"There are only a few people who are familiar with Sun Jian. Apart from the ministers in the court, there are only his wife, his subordinates, and the servants of the Sun family."

"These people don't even need to think about it."

"Even if we go to great lengths to control these people and get them to harm Sun Jian, it will be extremely difficult!"

"Everyone in the imperial court knows that Sun Jian's trusted subordinates are all from the group he brought from Hongnong County."

"They are utterly loyal to Sun Jian, even willing to die for him. What can we offer to turn them against us? What can we offer to make them help us betray Sun Jian?"

After listening to the two adults' analysis, Li Hongyun was still somewhat unconvinced and continued, "Human nature is inherently selfish. If we offer them great benefits and then threaten them, perhaps that's possible?"

"Ha... offering huge profits and then threatening?"

Lin Jingsi couldn't help but laugh in exasperation at Li Hongyun's childish words.

He now wore the same expression as the Second Prince Li Chengru, looking at Li Hongyun as if he were a fool.

"Lord Li, you are the Minister of Justice, whom I have worked so hard to obtain. How can your information be so slow?"

Li Hongyun hesitated for a moment, still not understanding the meaning behind Lin Jingsi's words.

"Lord Lin, what do you mean by that?" Li Hongyun asked, completely bewildered.

His question caused the Second Prince, Li Chengru, to immediately become so angry at the old man that he raised his hand to his forehead.

What a terrible teammate!

Li Hongyun, the Minister of Justice under my command, is usually quite clever. How come he's acting like a stupid pig right now?

Lin Jingsi has already said it so clearly, how could he still not understand?

At that moment, the Second Prince felt utterly hopeless. He thought of Sun Jian, a disciple of the Crown Prince, whose brilliant mind and unparalleled genius made his men seem worlds apart from him.

I'm not afraid of the enemy being too strong, I'm just afraid of my side being full of weaklings.

Lin Jingsi naturally noticed the change in expression on the face of their master, the Second Prince Li Chengru.

But he still patiently explained to Li Hongyun.

"Lord Li, I was wondering why your information was so outdated. I wanted to ask you, don't you even know that Qiankun Hall is the property of that brat Sun Jian?"

"Of course I know that."

"I already heard about it the day before yesterday."

Li Hongyun still had a surprised expression.

Lin Jingsi was at his wit's end, and at that moment he couldn't help but feel the urge to swear.

How exactly has Lord Li managed to remain firmly in the position of Minister of Justice for so many years?

With his current level of intelligence, any minor official could easily plot to kill him.

The words were so clear, yet he still hadn't realized it.

Fortunately, before Lin Jingsi could finish speaking, Xue Zhen, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, couldn't wait any longer and spoke first.

"Let Xue speak!"

"Master Li!"

"The reason your plan is not feasible is because Qiankun Hall is Sun Jian's property."

"In just a few months, Qiankun Hall has amassed all the wealth of the entire capital city of Chang'an, and even shows signs of expanding outwards."

"Given time, Qiankun Hall will be able to become a shop that attracts all the talents in the world."

"It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the future number one scoundrel in the world."

"Leaving aside the distant future, let's just talk about the present. I can confidently say that the silver that Sun Jiang currently possesses is comparable to that of all the shops in the capital combined."

"this……"

After hearing these words, Li Hongyun finally realized what was happening.

It wasn't that he was actually stupid, but rather that he had fallen into a misconception.

After Xue Zhen, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, gave him a brief explanation, he suddenly realized what was going on.

Lin Jingsi added, "Lord Xue is right!"

"Regarding this suppression of the locust plague, in addition to the silver and grain allocated by the imperial court, a large part of it was Sun Jian who took out his own silver to help the refugees."

"Therefore, our attempts to win over Sun Jian's subordinates and servants by offering them great rewards and threatening them are completely ineffective."

"It might even backfire!"

"Because these people followed Sun Jian, they already possessed endless wealth, prestige, and power."

"Even the future heights are unpredictable."

"What we can offer, how could it possibly move them?"

"Secondly, even if we succeed in turning Sun Jian to defect, how do we lure him out of the capital?"

"As the person in charge of the Ministry of Rites, I have had the most contact with Sun Jian. In particular, I even went to Sun's residence today with Mi Zhu, the Minister of Revenue."

“All the subordinates, retainers, and servants of the Sun family were basically doing their jobs in a routine manner every day. Sun Jian was essentially a hands-off manager and did not participate in any management.”

"If a subordinate suddenly goes astray and then invites Sun Jian to go somewhere, do you think Sun Jian would come?"

"Furthermore, it's questionable whether our subordinate, whom we've turned, can even contact Sun Jian."

"Therefore, this plan is absolutely unworkable."

After saying these words, Lin Jingsi also gave a comprehensive supplement to the discussion on the methods of defection and promising great benefits, drawing inferences from one instance to another.

Simply put, apart from turning Sun Jian's subordinates against him, any other schemes you might use, such as kidnapping to lure Sun Jian to rescue someone and then trapping him like a turtle in a jar, are useless.

Because Sun Jian wasn't stupid; any normal person could smell the conspiracy involved.

Moreover, how difficult would it be to kidnap someone from the Sun family?

The Sun family mansion was protected by armored soldiers, and they could show their faces in public every day, while those outside were unaffected.

If you kidnap the wrong person, you'll end up losing more than you gain.

Not only did they fail to lure Sun Jian there, they also exposed them first.

Making a move that alerts the enemy will only worsen the current situation.

As previously stated, the next strike must be a sure hit.

Lin Jingsi's words nipped Li Hongyun's muddled suggestions and ideas in the bud.

This will prevent the old man from coming up with some unrealistic ideas without any clear understanding of the situation.

Li Hongyun looked extremely embarrassed. He realized that his previous suggestions were nothing short of pointless and even laughable.

Actually, this is not Li Hongyun's fault. Among the six ministers who were in charge of the government, he was the only one who knew very little about Sun Jian, and most of the information he had was hearsay.

In addition, he had previously fallen into a misconception, which led to his reaction.

Fortunately, the second prince didn't say anything to him from beginning to end. All he had to do was remain silent, and the awkward atmosphere would pass.

In an instant, the atmosphere in the scene froze.

Everyone started racking their brains again to come up with a way to deal with Sun Jian.

Suddenly, Lin Jingsi's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of something, and he quickly said, "Your Highness, I have a plan that might lure that brat Sun Jian out of the city!"