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

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Li Shimin coughed for a while, and it took him a while to catch his breath. He looked at him in disbelief and said, "What did you just say?"

Cheng Jun solemnly said, "Your Majesty, I beg you to die!"

"He's incredibly audacious, daring to tell His Majesty to his death..." Zhang Anan, having regained his senses, realized that as the chief eunuch serving the emperor, he could not remain silent and immediately shouted in rebuke:

"Cheng Jun, this is utterly disrespectful!"

Li Shimin glared at Zhang A'na: "Don't interrupt, I want to hear what he has to say!"

After saying that, Li Shimin stared intently at Cheng Jun.

For a subject to ask the emperor to die is tantamount to rebellion. Li Shimin knew that Cheng Jun absolutely did not mean that, but for a subject to dare to say such a thing to the emperor already constituted a grave offense of disrespect.

Whether or not to kill him was entirely up to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin said, "Minister Cheng, I'm giving you a chance to speak. I'm asking you to give me a reason. If you can't, I'll execute you today!"

"You're the one who told me to say this..." Cheng Jun straightened up, looked up to meet Li Shimin's sharp gaze, as if a sword had been drawn from its sheath, and said solemnly:

"Your Majesty, I just asked you how you view the sale of official positions. Your Majesty said that those who do this are foolish rulers who compete with the people for profit. Your Majesty also said that only foolish rulers would do such a thing, causing families to be destroyed and people to die. Your Majesty said that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty lost his empire because of this. What should be the fate of such people? Your Majesty said that they should be beheaded!"

"Your Majesty is doing just that. According to your earlier argument, shouldn't you be prepared to die?"

Li Shimin sneered, "I understand now, you are impeaching me!"

"Yes!"

"How dare you say that..." Li Shimin grew increasingly angry as he listened, and roared, "Tell me now, which article of my Great Tang law states that allows you to impeach me?"

Cheng Jun said solemnly, "In the laws of our Great Tang Dynasty, there is indeed no record of a subject being able to impeach the emperor, but it also does not say that he cannot. Yesterday, Her Majesty the Empress personally told me that anything not prohibited by law is permissible. Her Majesty the Empress is a wise empress, and since what she said is correct, I should listen to her!"

Li Shimin questioned, "You say she is a virtuous empress, yet you still impeach her?"

Cheng Jun shook his head and said, "What the Empress said is correct, but her behavior is wrong. I am criticizing the Empress's behavior, not her words."

"..."

That seems to make some sense... Zhang Anan looked at Li Shimin.

Li Shimin angrily scolded, "Are you starting to beat around the bush again? Do you think I can't tell? You just say what you want to hear, and you don't say a word about what you don't want to hear!"

Cheng Jun's expression turned serious, and he said, "I always refute what I don't like to hear on the spot."

"..."

This kid's words have a hidden meaning... Seeing that he had refuted his words, Li Shimin jumped up from his dragon throne, walked up to Cheng Jun with a dark face, and said, "Minister Cheng, you really are something else, daring to impeach the emperor. Do you know that this is insubordination?"

Cheng Jun countered, "Your Majesty established the Censorate, and the censors, though lowly in rank, wield great power. Isn't what they do simply insubordination?"

Li Shimin glared at him and said, "The Censorate is the emperor's eyes and ears. You are my eyes and ears. Have you ever seen anyone's eyes and ears bite themselves?"

"Your Majesty, you're just arguing for the sake of arguing!"

"What I say makes sense!"

Li Shimin sneered, "I established the Censorate to have you serve as my eyes and ears, to investigate officials and listen to the people's sentiments, not for you to impeach me. Do you understand?"

Cheng Jun retorted again, "If His Majesty makes a mistake, shouldn't his informants speak up? Does that mean that whenever His Majesty does something wrong, his informants should cover their ears and close their eyes, pretending not to hear?"

"Emperor Yang of Sui blinded himself to catch sparrows and covered his ears to steal bells, ignoring the advice of his ministers and not taking the right path, which led to the downfall of his empire. Your Majesty has fought wars all your life. Do you think that now that the world is at peace, you want to follow Emperor Yang of Sui's example and enjoy yourself?"

Li Shimin was furious. "You compare me to a ruler of a fallen kingdom? Your heart is despicable!"

Cheng Jun declared emphatically, "The censors are simply attacking people's hearts!"

"The so-called 'punishing the heart' means exposing a person's thoughts and intentions. The censor's words are meant to eliminate Your Majesty's evil thoughts and improprieties, so that Your Majesty can repent and reform! If the censor is always trying to please Your Majesty and flattering you, would Your Majesty dare to use such a person?"

Cheng Jun met Li Shimin's angry gaze and asked.

Damn it, he could refute every single one of these points... Li Shimin couldn't help but reach out and grip Cheng Jun's shoulder tightly with his strong hand, exasperated, "Tell me, why did I choose you to be the censor?"

"Because His Majesty has the discerning eye to recognize talent!"

"..."

Li Shimin was taken aback upon hearing this.

Praising two people with just one sentence—is this what a censor is like? Zhang Anan couldn't help but admire him.

"Don't give me these empty platitudes!"

Li Shimin snapped out of his daze and angrily said, "From what you just said, are you saying that I sold official positions and titles, competed with the people for profit, and caused families to be ruined and people to die? When have I ever done such a foolish thing as a ruler?"

Cheng Jun asked, "Your Majesty, was the system of public office capital implemented by your decree?"

"Yes!"

"Was the money-catching clerk appointed by His Majesty?"

"Yes."

"The clerk who seized the money has been credited with accumulating wealth and will be granted an official position by the Ministry of Personnel. Is this an imperial decree issued by His Majesty?"

"Yes...."

Li Shimin hesitated for a moment, but since it was true, he had no choice but to nod in response.

Cheng Jun looked at him with a serious expression, made a gesture, and said righteously, "Your Majesty, there are more than 70 departments in the capital, with more than 600 officials in charge of collecting money. Each official distributes 50,000 coins to the people every year. The total amount collected by these 600 officials is as high as 30 million coins!"

"The imperial court stipulates that each official in charge of collecting money must pay 4,000 coins in interest per month on the 50,000 coins they release for public use. After a year, the interest will amount to as much as 50,000 coins!"

“The money-collecting clerk who collected 50,000 in interest for the imperial court was granted an official position by the Ministry of Personnel the following year. Isn’t this selling official positions and titles?”

"If a commoner borrows 50,000 coins, but is required to repay 100,000 coins including interest, isn't this robbing the people of their wealth?"

"When people who borrow money cannot repay the interest, their wives and children are torn apart, and some even hang themselves or drown themselves. Isn't this causing their families to be destroyed and their lives to be lost?"

"All of this is because of Your Majesty!"

Cheng Jun stared at him and said, "Your Majesty just asked me when you have ever done anything tyrannical, and I can answer Your Majesty now!"

"In the past, now, and even in the future!"

"As long as His Majesty doesn't come to his senses, he will remain a tyrant until his death!"

Inside the Ganlu Hall, Cheng Jun's incisive and scathing remarks echoed.

"..."

"He's so outspoken..." Zhang Anan was stunned and turned to look at Li Shimin again.

"No, no!"

Li Shimin suddenly realized what was happening, grabbed Cheng Jun's shoulders, shook him violently, and roared, "I remember it was Changsun Wuji who had a conflict with you, why are you targeting me with every single thing you say?"

…………

There will be more tonight. Thank you all for the gifts! There will be an extra chapter today!