The hero defined in modern times is a person with courage, foresight and great ambition, and his achievements in life should be relatively high. Therefore, throughout the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao was a hero who met this requirement, while Liu Bei could only be a briber who showed weakness in tears.
First, Liu Bei's force is not high and his ability to govern the country is poor. Both Cao Cao and Liu Bei were kings in the Three Kingdoms period, but their styles and personalities were completely different. Liu Bei himself doesn't have much talent and his force is not high, so when he fights on the battlefield, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei usually take the lead for him. Liu Bei used to serve the public and the way to keep his subordinates loyal was to take good care of them. Moreover, Liu Bei always loves to cry, which shows his concern and love for his subordinates. Liu Bei's ambition is not firm. When Guan Yu was killed in defeat, he was carried away by hatred and went to fight Wu without a plan, which directly led to the defeat of Shu and the sharp decline of his troops. Therefore, from the current definition, Liu Bei is more like a king who actively shows weakness to win people's hearts and is impatient than a hero in the modern definition.
Second, Cao Cao is an atmospheric, powerful, strategic and far-sighted hero. On the contrary, Cao Cao is a hero image that conforms to the modern definition. Cao Cao's own force is very high, and he and his Cao Shi family have strong fighting capacity. Whenever he goes to the battlefield, Cao Cao is always the one who takes the lead. Moreover, although Cao Cao is considered suspicious in history, his mind is still relatively broad. He is thirsty for talents, and he can put aside the past and appoint Sima Yi and others, which is enough to reflect Cao Cao's broad mind. In addition, Cao Cao has great ambitions. He doesn't care about this half country, but wants to unify the whole country and be the master of the whole country. Although he didn't do this when he was alive, his descendants are really far-sighted. From these angles, Cao Cao is the hero.
Cao Cao is a hero more in line with the modern definition. He is brave, ambitious and thirsty for talent. Cao Cao's appreciation of Guan Yu and his victory during the Three Kingdoms period can be reflected. So Cao Cao is the real hero of modern definition.