I am looking for an article that can be used in class lectures about the story of the seven captures of Meng Huo in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The Southern Barbarians rebelled against the Han

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei, Shu, and Wu divided the world. Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu, received the imperial edict from Zhaolie Emperor Liu Bei and decided to make a northern expedition to revitalize the Han Dynasty. At this time, the southern barbarians from the south of Shu invaded Shu again, and Zhuge Liang immediately ordered his troops to march south. When they arrived at the land of the Southern Barbarians, Zhuge Liang won a complete victory in the first battle between the two sides and captured the leader of the Southern Barbarians, Meng Huo. But Meng Huo was not convinced, saying that victory or defeat was a matter of military strategists. Kongming learned that Yixiao ordered Meng Huo to be released. After letting Meng Huo go, Kong Ming found his lieutenant and deliberately said that Meng Huo had put all the blame for the rebellion on him. The deputy general was very angry and shouted injustice, so Kong Ming put him back. After the lieutenant returned to camp, he felt aggrieved. One day, he invited Meng Huo into his tent, tied him up and sent him to the Han camp. Kong Ming used a trick to capture Meng Huo twice, but Meng Huo still refused to accept it, so Zhuge Liang let him go again. This time, the Han camp generals were a little confused. They thought it was a joke that everyone came from afar and let the enemy go so easily. Kong Ming has his own reason: Only by convincing people with virtue can they truly be convinced; by convincing people with force will inevitably lead to future troubles. Meng Huo returned to the cave again, and his brother Meng You gave him a plan. In the middle of the night, Meng You and his men came to the Han camp to pretend to surrender. Kong Ming saw through him at a glance, so he ordered a large amount of fine wine to be given to the Nanman soldiers, making the men Meng You and his men very drunk. At this time, Meng Huo came to rob the camp as planned, but unexpectedly fell into a trap and was captured again. This time Meng Huo was still unwilling, so Kong Ming released the tiger back to the mountain for the third time. Meng Huo returned to the camp and immediately began to reorganize the army and wait for the opportunity. One day, a spy suddenly came to report that Kong Ming was inspecting the terrain alone in front of the formation. Meng Huo was overjoyed after hearing this and immediately led his men to capture Zhuge Liang. Unexpectedly, this time he fell into Zhuge Liang's trap again and became the turtle in the urn for the fourth time. Kong knew that he would definitely not be convinced this time, so he let him go again. Meng Huo led his troops back to the camp. A general in his camp brought Yang Feng, the cave master, who was captured and released several times because he followed Meng Huo. He was very grateful to Zhuge Liang. In order to repay his kindness, he and his wife got Meng Huo drunk and took him to the Han camp. Meng Huo was captured five times but still refused to accept it, shouting that he was framed by a traitor. Kong Ming let him go for the fifth time and ordered him to fight again. This time, Meng Huo did not dare to be careless after returning. The Shu army launched a large-scale southern expedition. Kong Ming used a trick to sow discord. He had Gaoding kill Yong Kai and Zhu Bao and surrender with their heads. The danger of Yongchang was resolved. The prefect Wang and his wife welcomed Kong Ming into the city, and the guard Lu and his wife presented the "Pingman Zhizhang Map". Kongming was overjoyed and took Lu Kai as his guide to penetrate into the barbarian territory. Just as he was about to send out troops, he suddenly reported that the emperor had sent an envoy to reward the army, and it was Ma Su. Kong Ming asked Ma Su how to put down the Nanman rebellion. Ma Su said that barbarians are capricious and must be convinced. Kong Ming thinks this makes sense. After Kongming defeated the Nanman Marshal Sandong, he laid an ambush and asked Wang Ping and Guan Suo to lure the enemy. The two pretended to be defeated and lured the Southern Barbarian king Meng Huo into the canyon. They were then pursued by Zhang Yi and Zhang Yi, while Wang Ping and Guan Suo returned to attack. Meng Huo could not resist and was captured alive by Wei Yan. Meng Huo was not convinced and wanted to fight Kong Ming again. He would only surrender if he was captured again. Kong Ming let him go back. Meng Huo set up camp in Lushui and asked the two marshals to help him. He was afraid that he would fall into Kong Ming's plan and would only defend without fighting. He wanted to wait for the weather to get hot and let the Shu army retreat on its own. Kongming ordered his sergeants to set up camp in the woods to escape the heat. He also ordered Ma Dai to lead 3,000 soldiers across the river from Shahekou and go around to the rear of the barbarians to cut off their food and grass. He also recruited two marshals from the cave as internal responses. Meng Huo insisted on guarding the natural