The reason for these two inevitability, of course, lies in Cao Cao himself. Specifically, it lies in the following four characteristics of Cao Cao:
One is that the family background is wrong. New knowledge of history We know that the throne of the emperor is not the ancestral furniture of a certain family, but can be taken away. Chen Sheng, the leader of the peasant uprising in the late Qin Dynasty, questioned that "princes would rather have seeds", and the heroes in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms like to say that "the world is for the public, and the world is for the public". However, at the same time, there is a theory that not everyone can be the son of heaven. To be the son of heaven, you need to be rooted in Hong Miao, that is, you need to meet one of the following two conditions: either his ancestors were the son of heaven, or he was not a normal human being, but a monster gave birth to the reincarnation of celestial animals such as dragons. Cao Cao and Liu Bei are the most promising figures for the hegemony of the Three Kingdoms. Liu Bei is a descendant of Liu Sheng, the king of Zhongshan, and meets the condition that his ancestors were emperors. Cao Cao, on the other hand, has never been an emperor, but he was born in a vague way. Reflection? Shu Wei? Emperor Wu traced Cao Cao's ancestors back to Cao Can, and he was a famous figure in the early Han Dynasty. But Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, is the adopted son of eunuch Cao Teng. Although Qiu is an official, his life experience is not clear. "Don't judge him" (The Biography of Cao Zang written by Wu people called Cao Song the son of Xiahou's family). This is almost equivalent to saying that Cao Cao's father is an illegitimate child. The illegitimate son was named Wang Wei before his death and was honored as emperor after his death. This is something that all gentlemen cannot promise. Obviously, Cao Cao suffers from honesty. If he, like Liu Bang, organized a God-making team, made a big public opinion before and after, and made it widely known that he was the son of the God of Heaven and that he was the only thrill. Then, what is certain is that the team of "supporting Liu against Cao Cao" will not be so strong in the future, and it will be difficult to establish the crime of "thief". Cao Cao is stupid. He only knows how to spend a lot of energy and money to win over the literati. Most of these people are liberals and atheists, which is not only unhelpful to his imperial career (I don't think Cao Cao had any ambition to ascend to the throne before his death), but also a great obstacle.
The second is that I like doing things. Anyone who reads history knows that most of the famous prime ministers in history books are masters who muddle along and talk about theory, and are unlikely to be angular doers. Cao Cao just violated this rule. Once he entered the officialdom, he always wanted to do something. For example, as early as during his tenure as prime minister of Jinan, he once drastically reorganized the ranks of officials and put an end to the phenomenon of * * *. History books praised his achievements and said that "the county boundaries are awe-inspiring." In fact, it is not difficult to imagine that many powerful people must have been offended. Later, he was promoted to the East County prefect, Bailang. Cao Cao either refused, often didn't go to work or even resigned and went home because he realized that if he wanted to do something, it would definitely bring disaster to his family. Later, when he became a general and prime minister, Cao Cao was still highly effective. As Chen Shou said in the comments after this biography, "... strategizing, whipping the magic of God and Shang in space, Han Hebai's unique strategy, and official materials are all their own devices." Needless to say, this faction will offend many people and make thousands of enemies ―― all these people may become the makers and propagandists of his notoriety.
The third is that the mouth is not covered. China, who regards Confucianism as the theory of governing the country, advocates gentleness and gentleness, and the golden mean. The so-called etiquette is to restrain yourself, not to tell lies and smirk, but also to make others feel comfortable and happy. Cao Cao speaks without gentleness, moderation and modesty. He is outspoken about everything, no matter whether others are comfortable or not. The most powerful sentence is about "If the country is not alone, I don't know when it will be emperor and when it will be king" in Shu, arrogantly comparing itself to the ancient sage Duke Zhou. As for Cao Cao's manslaughter of his old friend Lv Boshe's family in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, "I would rather be negative than negative" ("I would rather be negative than negative" as recorded in The Three Kingdoms), the average person's understanding is not in line with Cao Cao's original intention. In addition, in his will, Cao Cao talked about the living arrangements of his wives and concubines, the division of his own clothes and spices and other trivial matters, which was called "selling shoes by distributing incense", which also contradicted the etiquette tradition of feudal times. Cao Cao is telling the truth. Even today, it sounds harsh.
Fourth, there are too many talents. Born in troubled times, he spent most of his time in important positions, dealing with the court and leading troops to fight. He needs to deal with many military and political affairs. Cao Cao is neither a samurai nor an old official, but he always keeps his true colors as a scholar and writes poems. Cao Cao's versatility can be compared with Confucius before and Su Shi after, which is incredible. Please refer to the following documents:
Cao Pi said to Cao Cao, "I can't put it down even though I am in the army." ("Canon theory? Paper)
Cao Zhi said of Cao Cao: "He is always in charge of politics, and at the same time he looks at the Confucian forest, bows his head and sings elegantly, and is played by the harp." ("Cao Ji Zhu" Volume 10)
Zhang Hua said that Cao Cao was good at cursive script, comparable to the famous cursive writers Cui Yuan, Cui's father and son, Zhang Zhi and Zhang Zhi. Huan Tan and Cai Yong are good at music, Feng Yi Shanzidao, Wang Jiuzhen, Guo Kai and others are good at Go, and Cao Cao has the same skills as them. In addition, Cao Cao also knows the way of keeping in good health, and has also studied the herbal formula (the reflection? Shu Wei? "Wu Di Ji cited natural history").
If some of them may be suspected of flattery because of their special relationship with Cao Cao, then Cao Cao's poetic achievements are obvious to all, and no one can erase them. A versatile person can certainly win the praise of simple-minded people, but it will certainly lead to the jealousy and disgust of many people with dark psychology. Ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, but mediocre people are not jealous.
As for the so-called "treachery" and "cruelty" that many people hate, it is actually not a problem at all. There is an old saying called "All is fair in war" (from "All evils are committed"), which shows that we in China have never really rejected "treachery". People love and worship Zhuge Liang mostly because of his "wisdom". A lot of Zhuge Liang's wisdom is actually a trick like cheating. The chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty led to the hegemony of the three countries. Excuse me: which character is Purdue Bodhisattva and which hero is not the executioner who kills people without blinking an eye?