Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Cai

According to legend, Zhuge Liang became Liu Bei's strategist and commander-in-chief of commissary and taxation.

At that time, there were a large number of military forces under Liu Bei. As the saying goes, the root should be fat and the mouth should be eaten. The more soldiers and horses, the heavier the burden on the people. Although Jingzhou has a large territory, the people are overburdened. If they don't have enough to eat and wear, their hearts will be unstable. Zhuge Liang believes that those who win the hearts of the people win the world. He tried to calm people's hearts, but at the same time he had to raise enough money for the army, which made him have a lot of brains.

One day, Zhuge Liang led his entourage to inspect the people's feelings outside Jingzhou. On the way, he saw an old farmer harvesting vegetables in the field.

Zhuge Liang stepped forward, bowed down and asked, Grandpa! What kind of food do you grow? The old farmer replied: "This is the dish of chasing beauty in Gezhong School, also known as the specialty of our farmers' family." .

Zhuge Liang asked again: What are the benefits of this dish? The old farmer said: Man Jing is full of treasures. Leaves and seeds can be eaten, but they can't be eaten all at once, and pickles can also be made. When the green and yellow are not picked up, it becomes a home-cooked dish! The more Zhuge Liang listened, the more interested he became. He pulled up a vine from the ground. When he saw that the leaves were feet long, he estimated that the roots weighed about half a catty. He also asked the old farmer about the yield per mu and the planting method, but he had another abacus in his heart: if soldiers were ordered to reclaim land and plant it widely, they could not only supplement military food, but also serve as animal feed; It is both economical and affordable. After killing two birds with one stone, Zhuge Liang immediately summoned the generals of the three armed forces and put forward the idea of reducing taxes, cultivating farmland and managing the army diligently. This idea has been unanimously supported by the military and civilians.

According to Zhuge Liang's suggestion, the soldiers reclaimed land and planted vines extensively. That year, they had a bumper harvest, and what the army could not eat was returned to the people.

Later generations named Zhuge Liang's creeping physique discovered and popularized as Zhuge Cai.