Zhuge Liang's response to Longzhong

After the Battle of Guandu, Liu Bei fled to Jingzhou and defected to Liu Biao. Liu Biao allocated him some men and horses and let him be stationed in Xinye (Xinye County, Henan Province).

Liu Bei lived in Jingzhou for several years, and Liu Biao always treated him as a top guest. But Liu Bei was an ambitious man who was always sullen because his ambitions were not realized.

Once, he touched his thighs, felt something in his heart, and shed tears. Liu Biao found it and asked him what unhappy things he met. Liu Bei said, "Nothing! I used to fight a lot and never leave the saddle every day, so the flesh on my thighs is very strong. Now that I am living a life of leisure here, the flesh on my thighs has grown fat again. Look at the days passing like water, people are getting old, still can't do anything big, I feel sad when I think about it."

Liu Biao comforted him for a while. But Liu Bei's heart was always thinking about the long-term plan. For this purpose, he wanted to find a good assistant.

He found out that there was a famous scholar named Sima Hui in Xiangyang, so he went to visit him. Sima Hui received him politely and asked him the reason for his visit.

Liu Bei said, "I'm not going to hide from you, sir, but I'm here to ask you for advice on the general situation of the world." When Sima Hui heard this, he laughed out loud and said, "What does an ordinary person like me know about the world's situation? If you want to talk about the world's situation, you have to rely on talented handsome people."

Liu Bei begged him for guidance and said, "Where can I find such a handsome person?" Sima Hui said, "There are Wolong and Fengdai in this area, if you can get one of them, you can pacify the world."

Liu Bei eagerly asked who the Wolong and Phoenix Daisy were, and Sima Hui told him: the Wolong's name was Zhuge Liang, the word Kongming; the Phoenix Daisy's name was Pang Tong, the word Shi Yuan.

Liu Bei thanked the same Ma Hui and went back to Xinye. A scholar came to see him. Liu Bei took a look at him and thought he was either Wolong or Fenghuai, so he received him warmly.

After some conversation, he found out that his name was Xu Shu, a famous scholar in the area, who came to join him because he heard that Liu Bei was recruiting talents.

Liu Bei was very happy, so he kept Xu Shu as a strategist in his ministry.

Xu Shu said, "I have an old friend Zhuge Kongming, people call him Wolong, would you like to meet him, General?"

Liu Bei found out about Zhuge Liang from Xu Shu. It turned out that Zhuge Liang was not a local, his hometown was in Yangdu County, Langya County (south of Yishui County, Shandong Province today). When he was a teenager, his father died. His uncle Zhuge Xuan was a friend of Liu Biao, so he brought him to Jingzhou. Soon after, his uncle also died, so he settled down in Longzhong (west of Xiangyang, Hubei Province), built a hut, cultivated the land and planted crops, and studied at the same time. At that time, he was only twenty-seven years old, but he was so learned and knowledgeable that his friends admired him, and he often compared himself to Guan Zhong and Yue Yi in ancient times. But he saw that the world was in chaos and the local Liu Biao was not the one who could use his talents, so he preferred to live his quiet life in seclusion in Longzhong.

Liu Bei listened to Xu Shu's introduction and said, "Since you are so familiar with him, please make a hard trip and invite him here!"

Xu Shu shook his head and said, "That won't do. A man like this must be invited by the general himself in order to show your sincerity."

When Liu Bei heard that Sima Hui and Xu Shu thought highly of Zhuge Liang, he knew that Zhuge Liang must be a great talent, so he took Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and went to Longzhong to find Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang learned that Liu Bei was coming to visit him and deliberately avoided it. Liu Bei arrived there and pounced on him.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who went with Liu Bei, felt impatient. But Liu Bei remembered Xu Shu's words and went to invite him patiently. Once he couldn't see him, he went again the second time; twice he didn't see him, he went to invite him again the third time.

Zhuge Liang was finally touched by Liu Bei's sincerity and received him in his own grass hut.

Liu Bei left Guan Yu and Zhang Fei outside and followed Zhuge Liang into the house himself. When there was no one in the house, Liu Bei said frankly, "Nowadays, the Han Dynasty is in decline and the great power is in the hands of treacherous officials. I myself know that my ability is poor, but I would like to redeem this situation, but I just can't think of a good way. So I have come here to ask for your guidance."

Seeing that Liu Bei was so open-minded to asking for advice, Zhuge Liang also pushed his heart and talked to Liu Bei about his ideas. He said, "Now Cao Cao has defeated Yuan Shao and has one million soldiers, and he is holding the Son of Heaven hostage and giving orders. It is not possible to fight with him by force alone. Sun Quan has occupied the area of Jiangdong for three generations. Jiangdong is a dangerous place, the people are now attached to him, and there is a group of talented people working for him. It seems that we can only unite with him and not fight him."

Zhuge Liang then analyzed the situation in Jingzhou and Yizhou (present-day Sichuan, Yunnan, and parts of Shaanxi, Gansu, Hubei, and Guizhou) and concluded that Jingzhou was a military stronghold, but Liu Biao would not be able to defend it. The fertile land of Yizhou was always called "the land of heaven", but Liu Zhang, the master of Yizhou, was also a cowardly and incompetent man, and everyone was not satisfied with him.

Finally, he said, "General is a descendant of the royal family and is well known all over the world. If you can occupy Jing and Yizhou, unite Sun Quan externally and reorganize your internal affairs internally, you can march from Jing and Yizhou to attack Cao Cao once you have a chance. At that time, who would not welcome the general? To be able to do so, meritorious deeds can be accomplished, and the Han family can be restored."

As Liu Bei listened, he could not help but admire the young man in front of him from the bottom of his heart and said, "Sir, your words have really opened my eyes. I will do as you say. Now let's ask you to come down the mountain together."

When Zhuge Liang saw Liu Bei's enthusiasm and sincerity, he happily followed Liu Bei to Xinye. Later, people called this incident "Three Gu Mao Luis" and Zhuge Liang's conversation "Longzhong Pair".

After that, Liu Bei treated Zhuge Liang as his teacher, and Zhuge Liang also treated Liu Bei as his master. The two of them became closer and closer.

When Guan Yu and Zhang Fei saw it, they were very unhappy and muttered behind their backs. They thought that Zhuge Liang was young and might not have much ability, and blamed Liu Bei for thinking too highly of him.

Liu Bei explained to them, "I have Mr. Kong Ming, just like a fish getting water. In the future, you are not allowed to make nonsense comments." Only after Guan Yu and Zhang Fei heard Liu Bei's words did they have nothing to say.