[1][2][3] In 1919, Li returned to public service as acting director of the Heilongjiang department of finance.

He was formally appointed to the position the next year, and concurrently served as president of a bank in Yongji.

In June 1927, Li was named agricultural minister of the Beiyang government on the advice of Zhang Zuolin, in place of Yang Wenkai [zh].

[1][2][3] He returned to Fengtian in October to assume the governorship, yielding the agricultural portfolio to Mo Teh-hui.

He fell ill and sought medical treatment in the United States soon after the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War.