Assuming the goal of Shu was to overthrow Wei and Wu and unite China, might it have been prudent for Shu to have waited a generation for Liu Shan to expire naturally?
Liu Bei on his deathbed, instructed Zhuge Liang to overthrow his son Liu Shan if he proved incompetent. Zhuge Liang struggled to further the restoration of the Han(/destruction of the Cao) despite his incompetent emperor. Jiang Wei, with even less clout than Zhuge, struggled with Liu Shan even more in this same goal. Yet Han loyalists would never dream of overthrowing the spawn of Liu Bei.
I have read arguments that Zhuge Liang's campaigns against Wei weakened Shu, and other arguments that say the campaigns were an "offensive defense" that prolonged Shu's survival for another generation. Jiang Wei spent over a decade marshaling the Shu armies before he set out to try and conquer the north. That may seem like a long time, but lately I wonder if maybe he didn't wait long enough. Maybe he should have accepted that conquest of Wei wasn't achievable in his lifetime and developed an infrastructure for the next generation to invade Wei. I know the idea of a waiting game that goes beyond one's own lifespan could hardly seem desirable. I mean we all want to live to see the fruits of our struggle.
The genius of Zhuge Liang was his extreme foresight. Even from his thatched cottage he envisioned the 3 Kingdoms division of the land far before it came to be. His military operations involved extensive multi-stepped planning to try and account for numerous contingencies. Jiang Wei, although gifted in military operations and planning, seemed to be deficient in far-sighted planning.
Thus should the goal of dynastic restoration be an extremely far-sighted plan that stretches across many generations? Should the Three Kingdoms period have lasted longer for Shu to have had a chance to achieve its goal?