"Romance of the Three Kingdoms": Why did Luo Guanzhong praise Zhuge Liang excessively and belittle Zhou Yu and Cao Cao? What was his purpose?

Because the social theme at that time believed that the camp of Zhou Yu and Cao Cao was rebellious, while the Shu Han camp of Zhuge Liang was orthodox and wanted to restore the Han Dynasty and maintain orthodoxy in the world. That's why Luo Guanzhong praised Zhuge Liang excessively and belittled Zhou Yu and Cao Cao in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Luo Guanzhong personally admired Zhuge Liang very much. He believed that Zhuge Liang was a perfect counselor, so he did his best to brag about Zhuge Liang.

What Cao Cao did was considered treasonous at the time. Cao Cao controlled the government and even the king had to bow to him when he saw him. All kings do not want to have such a minister, so it is very necessary to discredit Cao Cao. This is the correct ideological policy. If he had advocated the disloyal Cao Cao, this "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" might have been banned long ago and would not have been circulated to this day. Luo Guanzhong did a very good job in this aspect. In the book, Cao Cao's sentence "I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me" made everyone think that Cao Cao was a very selfish person and a great bad person.

The reason for discrediting Zhou Yu is that he is too perfect in the opposite camp. If such a person exists, Zhuge Liang's halo as the protagonist will be greatly reduced. Compared with his rewrite of Zhou Yu, Luo Guanzhong's smear campaign against Cao Cao pales into insignificance. Zhou Yu, a humble and magnanimous person, was written by Luo Guanzhong as such a stingy person. When he was angered to death by Zhuge Liang, he sighed, "How can Liang be born when Yu is born?" It really makes all the friends who know the truth feel sorry for Zhou Yu from the bottom of their hearts.

In fact, Zhuge Liang did not have any particularly outstanding political achievements in history, nor was he as amazing as described in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Even his death added a tragic color to the myth. What a pity that it would be a failure to borrow life from God and be interrupted by others. Many people are secretly guessing what will happen if they succeed. The reason why Zhuge Liang is so praised is because as a minister, he was loyal to the king he served.