dangers of the Lujiang River, thinking that everything was safe, and drank for fun every day. Shu general Ma Dai crossed the Lu River in the middle of the night and seized the grain and grass of Marshal Dong Dana, cutting off the food route in Jiashan. Meng Daofu was furious and ordered his warriors to beat Dong Dana with a hundred sticks to avoid his death. Dong Dana was resentful and took advantage of Meng Huo's drunkenness to gather his men and kidnap Meng Huo to see Kong Ming. Meng Huo was still dissatisfied. After Kong Ming showed Meng Huo the food and fodder for elite troops in the Shu camp, Meng Huo was still dissatisfied and released him back. Meng Huo said to his younger brother Meng You, "We know the military situation of the Shu army. You can lead more than a hundred elite soldiers to offer treasures to Kong Ming and take the opportunity to kill Kong Ming." Kong Ming asked Ma Di if he knew about Meng Huo's conspiracy. Ma Di smiled and wrote down Meng Huo's conspiracy on paper. Kong Ming laughed after seeing this, and ordered people to add medicine to the wine, so that Meng You and other barbarians could eat and drink. That night, Meng Huo led 30,000 soldiers into the army to capture Kong Ming. Only when they entered the tent did they realize that they had been tricked. Meng You and other barbarian soldiers were all drunk. Wei Yan, Wang Ping, and Zhao Yun divided their troops to attack in three groups. The barbarians were defeated, and Meng Huo fled to Lushui alone. Meng Huo was intercepted by Ma Dai's soldiers disguised as barbarians in Lu River and taken to see Kong Ming. Meng Huo said that this time it was his younger brother Meng You who caused trouble by drinking, but he was still unconvinced.

So Kong Ming let him go for the third time. In order to take revenge, Meng Huo borrowed 100,000 swords and swords from the Ding army to fight against the Shu soldiers. Meng Huo wore rhinoceros skin armor and rode a red-haired ox. The Paiding soldiers were naked, with grimaces painted on them, their hair disheveled, and they rushed toward the Shu camp like savages. However, Kong Ming ordered the village gate to be closed and not to fight, waiting for the opportunity. When the power of the barbarians was reduced, Kong Ming launched a surprise attack. Meng Huo was defeated. He fled under a tree and saw Kong Ming sitting in a car. He rushed over to arrest him, but unexpectedly fell into a pit and was captured. Meng Huo was still dissatisfied, and Kong Ming let him go again. Meng Huo hid in Tulong Cave to ask for help. Yang Feng, the master of Yinye Cave, was grateful for Kong Ming's kindness in not killing his people recently, so he captured Meng Huo in Tulong Cave and gave it to Kong Ming. Of course Meng Huo refused to accept it and wanted to fight Kong Ming again in Yinkeng Cave, but Kong Ming let him go again. Meng Huo gathered more than a thousand people in Yinkeng Cave, and asked his wife's brother to ask King Mulu, who could drive away poisonous snakes and beasts, to help him fight. When he was making arrangements for a decisive battle with the Shu army, the Shu army had already arrived in front of the cave. Meng Huo was shocked, and his wife Zhu Rong led the troops to fight. Zhu Rong injured Shu general Zhang Ni with a flying knife and captured him alive. He also used a horse rope to trip up Ma Zhong and captured him together. The next day, Kong Ming also used a trick to capture Zhu Rong and exchanged her for generals Zhang Yi and Ma Zhong. Meng Huo asked King Mulu to fight. Mulu rode a white elephant, chanted a spell, and shook a bell in his hand, driving a group of poisonous snakes and beasts towards the Shu army. Kong Ming took out the wooden giant beast that had been prepared. It breathed fire from its mouth and smoke from its nose. It scared off the monsters of the barbarians and occupied Meng Huo's silver pit. The next day, when Kong Ming was about to divide his troops to capture Meng Huo, he suddenly received a report that Meng Huo's brother-in-law had brought Meng Huo to Kong Ming's stronghold to surrender. Kong Ming knew that it was a fake surrender, so he gave an order to capture them all, and searched out every Weapons on people. Meng Huo refused to accept it and said that he would only be convinced if he could be captured seven times. Kong Ming then let him go again. Meng Huo also invited the Tengjia Army from the Ugo Kingdom to fight Kong Ming. Kongming used oil truck gunpowder to burn countless barbarians to death. Meng Huo was captured for the seventh time before he truly surrendered. Kongming saw that the barbarian land had been leveled, so he returned home. When we reached Lushui, there was a violent storm and the soldiers and horses could not cross the river. The locals said it was ghosts causing trouble. Kong Ming worshiped the souls of the dead by the Lu River and cried loudly. The Lu River became calm and the army was able to cross the river and return. The army returned to Chengdu, and Liu Chan, the leader of the army, went out of the city thirty miles to greet him. Liu Chan and Kong Ming drove together, held a Taiping Banquet, and rewarded the three armies heavily. From then on, more than 300 neighboring countries paid tribute to Shu every year.

