100 Historical Stories That Unlock Teenage Wisdom

Chapter 100 6 Kong Ming Slays Ma Di With Tears

Chapter 106 Kong Ming Slashed Ma Su with Tears——Abandoning Parts for the Overall

When playing chess, we pay attention to "throwing the rook to protect the handsome". Although the rook is a very important piece in the chess game, sometimes it must be discarded in order not to lose the whole game.This is the reason for abandoning the part to preserve the whole.

After Zhuge Liang pacified Nanzhong, after two years of preparation, he led an army to garrison Hanzhong in the winter of 227 AD.Because Hanzhong is close to the border of Wei and Shu, you can find an opportunity to attack Wei at any time there.

When he left Chengdu, he wrote a memorial to the empress Liu Chan, asking the empress not to be satisfied with the status quo and belittle himself; to be close to virtuous ministers and alienate villains;This memorial is the famous "Teacher's List" in history.

After several years of strict training by Zhuge Liang, the Shu army has a neat lineup, strict orders, and strong morale.Since Liu Bei's death, the Shu Han had not attacked for many years, and the Wei State was unprepared. This time the Shu army suddenly attacked Qishan, and the Wei army guarding Qishan could not resist and retreated one after another.The Shu army took advantage of the victory and marched. The guards of Tianshui, Nan'an, and Anding in the north of Qishan Mountain all betrayed Wei Guo and sent people to ask Zhuge Liang to surrender.

At that time, Cao Cao's son Wei Wendi Cao Pi had died of illness.When the civil and military officials of the Wei court heard that the Shu Han was aggressively attacking, they were a little flustered.Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui, who had just ascended the throne, was relatively calm, and immediately sent Zhang Tai to lead 5 horses to Qishan to resist, and personally went from Xudu to Chang'an to supervise the battle.

Zhuge Liang arrived at Qishan and decided to send a team to occupy Jieting (now southeast of Zhuanglang, Gansu) as a stronghold.Who will lead this team.At that time, there were several experienced veterans beside him.But it was useless for him, he only liked Ma Di who joined the army.Ma Di has indeed read a lot of military books, and usually likes to talk about military affairs.When Zhuge Liang asked him to discuss the war, he talked endlessly and came up with some good ideas. He helped to formulate the strategy of fighting hard and pacifying Nanzhong.So Zhuge Liang trusted him very much.But when Liu Bei was alive, he saw that Ma Di was not very practical.He specifically told Zhuge Liang, saying: "Ma Di is exaggerating, you can't send him to do great things, you have to investigate carefully." But Zhuge Liang didn't take these words to heart.This time, he sent Ma Su as the vanguard and Wang Ping as the deputy.

Ma Di and Wang Ping led their troops to Jieting, and Zhang Tai's Wei army was also coming from the east.Ma Di looked at the terrain and said to Wang Ping: "The terrain in this area is dangerous. There is a mountain next to the street pavilion. It happens to camp on the mountain and lay out an ambush."

Wang Ping reminded him: "The Prime Minister told him before leaving that he must stick to the city and set up a camp. It is too risky to set up camp on the mountain." Ma Di had no experience in war and thought he was familiar with military books, so he did not listen to Wang Ping's advice. Insist on camping on the hill to create a condescending situation.It was useless for Wang Ping to persuade Ma Di again and again, so he had to beg Ma Di to allocate 1000 troops for him to station near the foot of the mountain.

Zhang Tai led the Wei army to Jieting. He was secretly happy when he saw that Ma Di abandoned the existing city and camped on the mountain. Cut off the water source.

There was a lack of water on the mountain, so Ma Di ordered his soldiers to rush down the mountain several times, but because Zhang Tai held on to the camp, the Shu army could not break through, and instead, many people were shot dead by the Wei army's random arrows.

After a long time, the Shu army became chaotic first.Zhang Tai saw the right moment and launched a general attack.The soldiers of the Shu army fled one after another, and Ma Su couldn't be restrained even if he wanted to. Finally, he had to break out of the siege by himself and flee westward.

Wang Ping led 1000 troops to secure the camp.When he learned that Ma Su had failed, he asked the soldiers to beat the drums desperately, pretending to attack.Zhang Tai suspected that there was an ambush by the Shu army, so he dared not approach them.Wang Ping organized his team and retreated without any haste. Not only did he not lose any of the 1000 troops, but he also took in many of Ma Di's stragglers.

Jieting fell, the Shu army lost an important stronghold, and lost a lot of troops.In order to avoid greater losses, Zhuge Liang had to retreat all his troops to Hanzhong.

Back in Hanzhong, Zhuge Liang made detailed inquiries and found out that the fall of Jieting was entirely due to Ma Su's violation of his combat deployment.Ma Su also admitted his fault.According to the military law, Zhuge Liang sent Ma Su to prison and sentenced him to death.

Ma Di himself knew that he would die, so he wrote a letter to Zhuge Liang in prison, saying: "The prime minister treats me like his own son, and I also treat the prime minister as my own father. This time I committed a capital crime, and I hope I die From now on, the prime minister can treat my son the same way Shun killed Gun and used Yu, and I will not worry about it even after I die."

Zhuge Liang killed Ma Di, thinking of his usual friendship with Ma Di, he felt very sad and shed tears.From then on, he really took good care of Ma Su's son.

Zhuge Liang promoted Wang Ping to join the army and let him lead [-] troops, considering that Wang Ping had dissuaded Ma Di in Jieting, and used tricks to save the troops when he retreated.

Wisdom Interpretation:

"A poisonous snake hurts an arm, a strong man cuts his wrist", this somewhat tragic move may become the only choice to save lives.

Ma Di was Zhuge Liang's close friend, but he would be executed for violating military laws, because otherwise he would not be able to strictly enforce military discipline and lose the entire war.It is necessary to die a Ma Su, lose this part, and benefit from the overall situation of the war and even the comparison of the strengths of the two countries.

In life, sometimes you have to know how to give up, and sometimes stick to it, which will make you more passive.At this time, you have to take the initiative to give up, because if you give up a little, you may gain more.

(End of this chapter)