"Do your best to do everything you want to die", which means to work diligently and to do your best to die until you die. It is mostly used to describe human greatness. Just "devoting all your efforts until you die", it comes from Zhuge Liang's "Hide-Departure in " . In "The Memorial of Later Retirement", Zhuge Liang said, "I devote myself to my work and die until I die; as for success or failure, it is not something that my ministers can see." Of course, if you listen to your words, you must also observe your actions. Zhuge Liang not only said that, but also did so.
After Liu Bei defeated Yiling, Zhuge Liang restored the Shu-Wu alliance, pacified Meng Huo in the south, and marched the Central Plains in the north. It can be said that he devoted all his efforts to the cause of restoring Shu Han and strengthening Shu Han. However, in terms of honor and treatment, Zhuge Liang, as the prime minister of Shu Han, was only a marquis of Wuxiang, that is, just a marquis, which was obviously inconsistent with Kong Ming's contribution. So, the question is, Zhuge Liang devoted his entire work to Shu Han, why was he just a marquis until his death?
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First of all, in ancient Chinese history, there are usually only marquis and Duke . However, as far as Zhuge Liang is concerned, he cannot advance the title of king or duke. On the one hand, as for the king, Liu Bang, the Emperor of Han, formulated the "non-Lu" regulations in the "Nei Liu, no King" in the "Han". The White Horse Alliance was a covenant established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, with his ministers in the way of killing the White Horse. The content of this covenant was to ensure that only those with the surname Liu could be kings, that is, "not the Liu family, but the king, and the whole world attacked them together" (Volume 9 of "Records of the Grand Historian").
Therefore, not only did the Eastern Han Dynasty follow this regulation, but the Shu Han established by Liu Bei have put forward the banner of supporting the Han Dynasty, it naturally also must follow the regulation that "if the Liu family is not the king, the world will attack it together." Therefore, not only did Zhuge Liang not have the chance to be the king's title, but Liu Bei's brothers surnamed Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and Zhang Fei also stopped at the Marquis. That is, in the late Han and Three Kingdoms period, only the royal families of each emperor could be granted the title of king. For example, after Cao Pi ascended the throne and became emperor, brothers such as Cao Zhi were awarded the title of king. Therefore, Zhuge Liang was not a royal family member of Shu Han, so he naturally could not be granted the title of king.
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On the other hand, since the king's title is unattainable, then why didn't Liu Bei and Liu Chan enthrone a duke for Zhuge Liang? Especially Liu Chan, the latter lord of Shu Han, made the greatest contribution to Zhuge Liang's title, so he raised Zhuge Liang's title to Duke, which was also a gesture of gratitude. However, Zhuge Liang did not carry the Duke, which was directly related to the practice of the Han Dynasty. For , the Western Han Dynasty established by Liu Bang , the "two-legged card system" was adopted, that is, there were only monarchs and marquises.
Except for the kings of different surnames in the early Western Han Dynasty, they were all emperors' royal families to be granted the title of kings. For most of the heroes, such as Xiao He , Zhang Liang , etc., they could only be awarded one marquis. Looking at the Western Han Dynasty and Eastern Han Dynasty, only two people advanced to the Duke, namely Anhan Gong Wang Mang and Wei Gong Cao Cao . As for the Duke of Anhan, Wang Mang, he eventually usurped the Western Han Dynasty.
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As for the Duke of Wei, Cao Cao did not personally usurp the throne and became emperor, Cao Cao's son Cao Pi replaced Emperor Xian of Han Liu Xie and established Cao Wei . Therefore, under the precedent of these two dukes, even if Liu Chan, the latter leader of Shu Han, wanted to grant Zhuge Liang the duke, it would not be possible for the latter to accept it. Once Zhuge Liang accepted the title of Duke, he would undoubtedly be attacked by the Shu Han court officials and be slandered as unjust like Wang Mang and Cao Cao. During the Shu Han Dynasty, Liu Bei's minister entrusted to the orphanage, Li Yan, once advised Zhuge Liang to be ninth and encouraged Zhuge Liang to become king, but was refuted by Zhuge Liang.
For Zhuge Liang, he knew that once he was called a master or a king, even if he did not have the ambition to usurp power, he would be criticized and attacked by other ministers. In order not to cause trouble, Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu Han, did not advance to the Duke until his death. In addition, the Marquis of Wuxiang obtained by Zhuge Liang was already a higher title during the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. At that time, the marquis were further subdivided into county marquis, township marquis, Ting marquis, and Guannei marquis .
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Finally, there is still a certain controversy over whether Zhuge Liang's marquis - Wuxiang Hou, whether it is a county marquis or a town marquis. Some people think that the Wuxiang Hou is a county marquis, while others think that the Wuxiang Hou is a town marquis. However, in my opinion, whether it is a county marquis or a township marquis, they are actually higher marquis. For example, Guan Yu, the leader of the Five Tiger Generals of Shu Han, was only an Han Shouting Marquis , that is, only a marquis, who was lower than the marquis in terms of marquis. As for another Five Tiger General of Shu Han - Huang Zhong , he was just a Guannei Marquis until his death, and his title was lower than that of Guan Yu's Hanshouting Marquis.
Therefore, Kong Ming, who was "indifferent to show his ambitions, and tranquility to achieve far-reaching goals", was already very satisfied with the title of Marquis of Wuxiang. Moreover, the title did not hinder Zhuge Liang from mobilizing all the power of Shu Han and devoted himself to the cause of the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains. Zhuge Liang, as the prime minister of Shu Han, the governor of Yizhou, and the captain of Sili, was already below one person in his official position and above ten thousand. Therefore, before the Cao Wei was eliminated and the Han Dynasty was supported, Zhuge Liang obviously would not take the marquis or the duke in his heart.
