Interpretation of the 24th Good General in Zhuge Liang's Art of War

The 24th good general

——The way of the general to govern the army

There are four kinds of good generals in ancient times: show them to advance and retreat, and the old people know the prohibition; Induce them with benevolence and righteousness, and the old people know the courtesy; We should focus on right and wrong; Reward and punishment will be given to the old man. Prohibition, courtesy, persuasion and faith are the great classics of teachers. There is no straight line and the eyes are not comfortable, so if you can fight, you will win, and if you attack, you will win. The mediocre general is not, the retreat cannot be stopped, and the advance cannot be banned, so they will perish together with the army. Without admonition, people will be rewarded and punished for misbehavior. People do not know how to believe, but the virtuous and virtuous will retreat and obsequious will be used. It is because the war will be lost.

translation

From ancient times to the present, there are four principles for generals who are good at leading the troops in war. They should make a mountain of orders and explain to their subordinates what is advance, what is retreat and what should not be done; Educate the subordinates with benevolence and righteousness, so that the soldiers can be knowledgeable and polite; Warn the subordinates to distinguish right from wrong, so that the soldiers can encourage each other, discipline and persuade each other; Strict rewards and punishment will make the soldiers dare not to be lax and have credibility. The four basic principles mentioned above are: prohibition, courtesy, persuasion and trust are important norms in the army. If these four points are completely achieved, it will be as if the main support has been set up, and other details will naturally spread out. With laws and regulations, the specific content will be clear, so that the army can win the war and get what it needs when attacking. The incompetent generals can't do these four things: there is no regulation, once the order to retreat, the soldiers do not listen to the command, and scurry; When ordering an attack, there is no restraint, the pace is not uniform, and even one after another escapes, neglects and delays, and the whole army is doomed to perish; The admonition is not clear, the rewards and punishment are excessive, and the people who break their trust cannot concentrate on it. The virtuous people go away one after another, and the flattering and cunning villains gain power. The troops led by such generals will be defeated in every battle.

analysis

This article discusses the principle of leading troops in detail from both positive and negative aspects. He summed up these principles as four: prohibition, courtesy, persuasion and trust, and called them the "great classics" of military management. The "great classics" are the most important norms. Then, he explained the serious harm of violating the four principles, called the generals who did not run the army according to the four principles "mediocre generals", and pointed out the end of their defeat. This combination of positive and negative statements is very thorough, prominent and alarming.

Extension example

Li Zicheng's decisive battle in Ruzhou

In 1643, Sun Chuanting led the main forces of the Ming Army to Ruzhou to fight the Li Zicheng Rebellion. In September, Sun Chuanting's army attacked Baofeng and arrived at Jia County. Li Zicheng improvised. Relying on the deep ditch and high fortress under the county seat of Jiaxian, he held fast, tied the main border troops of the Ming Army to Jiaxian, and sent an elite force to the north, bypassing Mount Song, and attacking the white sand just a few miles away from Ruzhou from behind. Since Baisha is the only way from Luoyang to Ruzhou, the capture of Baisha cut off the transportation line of the Ming army, and the food supply of tens of thousands of the Ming army immediately became a major problem. The Ming army mutiny under Ruzhou. Sun Chuanting was in a bad mood. He decided to go back to Luoyang to collect food and pay, while Chen Yongfu, the chief soldier, stayed to command the army. The Ming Army, which was already unstable, saw the sudden departure of the commander and became more chaotic. Many soldiers left in succession. Inside the peasant army, the spies who secretly sent information to Sun Chuanting were found and hidden dangers were eliminated. Li Zicheng seized the opportunity, concentrated his forces, and actively counterattacked. The infantry and cavalry cooperated with each other, which made the Ming army panic and had to retreat quickly.

At this time, it was raining heavily and the roads were muddy. A large number of chariots carried by the Ming army could not move forward, and the soldiers were unwilling to push them. Thousands of chariots stopped on the road, blocking the retreat of the Ming army, and the vehicles overturned. The peasant uprising army took the opportunity to catch up with the Ming army. The Ming army was in chaos and had no fighting spirit, but there was no place to hide. Thousands of people died. Gao Jie, the chief soldier of the Ming army, saw that the situation was over and quickly led the Ming army to flee west. The peasant army pursued the Ming army closely without giving it a chance to breathe. It pursued the Ming army for 200 miles day and night, and finally stopped all the Ming troops in Mengjin and surrounded them. More than 40000 people were killed in the Ming army, and all the chariots were lost. Chen Yongfu's Ming army, which still remained in Jiaxian County and had no time to retreat, was also surrounded by the peasant army, and most of them were destroyed. Sun Chuanting, the commander of the Ming Army who returned to Luoyang in the early stage, saw all of them fall, attempted suicide, and was crowded into Tongguan by his soldiers.