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Seven Captures of Meng Huo

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei, Shu, and Wu divided the world. Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu, received the imperial edict from Zhaolie Emperor Liu Bei and decided to make a Northern Expedition in order to revitalize the Han Dynasty. At this time, the southern barbarians from the south of Shu invaded Shu again, and Zhuge Liang immediately ordered troops to march south. When they arrived at the land of the Southern Barbarians, Zhuge Liang won a complete victory in the first battle between the two sides and captured the leader of the Southern Barbarians, Meng Huo. But Meng Huo was not convinced, saying that victory and defeat were common military matters. Kongming learned that Yixiao ordered Meng Huo to be released. After letting Meng Huo go, Kong Ming found his lieutenant and deliberately said that Meng Huo had put all the blame for the rebellion on him. The deputy general was very angry and shouted injustice, so Kong Ming put him back. After the lieutenant returned to camp, he felt aggrieved. One day, he invited Meng Huo into his tent, tied him up and sent him to the Han camp. Kong Ming used a trick to capture Meng Huo twice, but Meng Huo still refused to accept it, so Zhuge Liang let him go again. This time, the Han camp generals were a little confused. They thought it was a joke that everyone came from afar and let the enemy go so easily. Kong Ming has his own reason: Only by convincing people with virtue can they truly be convinced; by convincing people with strength will there be consequences. Meng Huo returned to the cave again, and his brother Meng You gave him a plan. In the middle of the night, Meng You and his men came to the Han camp to pretend to surrender. Kong Ming saw through him at a glance, so he ordered a large amount of fine wine to be given to the Nanman soldiers, making the men Meng You and his men very drunk. At this time, Meng Huo came to rob the camp as planned, but unexpectedly fell into a trap and was captured again. This time Meng Huo was still unwilling, so Kong Ming released the tiger back to the mountain for the third time. Meng Huo returned to the camp and immediately began to reorganize the army and wait for the opportunity. One day, a spy suddenly came to report that Kong Ming was inspecting the terrain alone in front of the formation. Meng Huo was overjoyed after hearing this and immediately led his men to capture Zhuge Liang. Unexpectedly, he fell into Zhuge Liang's trap again this time and became the turtle in the urn for the fourth time. Kong knew that he would definitely not be convinced this time, so he let him go again. Meng Huo led his troops back to the camp. A general in his camp brought the cave master Yang Feng. He was captured and released several times because he followed Meng Huo. He was very grateful to Zhuge Liang. In order to repay his kindness, he and his wife got Meng Huo drunk and took him to the Han camp. Meng Huo was captured five times but still refused to accept it, shouting that he was framed by a traitor. Kong Ming let him go for the fifth time and ordered him to fight again.

