People who have read the history of the Three Kingdoms know that Cao Cao was a very strategic person, and he was decisive in his work, not dragging mud and water, and it was precisely because he could always seize the opportunity in battle, surprise him, and win in one fell swoop, which is why Cao Cao was able to unify the north. But Cao Cao, who was decisive in doing things, had been hesitant about one thing and was unable to make a decision for a long time, that is, Li Chu.
Regarding the question of heirs, at first Cao Cao did not have any worries. Cao Cao has always been very fond of his eldest son Cao Ang, and has always taken him around to fight and focus on cultivating him as an heir. However, Cao Ang's life was short, and he was unfortunately killed while accompanying Cao Cao in his conquest of Wancheng against Zhang Xiu. Cao Cao was very sad about this, and his original wife, Lady Ding, even divorced Cao Cao because of this.
As a result, Cao Chong, the younger son born to Lady Huan, became Cao Cao's favorite heir. Cao Chong has been gifted and different since childhood, and the protagonist of the story of Cao Chong calling an elephant in the books when we were young was him. His intelligence was very popular with Cao Cao, who repeatedly boasted of Cao Chong in front of people and intended to make him his heir. However, Cao Chong died of illness when he was thirteen years old.
Cao Cao experienced the pain of losing his son, but also worried about the matter of the heir, Cao Cao had more than twenty sons, but among the many sons compared with the deceased Cao Ang and Cao Chong, there was no one who let him look good, barely choosing, only Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, and Cao Zhi looked good, but Cao Cao had difficulty making a decision for a while, so he had to consider it slowly.
However, these three sons happened to be born to Lady Bian, and Lady Bian was supported by Cao Cao at this time and became a proper wife, and these three sons were also concubines. In fact, according to the inheritance etiquette law at that time, Cao Pi was the first choice for the succession, but Cao Cao had never been a rule-abiding person, and he did not particularly like Cao Pi. This also gave Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi the opportunity.
Cao Zhang, the second son of Lady Bian, Cao Zhang, from an early age, liked to ride and shoot, his martial arts were amazing, and he often followed Cao Cao's southern conquests and northern battles, making many military achievements, holding military power, and having great prestige in the army. However, Cao Zhang had a headache as soon as he read the book, and despite Cao Cao's many admonitions, Cao Zhang still could not see it, and he was a martial artist. When Cao Cao saw this, he knew that Cao Zhang could only be a general, not an emperor, and he could not do it politically.
Looking at Cao Zhi, Cao Zhi has been talented since he was a child and is very accomplished in literature, and Cao Cao also greatly appreciates his talent. Moreover, the advantage of Cao Zhi is that he is deeply loved by the scholar class, and in the great battle for the position of the son of the world, the scales of many literati are tilted to Cao Zhi's side. This made Cao Cao very fond of this, because the status of the scholar class at that time was very high, after all, the direction of public opinion at that time was controlled by these people, and Cao Cao always wanted to attract these scholar class to his subordinates, and Cao Zhi could do it, and it was deeply popular and sought after.
But why did Cao Cao finally choose Cao Pi? The ancients had the saying that "standing up is not long, standing long is not standing young", and Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are both concubines, but Cao Pi is the eldest son of Cao Pi, he should be the first heir, so the ministers who abide by the etiquette law are biased towards Cao Pi. Moreover, Liu Biao and Yuan Shao were the lessons of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao did not want to destroy the jiangshan he had worked so hard to lay down.
And as a monarch, a leader, the most important thing is political ability, Cao Pi he has, he can make the ministers speak for themselves in front of Cao Cao, proving that he has a certain influence and appeal. And Cao Pi has a good ability to control himself, as a monarch can not let go of himself, to often restrain his behavior, Cao Pi gives people the feeling of self-discipline, not arrogant, not willful, he acts like a real monarch. But Cao Zhi is different, he is a literati, a poet, he prefers to be drunk as a song, to express the feelings of a poet. His wanton behavior touched Cao Cao's bottom line again and again, and finally broke into the White Horse Gate at night, which finally made Cao Cao intolerable to him and completely lost his father's love. And Cao Pi is the most suitable candidate for the succession.
Reference: "Three Kingdoms"