This made Li Shimin anxious, and he wanted to trade one for one with me.

Cheng Jun was not surprised by Li Shimin's stern questioning attitude; in history, Li Shimin was known for protecting the Prince of Wei.

Historical records state that during the Zhenguan era, someone reported to Li Shimin that officials of the third rank and above, led by Fang Xuanling, were not showing enough respect to Li Tai. Upon hearing that his beloved son had been wronged, Li Shimin was furious and summoned those officials to the palace, where he was severely questioned.

Fang Xuanling and the others were so frightened that they dared not speak.

Cheng Jun was not like them, and besides, he knew Li Shimin was a reasonable man, so he said seriously:

"When Your Majesty encounters minor matters, the censors and officials in the court will offer their advice and ask Your Majesty to correct them."

"Aren't the censors and officials in charge of criticizing His Majesty for such a trivial matter nitpicking? Aren't we bullying His Majesty?"

Li Shimin was surprised that he dared to refute him at this moment, and glared at him, saying, "This is different!"

Cheng Jun said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty has made a minor mistake. We will immediately submit a memorial to Your Majesty and request that you correct it."

“We teachers saw that King Wei had made a small mistake, and we hope that he can correct it.”

"Both of these are about correcting mistakes, so how are they different?"

Cheng Jun said firmly, "Emperor Zhaolie of Han, Liu Bei, once said, 'Do not do evil because it is small, and do not neglect good because it is small.' Your Majesty understands this principle, so why don't you ask your ministers to make the King of Wei understand this principle as well?"

Li Shimin said sternly, "Because you don't want the Prince of Wei to understand the principle of respecting teachers and valuing the Way, you just want to criticize him!"

Cheng Jun countered, "If the King of Wei is wrong, why can't we criticize him?"

"Your Majesty appointed us as the teachers of the King of Wei, isn't that precisely to teach him to correct his mistakes?"

"We're asking him to correct his ways, but His Majesty is unwilling. Your Majesty, do you want Prince Wei to learn good ways or bad ways?"

"If Your Majesty does not want the Prince of Wei to improve, then Your Majesty should immediately dismiss us teachers!"

"If Your Majesty wants the Prince of Wei to learn good manners, why are you hindering us?"

Cheng Jun said earnestly, "If Your Majesty thinks it is wrong for us to teach the Prince of Wei to respect his teachers, that our earnest teaching of the Prince of Wei is nitpicking, and that we should not have tolerated the Prince of Wei's minor faults, then please issue an edict to find another famous teacher for the Prince of Wei."

How can I put this...? Li Shimin's face darkened upon hearing this, and he rebuked, "Cheng Jun, can you please stop waving your flag around when you speak?"

"Furthermore, I never said I wanted to replace you. I just hope that you can be more gentle in your attitude when teaching the Prince of Wei."

Cheng Jun said decisively, "The King of Wei made a mistake, but his attendants and guards took the blame for him. Was my attitude not mild enough?"

"If this happened in my own home, my father would have already punched me in the face if I made a mistake!"

Cheng Jun raised his fist and shouted.

"..."

Li Shimin clenched his fist, then quickly relaxed it.

He heavily relied on officials who could speak out, so that all officials, both civil and military, would know that he was a reasonable person.

But as the saying goes, reason is one thing, but the thought of being scolded by Cheng Jun with barbed words still makes one feel uncomfortable.

"Alright, alright, stop talking!"

Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "Do as you please, I won't say anything more, is that alright? Please leave, please leave without stopping!"

Cheng Jun shook his head and said, "I cannot leave. I want to ask clearly, in Your Majesty's eyes, are we teachers right or wrong?"

"..."

If I say Cheng Jun did the right thing, he'll definitely push his luck; if I say he was wrong, that kid will definitely have something to say. I won't have any peace and quiet today...

Li Shimin frowned and said, "Whether it's right or wrong, no one's opinion matters. I want to see results!"

He stared at Cheng Jun and said, "Didn't you just confidently say that you could change the King of Wei by following your methods? I'll wait and see. If the King of Wei remains the same after all your efforts, then you have failed in your duty, and I will hold you accountable!"

