If you could have one person die sooner...Who?

[Striga]

That's true. A year is excessive, but a month lost would result in no campaign. Ma Su was his student. I think that would be a long mourning time. Sima Yi mourned Cao Chong for 3 months I believe.

[Jordan]

You might be onto something, I admit, but I think Zhuge Liang was assiduous enough that he'd somehow manage to attend to State affairs, or at least reduce his mourning time. It's hard for me to comment much because I'm unaware of how Zhuge Liang handled mourning in other instances.

Edit: He mourned for Yang Yong, a close friend, for three days. That's a pretty far cry from a month or year.

[Striga]

Edit: He mourned for Yang Yong, a close friend, for three days. That's a pretty far cry from a month or year.

How is that possible? Yang Yong died a year after Zhuge Liang.

[Jordan]

You're right...

that the encyclopedia is wrong.

Indeed, the encyclopedia seems to indicate that Yang Yong died a year after Zhuge Liang. THAT is impossible.

Under the Year 223 AD, the Zizhi Tongjian, translated by Achilles Fang has this passage:

19. Once Zhuge Liang himself was checking account books. Yang Yong (楊顒), the jubu, came straight into the room and admonished him, "In administrative matters there is a certain system; the superior and the inferior should not encroach on each other.

"I beg to draw Your Excellency an analogy from housekeeping. Now there is a man who lets his slave plow the land and his female slave take charge of cooking, lets his cock herald the dawn and his dog bark away burglars, lets his ox bear heavy burdens and his horses walk long distances. Each does the assigned work without negligence, and whatever is sought is fulfilled. A happy expression on his face, the master of the house has nothing to do but enjoy peaceful sleep, drink and eat. Should he one day wish to take charge of all these matters in person and refrain from committing his affairs to these agents, thereby burdening himself with all these petty things, then his body will be exhausted and his mind fatigued, and he will end with nothing accomplished. Is it because his intelligence is inferior to that of his slave and female slave, his cock and his dog? It is because he has neglected the proper status of the master of a house.

"That is why the ancients said that one sits and discusses the Way--referring to Kings and Dukes--and that things are put into practice by regulations--referring to the work of state officials.

"Hence Bing Ji did not make inquiries when he saw a man lying dead across the road, but was worried over a panting ox; Chen Ping did not want to know the total sum of the state revenues in cash and grain, saying there were officials who were in charge of it. These two really were men who knew well the different duties pertaining to different positions. In the administration of state affairs, Your Excellency in person checks the account books, perspiring through the length of the day. Is this not too much toil?"

Zhuge Liang thanked him. When Yang Yong died, Zhuge Liang wept for him for three days.

This is worth looking into...cept I'm gonna go play some monster hunter right now.

[Striga]

Monster Hunter. I gave up on it a while ago. It was too time consuming, and Queropeco(I probably misspelled this) kept burning me to death.

Are you sure Yang Yong didn't mourn Zhuge Liang for three days?

[Jordan]

Positive. I checked the book again, as well as the notes appended to that section. Something's fishy though, definitely.

[Striga]

Have you found anything about Yang Yong and ZL?
What about Pang Tong dying even earlier? Then Liu Bei wouldn’t have received Pang Tong’s sacrifice allowing him to take Yizhou. Maybe Cao Cao could have secured Hanzhong, and then his generals could succeed against Liu Zhang, then Liu Bei and then Sun Quan.

[Shen Ai]

Huang Zu. If he had died earlier, then maybe people like Sun Ce and Zhou Yu would not have had such a hard time with Jing province.

[Aventador951]

Really, I think the Wu dudes that killed Guan Yu and the traitors who killed Zhang Fei - the two of them were really pro.

Although there is only one person, I would choose Sun Quan: I really did like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

[Shen Ai]

Yeah, killing Sun Quan would mean no Shu, and probably no Wu either.