The Campaign for Mount Qi: Zhuge Liang’s Northern Expeditions, Their Triumphs and Failures (Latitude and Longitude Series)

Bestselling history writer Yuan Canxing’s latest book takes you inside the brutal fate endured by ordinary people in Shu Han as they struggled to fulfill Liu Bei’s dream. Chancellor Zhuge devoted himself to the very end; the people of Shu Han died in its service. Only after the Later Lord Liu Shan embraced the pleasures of Shu and forgot his homeland did ordinary people have a chance to survive. Centered on Shu Han’s northern campaigns, known as the “Expeditions from Qishan,” during the Three Kingdoms period, this book explores the founding of Liu Bei’s Shu Han regime and its strategic plans. Through its examination of the conscription and taxation systems under Zhuge Liang, as well as the struggle between Liu Bei’s inner circle and local officials, it analyzes why Zhuge Liang’s northern expeditions failed. Alongside its account of Shu Han’s strategy and fate in the Expeditions from Qishan, the book also describes the power struggles between Shu Han and the contemporary states of Cao Wei and Eastern Wu. These rivalries affected not only the outcome of the expeditions, but also the fates of Wei, Shu, and Wu, until the state of Jin ultimately unified the realm. The Three Kingdoms are long gone, but the stories surrounding the Expeditions from Qishan have been sung down through the ages. Zhuge Liang devoted himself to the cause, trying to turn the tide and restore the Han dynasty. But what did the revival of the Han mean to the countless people at the bottom of society? Whether the dynasty rose or fell, the common people always suffered.