Li Er has become cunning; not only does he avoid giving a direct answer, he's also setting a trap for me... Cheng Jun raised an eyebrow and pointed out the trap he'd dug:

"Your Majesty, please enlighten us: how can we be deemed to have fulfilled our duties?"

Li Shimin said sternly, "This is something you teachers should consider. If the Prince of Wei performs well, you are not derelict in your duties; conversely, if he performs poorly, then you are derelict in your duties!"

Cheng Jun then asked, "How can we determine if the King of Wei has performed well?"

Li Shimin glared at him and said, "Am I the teacher, or are you the teachers? You should be asking me the questions you need to consider."

Cheng Jun solemnly said, "Your Majesty, our Great Tang Dynasty selects officials through the imperial examinations, judging them by their literary talent, and soldiers fight on the battlefield, deciding life and death by force. It is clear that everything has something to be measured by."

"The same principle applies to the matter of the King of Wei."

Cheng Jun said:

"His Majesty only says that the Prince of Wei performed well, so that we are not considered to have failed in our duties. But how exactly did the Prince of Wei perform for His Majesty to consider him good? If we cannot explain this clearly, it will be difficult for us teachers to do our jobs. Because when His Majesty reviews the results of our teaching of the Prince of Wei, if His Majesty casually says that the Prince of Wei performed poorly, we will be guilty of dereliction of duty no matter how well we have taught him."

"Therefore, Your Majesty, please enlighten us!"

"..."

When Li Shimin realized that the trap he had set for Cheng Jun had been discovered, he immediately fell silent.

Cheng Jun wasn't in a hurry and waited patiently for him to speak.

He had seen this kind of thing many times when he was working before he transmigrated.

In his past life, he saw many new employees at the company. When the leaders assigned tasks, some of the greenhorns would immediately run to do them as soon as they heard there was something to do. But no matter how well they did, a single "no" from above would negate all their efforts.

Some new employees think it's because they lack ability and continue to work hard, unaware that their superiors are making things difficult for them. Only after being made difficult many times do they realize the problem.

Therefore, getting to the bottom of things is very important.

If a problem arises, you can absolve yourself of responsibility and prevent your superiors from shifting the blame.

Li Shimin looked at Cheng Jun with a headache. Why was it so difficult to make things difficult for him? He could only say:

"Cheng Jun, what kind of performance do you think the Prince of Wei would be considered satisfactory?"

"You've thrown the question at me, so I won't hold back..." Cheng Jun solemnly said, "In my opinion, if the King of Wei can do what the Crown Prince can do, then he has passed the test."

Li Shimin's eyes flickered, and he asked, "You mean that if the Crown Prince can do something, the Prince of Wei can also do it, and that's considered passing the test? You're making it far too easy for yourselves!"

Cheng Jun pondered for a moment and said, "Then what the Crown Prince can do, the Prince of Wei can also do; what the Crown Prince cannot do, the Prince of Wei can also do. How about that?"

That's more like it... Li Shimin nodded and said, "Let's leave it at that."

As he spoke, he held up two fingers. "I'm giving you twenty days. In twenty days, the envoys from Goguryeo and Baekje should arrive."

"Before the envoys from both countries come to Chang'an to accept your mediation as a special envoy, I will review the results of your education of the King of Wei."

Li Shimin said sternly, "If you teach well, I will reward you; if you teach poorly, I will punish you!"

Cheng Jun cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

Li Shimin was quite satisfied with the result and waved his hand, saying, "Go down."

"My minister retire."

Cheng Jun bowed and then turned to leave Ganlu Hall.

Zhang Anan watched his departing figure, reflecting on what had just happened, and sighed:

"Imperial Censor Cheng is really not easy to deal with."

Li Shimin snorted, "If he were easy to deal with, would I need to step in?"

Zhang Anan laughed and said, "King Wei should be relieved now."

"..."

One sentence caused Li Shimin's expression to change drastically.