Each of the three competing regimes—Cao Wei, Shu Han and Eastern Wu—have the purpose of reunifying the empire of the fallen Han Dynasty.

Beginning in 228, Zhuge Liang launches the first of Shu Han’s five Northern Expeditions against Wei.

The strategic thinking behind these ventures can be traced back as early as 207, when the tweny-seven-year-old Zhuge Liang outlined his Longzhong Plan to his lord Liu Bei.

In it, he explained in very general terms the need to gain a viable geographical base, and then went on to detail a two-pronged strike north for mastery of the north.

One advance would be from Yi Province in the west (covering the Sichuan Basin), north through the Qin Mountains, debouching into the Wei River valley and achieving a strategic position at the great metropolis Chang'an from which to dominate the great bend of the Yellow River.

The second advance would be from Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan) north toward the political center of Luoyang.

After Liu Bei established himself in Yi Province in 215, the essential prerequisites of the plan had been completed.

The geopolitical arrangement envisaged by Zhuge Liang proved, however, to be a militarily unstable one.

The alliance with the state of Wu in the east had broken down over the issue of the occupation of Jing Province.

By 223, the province had been lost and Liu Bei, as well as some of his top generals, were dead.

Even after Zhuge Liang reestablished friendly relations with Wu, his original plan has been markedly altered since only the left prong could be executed.

In Zhuge Liang's much quoted memorial Chu Shi Biao of 227, submitted to Liu Shan before his departure for the north, the prime minister explains in highly ideological terms the reasoning for the expedition against Wei: "We should lead the three armies to secure the Central Plain in the north.

Contributing my utmost, we shall exterminate the wicked, restore the house of Han and return to the old capital.

Such is this subject's duty in repaying the Former Emperor and affirming allegiance to Your Majesty."

The Chu Shi Biao, which also advised Liu Shan on governing the kingdom, can be roughly divided into four different sections.

Zhuge Liang first addressed the dangerous situation of Shu Han, still the weakest out of the Three Kingdoms.

In the second, he gave three main pieces of advice: transparency and willingness to accept criticism, fair judgment, and the avoidance of petty and corrupt officials.

In the third section, Zhuge Liang illustrated his own history and in the fourth addressed the roles of Liu Shan.

All except one of the five expeditions will be military failures (albeit not military disasters) in that Zhuge Liang's forces run out of food before they are able to inflict significant damage on Wei and therefore are forced to withdraw.

The one major victory that Wu has over Wei during this period comes in 228, when, with Sun Quan's approval, his general Zhou Fang pretends to surrender to Wei after pretending to have been punished repeatedly by Sun Quan.

This gambit deceives the Wei general Cao Xiu, who leads a large army south to support Zhou Fang.

According to legend, Cao Xiu did not believe Zhou Fang at first.

Zhou Fang cut off his famous locks of hair to prove his "loyalty".

In any case, Zhou Fang knew the territory, so he started to lead Cao Xiu into a clearing, where Cao could set up camp.

However, before they left, Cao Xiu had been advised not to trust Zhou Fang by one of his advisers, Jia Kui.

Cao Xiu had not heeded his words; however, and had not only bought Zhou Fang's ploy, but removed Jia Kui from the campaign and decided to march with seventy thousand troops.

On the way to the designated camping area, Cao Xiu is ambushed as planned.

Unable to gain the upper hand in battle, he thus retreats to make camp at Shiting (present-day Qianshan County, Anhui).

However, the camp is disturbed in the middle of night, and the soldiers run away in disarray.

Many sets of armor and carts of supplies are abandoned.

Cao Xiu sends in a memorial acknowledging his fault.

Many of his men are killed.

When he looks around for Zhou Fang, Zhou is nowhere to be found; he now realizes knew he had been duped.

Too ashamed to turn back, and believing that he has more troops and supplies than the enemy, he chooses to engage Lu Xun's army.

Lu Xun personally leads the central force and orders Zhu Huan and Quan Cong to take the left and right flanks.

The three armies advance simultaneously, and decisively take on Cao Xiu's ambushing troops.

Following that, the Wu troops pursue the fleeing Cao army until they reach Jiashi, where they annihilate some ten thousand men and win over ten thousand spoils of war; in addition, all of the Wei army's equipment and weaponry are looted.

Lu Xun regroups his men; and when he passes by Wuchang, Sun Quan instructs his attendants to shield Lu Xun with his own canopy when entering and leaving the palace doors.

Sun Quan bestows upon Lu Xun as reward precious items of the finest grade, honors received by no one else in this era.

Cao Xiu had barely escaped the battlefield with his life; he will die a few months later of an ulcer on his back, even after having been pardoned by the Emperor of Wei, Cao Rui.

Jia Kui, who had come along with Cao Xiu, had helped Cao retreat from the ambush.

For this, Jia Kui is highly praised by Cao Rui himself, and given many promotions.

He will live the last years of his life in happiness.

Sun Quan declares himself emperor in 229, an act that almost damages the alliance with Shu, as many Shu officials see this as a sign of betrayal of the Han Dynasty—to which Shu claims to be the legitimate successor.

However, Zhuge Liang opposes ending the alliance and in fact confirms it with a formal treaty later this year, in which the two states pledge to support each other and divide Wei equally if they can conquer it.

Later this year, he moves his capital from Wuchang (in present-day Ezhou, Hubei) to …

…Jianye, leaving his crown prince Sun Deng, assisted by Lu Xun, in charge of the western empire.

Kushan emperor Vasudeva I is recorded in the Chinese historical chronicle Sanguozhi to have sent tribute to the Chinese emperor Cao Rui of the Wei in 229 CE (third year of Taihe): "The king of the Da Yuezhi, Bodiao (Vāsudeva), sent his envoy to present tribute and His Majesty granted him a title of "King of the Da Yuezhi Intimate with Wei.” He is the last Kushan ruler to be mentioned in Chinese sources.

His rule corresponds to the retreat of Chinese power from Central Asia, and it is thought that Vasudeva may have filled the power vacuum in this area.

The great expansion of the Dharmaguptaka Buddhist group in Central Asia during this period has also been related to this event.

Excessive luxury and extravagance at the imperial court have been diminished under Alexander.

Upon his accession, he had reduced the silver purity of the denarius from 46.5% to 43%—the actual silver weight dropping from 1.41 grams to 1.30 grams; however, he revalues the denarius in 229, increasing the silver purity and weight to 45% and 1.46 grams respectively.

The first sign of the deterioration of Sun Quan's reign occurs in 230, when he sends his generals Wei Wen and Zhuge Zhi with a navy of ten thousand into the East China Sea to seek the legendary islands of Yizhou and Danzhou to seek to conquer them, despite the strenuous opposition of Lu Xun and Quan Cong.

Ardashir has conquered the provinces of Margiana and …

…Chorasmia (Khwarezm) in the region of modern Turmenistan.

The “King of Turan” supposedly acknowledges Ardashir’s suzerainty.