Besides the goal of recovery of the han royal family that zhuge liang longed for by means of northern expedition , there is another more realistic goal , that is , to expand the territory of the shu state and strengthen its power through the seizure of liangzhou 诸葛亮之所以坚持北伐，是因为北伐的目的，除了实现“兴复汉室”的目标外，还有一个比较现实的低级目标即夺取凉州，借以增大蜀国的疆域和国力。
This article , through analysis of the then situation between the wei and the shu states and zhuge liang ' s motive for northern expedition , pointed out that either to the public or private interests , zhuge liang could not hut carry out his northern expedition ; in addition , there would have been a possibility of success at the initial period of northern expedition if the strategy was appropriate , because a success or failure of a war is not always determined by the military strength only 本文通过分析当时蜀汉与曹魏的形势对比、诸葛亮的北伐动机，指出无论在公在私，诸葛亮都有不得不北伐的动因；且在北伐战争的初期如果策略得当，的确有胜利的希望，而不能单纯以兵力数量为战争胜负的决定因素。