After the decisive battle in Ruzhou, the effective force of the Ming Dynasty to suppress the peasant uprising was almost completely destroyed, and it was no longer able to attack the peasant army. Three months later, Li Zicheng led his army to capture Shaanxi, and then entered Shanxi and Zhili (now Hebei Province). On April 25, 1644, Li Zicheng's peasant uprising army invaded Beijing, and Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, thus ending the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

 解读《诸葛亮兵法.将苑》 善将第二十四

善将第二十四

——将帅治军之道

诸葛长青

修身、齐家、治国、平天下

中国·成功者俱乐部http://q.blog.sina.com.cn/chgyzh

 东方巨龙天下驰骋！

  古之善将者有四：示之以进退，故人知禁；诱之以仁义，故人知礼；重之以是非，故人知劝；决之以赏罚，故人知信。禁、礼、劝、信，师之大经也。未有纲直而目不舒也，故能战必胜，攻必取。庸将不然，退则不能止，进则不能禁，故与军同亡。无劝戒则赏罚失度，人不知信，而贤良退伏，谄顽登用，是以战必败散也。

译文

　　从古至今，善于领兵打仗的将领用兵的原则有四点：令出如山，向部下讲明什么是进，什么叫退，什么是不应该做的；用仁、义的思想教育部下，使士卒能知书达礼；告诫部下明辨是非，使士卒能互相勉励，规过劝善；严格赏罚，使士卒不敢涣散，有信用，上述四点基本的原则：禁、礼、劝、信是部队中的重要规范，如果彻底做到了这四点，就好象主要的支架已经搭好，其它的细微末节也就自然地顺展开来，有了法规，具体的内容也就明晰了，这样军队就能战必胜，攻伐时得其所需。无能的将领做不到这四点：没有规制，一旦下令撤退，士卒不听指挥，抱头鼠窜；而下令进攻时，则没有节制，步调不一，甚至纷纷逃避，怠慢拖延，全军也就难逃灭亡的下场；劝戒不明，赏罚无度，失信于士卒，上下不能一心，贤德之人纷纷远走，谄媚狡猾的小人得势，这样的将领带出的部队，一定会每战必败。

　　解析

　　本篇文章论述了从正反两方面详尽论述了带兵的原则。他把这些原则归结为四项：禁、礼、劝、信”，并且把这些原则称之为治军的“大经”。“大经”者，也就是最重要的规范准则了。接着，他又从反正论述，说明违背这四项原则的严重危害，把不按四项原则治军的将领称作“庸将”，指出他们必败的下场。这样正反结合的论述，说得十分透彻、突出，引人警觉。

　　拓例

　　李自成汝州决战
　　１６４３年，孙传庭率明军主力部队进抵汝州，与李自成起义军进行决战。９月孙传庭军队攻中宝丰，进抵郏县城下。李自成随机应变，他凭借郏县城下的深沟高垒，坚守不战，把明军的主边部队拴在郏县，同时派遣一支精锐部队，一直向北，绕过嵩山，从背后袭击离汝州仅几十里的白沙。由于白沙是从洛阳到汝州的必经之地，攻占白沙，就断绝了明军的运输线，数万明军的粮食供应顿时成了大问题，军心动摇。汝州城下的明军哗变。孙传庭见势不妙，决定自己先回洛阳筹运粮饷，而让总兵陈永福留下指挥大军。本已军心不稳的明军，见主帅突然离去，更加混乱，许多士兵纷纷离去。农民军内部又查获了向孙传庭暗送情报的奸细，清除了隐患。李自成抓住战机，集中兵力，积极反攻，步兵与骑兵互相配合，使明军仓皇失措，不得不迅速撤退。
　　这时，天下大雨，道路泥泞，明军携带的大量战车无法前行，士兵们又不愿推车。数千辆战车停在路上，挡住了明军的退路，车倒马翻。农民起义军趁机追上明军，明军大乱，毫无斗志，却又无处藏身，死者达数千人之多。明军总兵高杰见大势已去，急忙带领明军向西逃窜。农民军紧紧追击，不给明军喘息的机会，一昼夜追击二百里，终于在孟津将明军全部阻截住，并将其围歼。明军死亡４万余人，战车也损失殆尽。仍然留在郏县来不及撤退的陈永福所部明军，也被农民军包围，大部被消灭。先期返回洛阳的明军主帅孙传庭，眼看全部覆没，自杀未遂，被手下的残兵拥入潼关。
　　汝州决战以后，明王朝用以镇压农民起义军的有生力量便几乎被全部消灭，再也无力向农民军发起进攻。３个月后，李自成率军攻占陕西，随后进入山西、直隶（现河北省）。１６４４年４月２５日，李自成的农民起义军攻入北京，崇祯皇帝自缢身亡，明朝的统治就此结束。

(This article is an original article by Zhuge Changqing, and the pictures are selected from the Internet. Welcome to forward it, and please indicate the source for forwarding)

Introduction to Zhuge Changqing: Zhuge Changqing, the inheritor and promoter of traditional Chinese culture, is willing to "learn from sages, promote virtue, revitalize China and benefit the world" together with people with the same ideals in the world.

(Zhuge Changqing: zhuge8031@163.com ）

Zhuge Changqing mailbox：

zhuge8031@163.com

Zhuge Changqing's Chinese Dream

Learn from sages and carry forward virtue

Revitalizing China for the benefit of the world

 （本文是诸葛长青原创文章，图片选自网络。欢迎转发，转发引用请注明出处）

诸葛长青简介：诸葛长青，中国国学传统文化传承弘扬者，愿与天下志同道合者一起“学习圣贤、弘扬善德、振兴中华、造福世界”。

（诸葛长青：zhuge8031@163.com）

Zhuge Changqing mailbox：

zhuge8031@163.com

  诸葛长青中国梦  

学习圣贤 弘扬善德

振兴中华 造福世界

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