Zhuge Liang Pacifies Nanzhong

Liu Bei had entrusted Shu Han to Zhuge Liang.

But Zhuge Liang did not inherit a stable state.

Yiling had damaged the army. Old generals were gone. Wu relations were broken. In the south, Nanzhong was unstable.

If Zhuge Liang wanted to attack Wei, he first had to secure the rear.

Repairing the Wu Alliance

Liu Bei's eastern campaign had shattered the Sun-Liu alliance.

Zhuge Liang's first major task was to repair it. If Shu faced Wei in the north and Wu in the east at the same time, it would not last long.

Deng Zhi suggested sending an envoy to Wu.

Zhuge Liang was pleased. He said he had been thinking about the same problem but had not found the right person. Now the man who proposed the idea could carry it out.

Deng Zhi went to Wu. Sun Quan at first would not receive him.

Sun Quan worried that Shu was weak. Why should Wu ally with a state that might need rescuing?

Deng Zhi answered directly. Wu and Shu were like lips and teeth. If Sun Quan submitted to Wei, Wei would demand court attendance or a hostage. If Sun Quan refused, Wei would attack. And if Wei attacked Wu, Shu would move down the river and take advantage.

It was blunt, but it worked.

Sun Quan understood that Wei would not leave Jiangdong alone forever. Wu and Shu restored relations.

Rebellion in Nanzhong

Nanzhong roughly covered parts of today's Yunnan, Guizhou, and southern Sichuan.

It was large, rich in resources, and important to Shu's rear.

Around Liu Bei's death, Huang Yuan rebelled and was suppressed. Then the southern strongman Yong Kai joined with Gao Ding, Zhu Bao, Meng Huo, and others.

Meng Huo's identity is complicated in tradition. Some accounts treat him as a local non-Han leader, others as a powerful Han local. What matters here is that he had influence among both Han settlers and local peoples.

Yong Kai spread rumors that the Shu court would demand impossible tribute, such as hundreds of black-chested dogs and huge pieces of timber. Local leaders feared punishment and drifted toward rebellion.

Officials were killed, expelled, or blocked from office. Yong Kai even sent a Shu official bound to Wu, hoping to use Sun Quan's name.

Zhuge Liang did not march at once.

He first repaired Wu relations. Once Wu and Shu were no longer hostile, and Wei was also pressuring Wu, the southern campaign became safer.

Attack the Heart

In 225, Zhuge Liang marched south.

Before the campaign, Ma Su advised him that Nanzhong could not be pacified by killing alone. The region was distant and difficult. Even if rebels were defeated today, they could rebel again tomorrow.

The better way was to attack the heart.

Zhuge Liang accepted the advice.

Shu forces moved in three routes. Ma Zhong and Li Hui led separate armies, while Zhuge Liang commanded the main force.

The rebels could not withstand trained Shu troops for long. Yong Kai died in internal conflict, and Meng Huo became more central.

Zhuge Liang wanted Meng Huo alive. If Meng Huo could be made to submit sincerely, many others would follow.

According to the famous tradition, Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times and released him seven times. Each time Meng Huo said he was not yet convinced. At last he accepted defeat and pledged that the southern people would not rebel again.

The historical detail is not as elaborate as the later novel. But the logic is clear: Zhuge Liang wanted lasting submission, not only battlefield victory.

Governing Nanzhong

After victory, Zhuge Liang did not simply replace local leaders with officials from Chengdu.

Some urged him not to use locals. Zhuge Liang explained the problem.

If outsiders were appointed, troops would have to remain to protect them. If troops remained, food had to be transported. The people had just suffered war and would resent a foreign administration.

So he used local leaders within the Shu system.

Meng Huo was later brought to Chengdu and given office. Nanzhong continued to provide gold, silver, cattle, horses, and other resources.

Zhuge Liang also reorganized commanderies to reduce the danger of any single local power growing too strong.

Shu introduced improved farming, irrigation, weaving, and other techniques. Nanzhong began to feed the state more directly.

This was not only a pacification campaign. It was the building of a rear base.

The Mantou Tradition

The southern campaign also produced a famous food legend.

Later tradition says that Zhuge Liang found a custom of sacrificing human heads to the river. He refused to continue it. Instead, he wrapped meat in dough, shaped it like a head, and used it as a substitute offering.

The name was later connected with mantou.

This story should not be treated as certain history. But it fits the way later generations remembered Zhuge Liang: not only as a commander, but as someone who replaced violence with order and instruction.

In historical terms, Zhuge Liang did use persuasion, local appointment, and practical governance.

In his lifetime, Nanzhong did not erupt again on the same scale.

Only after the south was secure could Zhuge Liang turn toward Wei.

Next, the Northern Expeditions begin.