Zhuge Liang met a wise master like Liu Bei, but he was born in a troubled world, and it was inevitable to work hard all his life. In the end, Zhuge Liang returned without success and died of illness in Wuzhangyuan, which also illustrates this point.
The last one was that Zhuge Liang came to power too late and for too short a time. It was 223 years ago when Liu Bei was defeated in the battle of Yiling and returned to Tuogu Baidi City. The Shu Han itself is the weakest party in terms of strength. In less than five years, it has experienced two major traumas: Guan Yu's loss of Jingzhou and Liu Bei's defeat in the Battle of Yiling. The foundation of Shu was shaken.
Zhuge Liang must work hard to restore the wounds of the war, pacify the south, and appease the internal conflicts in Shu. By the time Zhuge Liang completed these necessary tasks and decided to make the Northern Expedition, it was already 228 years ago.
Extended information:
Zhuge Liang came out in the 13th year of Jian'an in the Han Dynasty (208 years). At this time, the world situation was already very clear. Of the fourteen states of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao had completely occupied eight northern states (Youzhou, Jizhou, Bingzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, Yanzhou, and Sili), and also occupied parts of Yongzhou, Jingzhou, and Yangzhou.
Sun Wu from Jiangdong is already the third generation in business. The people are prosperous and the country is prosperous. There are many civil and military officials, but they can't figure it out. In Zhuge Liang's words during the meeting in Longzhong, with Cao Cao he "can't compete with him", and with Sun Quan "you can help him but not with him".
Zhuge Liang came out too late. The Cao and Sun families got development opportunities during the period of separatist rule, but Liu Bei lost the opportunity, and the foundation of Shu Han's founding was insufficient.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Sima Hui (representative figure of Taoism)
Baidu Encyclopedia-Zhuge Liang (Prime Minister of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period)