This time, Meng Huo did not dare to be careless after returning. He went to seek refuge with King Mulu. The camp of King Mulu was extremely remote. Kong Ming led his troops there and experienced hardships and dangers along the way. In addition, the barbarians used wild beasts to fight, which resulted in the defeat of the Han soldiers. After that, the Han soldiers encountered several poisonous springs, making the situation even worse. Fortunately, Kong Ming soon received advice from General Fu Bo and Meng Huo's brother Meng Jie, and they returned to the camp safely. After returning to camp, Kong Ming made a fake beast several times larger than the real one. When they fought against King Mulu again, Mulu's men were so scared when they saw the fake beast that they retreated without a fight. Although Meng Huo was still dissatisfied this time, he had no reason to speak anymore. Kong Ming saw his thoughts and still let him go. After Meng Huo was released, he defected to the Ugo Kingdom. The king of the Ugo Kingdom, Wu Tugu, had a group of brave and capable rattan armor soldiers, and the rattan armor they were equipped with was invulnerable. Kong Ming was already prepared for this. He used fire attacks to burn all the Ugo soldiers to death in a valley. Meng Huo was captured for the seventh time, and Kong Ming deliberately wanted to let him go again. Meng Huo hurriedly knelt down and swore that he would never rebel again. Seeing that he was sincerely convinced, Kong Ming felt that he could be used, so he appointed him to take charge of the Southern Barbarians. Meng Huo and others couldn't help being deeply moved after hearing this. From then on, Kong Ming no longer worried about the Nanman and concentrated on dealing with Wei. Seven Captures of Meng Huo

The title of the Three Kingdoms era that emerged after the Eastern Han Dynasty was named after the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu. The Three Kingdoms began with the Wei Dynasty replacing the Han Dynasty in 220 years, and finally the Jin Dynasty replaced the Wei Dynasty in 265 years. However, historians often regard Dong Zhuo's departure from Luoyang with Emperor Xian of Han in 190 as the upper limit of the Three Kingdoms, and Jin's defeat of Wu in 280 as the lower limit of the Three Kingdoms. "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is based on the history of the Three Kingdoms, and here are some stories related to Zhuge Liang. Liu Bei, the first lord of the Shu Han Dynasty in the Five Thousand Years Edition, became increasingly ill in Yong'an. He summoned Zhuge Liang from Chengdu to Yong'an and gave instructions about his future affairs. He said to Zhuge Liang: "You are ten times more talented than Cao Pi, and you will definitely be able to govern the country well. My son Adou (Prince Liu Chan's nickname), if you think you can help him, help him; if not, you can do it yourself." Come and be the leader of a country." Zhuge Liang cried and choked, "How dare I not do my best to repay Your Majesty until my death!" Liu Bei called his youngest son Liu Yong to his side and told him, "I will die! From now on, you brothers must respect the prime minister as you treat your father." After Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang returned to Chengdu and helped Liu Chan ascend the throne, and was known as the Queen of Shu Han in history. After Liu Chan came to the throne, Zhuge Liang decided all matters in the court, no matter how big or small. Zhuge Liang worked hard to govern the country and wanted to make the Shu Han prosperous. Unexpectedly, several counties in the Nanzhong area (south of the Dadu River in today's Sichuan Province and the Yunyu and Guizhou areas) started to riot first. There was a strong man named Yong Kai (pronounced kǎi) in Yizhou County. When he heard that Liu Bei was dead, he killed the governor of Yizhou and launched a rebellion. On the one hand, he defected to Soochow, and on the other hand, he won over Meng Huo, a leader of the ethnic minority in the south central region, and asked him to contact some tribes in the southwest to rise up against the Shu Han. After Yongkai's instigation, Zhu Bao, the governor of Zoke (zāngkē, in today's Zunyi, Guizhou), and Gaoding, the chief of the Yuexun (southeast of Xichang County, Sichuan, xī) tribe, also responded to Yongkai. In this way, the Shu Han lost almost half of its land. Why didn't Zhuge Liang worry? However, at that time, the Shu Han Dynasty had just suffered a major defeat at Xiaoting and the death of its former lord, so it did not bother to send troops. On the one hand, Zhuge Liang sent people to make peace with Soochow and stabilized this end; on the other hand, he rewarded production, built water conservancy projects, accumulated grain, and trained soldiers and horses. After two years, the situation stabilized, and Zhuge Liang decided to send troops to the south. In March 225 AD, Zhuge Liang led his army to set off. Ma Di (sù), the younger brother of Zhuge Liang's friend Ma Liang and a soldier in the army, sent Zhuge Liang out of the city for dozens of miles. When leaving, Zhuge Liang held Ma Su's hand and said sincerely: "We have been together for several years. Before we say goodbye today, do you have any good ideas to tell me?" Ma Di said: "The people in Nanzhong relied on the difficult terrain and left the capital. Even if we conquer them with a large army, they will still cause trouble. I heard that the main method of using troops is to attack the heart, and the siege of the city is secondary. Only when the Southerners are convinced can we achieve peace once and for all." Ma Di's words were exactly what Zhuge Liang wanted. Zhuge Liang couldn't help but nodded repeatedly and said: "Thank you for your help, I will definitely do this." Zhuge Liang led the Shu army to march south and won every victory. The army was still on the way, but there was already a fight between Gao Ding and Yong Kai, the chiefs of Yuexun. Gaoding's men killed Yong Kai. The Shu army invaded Yuexun and killed Gaoding again. Zhuge Liang sent two generals, Li Hui and Ma Zhong, to attack in two directions. Within half a month, Ma Zhong defeated Zangke and eliminated the rebels there. The rebellion in the four counties was quickly put down. But it's not over yet.

