to achieve Meng's genuine surrender.

Meng Huo agreed to join Zhuge Liang in a genuine acquiescence. Zhuge Liang appointed him as governor of the region to keep the populace content and secure the southern Shu border. This would ensure that the future Northern Expeditions would proceed without internal disruptions. Zhuge Liang also obtained resources from the south, and after this, Zhuge Liang made his moves north.

Northern Expeditions

From 228 until his death in 234, Zhuge Liang launched five Northern Expeditions against Cao Wei, but all except one failed. The failure was usually caused by the shortage or exhaustion of food supplies rather than defeat on the battlefield. His only permanent gain was the addition of the Wudu (武都) and Yinping (陰平) prefectures as well as relocating Wei citizens to Shu on occasion.

During the first Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang persuaded Jiang Wei of Cao Wei to defect to Shu Han. Jiang Wei would become one of the prominent Shu generals and inherit Zhuge Liang's ideals. On the fifth expedition, Zhuge died of illness in the camp in the Battle of Wuzhang Plains at the age of 54. On Zhuge's recommendation, Liu Shan commissioned Jiang Wan to succeed him as regent.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang attempted to extend his lifespan by twelve years through a ritual. He failed when the ritual was disturbed by Wei Yan, who rushed in to warn about the advance of the Wei army. The novel also related a story of Zhuge Liang passing the 24 Volumes on Military Strategy (兵法二十四篇) to Jiang Wei prior to his death.