Meng Huo, the chief of Nanzhong, gathered Yong Kai's stragglers and continued to resist the Shu soldiers. When Zhuge Liang inquired about it, he learned that Meng Huo was not only a valiant warrior, but also very prestigious among the people of all ethnic groups in the south central region. Zhuge Liang remembered Ma Di's parting words and determined to win Meng Huo over. He issued an order to capture Meng Huo alive but not to harm him. Fortunately, Zhuge Liang was good at using tactics. When the Shu army and Meng Huo's army clashed, the Shu army deliberately retreated. Taking advantage of the large number of others, Meng Huo chased after him, and was soon ambushed by Shu soldiers. The southern soldiers were beaten and scattered, and Meng Huo himself was captured alive. Meng Huo was taken to the camp, thinking that there must be no way to survive this time. Unexpectedly, after entering the camp, Zhuge Liang immediately asked someone to loosen his bonds and persuade him to surrender with good words. But Meng Huo was not convinced and said: "I accidentally fell into your trap, how can I convince people?" Zhuge Liang did not force him, and rode with him for a circle outside the camp. Look at the camps and lineup of the Shu army. Then he asked Meng Huo: "What do you think of our troops?" Meng Huo said arrogantly: "I didn't understand your true and false positions before, so I lost. Today, you showed me your formation, and I think it's okay." But that's it. With a formation like this, it's not difficult to defeat you." Zhuge Liang laughed heartily and said, "In this case, you should go back and prepare yourself before fighting!" After Meng Huo was released, he fled back to himself. The tribe regrouped and attacked the Shu army again. But he was a foolhardy man, no match for Zhuge Liang, and he was captured alive the second time. Zhuge Liang persuaded him, but when Meng Huo still refused to accept it, he let him go. Like this, he was released and caught again and again, until Meng Huo was caught seven times. When Meng Huo was captured for the seventh time, Zhuge Liang wanted to let him go again. Meng Huo was unwilling to leave. He shed tears and said, "The Prime Minister has treated me with all his kindness and righteousness. I respect you from the bottom of my heart. From now on, I dare not rebel again." After Meng Huo returned, he persuaded all the tribes to surrender. The Nanzhong area was again controlled by the Shu Han. After Zhuge Liang pacified Nanzhong, he ordered Meng Huo and the leaders of each tribe to manage their original areas as usual. Someone said to Zhuge Liang: "We finally conquered Nanzhong, why didn't we send officials here instead of letting these leaders take charge?" Zhuge Liang said: "We sent officials here, there is no benefit, only inconvenience. Because sending officials will be We have to leave a large number of soldiers behind, and we can't provide them with food. Besides, we just fought and some people were inevitably killed and injured. If we leave officials to govern, disaster will definitely happen. There is no need to keep troops or transport supplies. Wouldn't it be better to let each tribe manage it on its own and let the Han people live in peace with each other?" After hearing Zhuge Liang's words, everyone admired his thoughtfulness. Zhuge Liang led the army back to Chengdu. The emperor and the court ministers went to the outskirts to greet him. Everyone was happy that Nanzhong was pacified. After that, Zhuge Liang accumulated wealth and trained men and horses, preparing for the Northern Expedition.