After the fall of the Qing government and subsequent failure of the Second Revolution, Lu fled Chengdu to escape the persecution of suspected revolutionaries.

During the May Fourth Movement, he joined Young China Association (Chinese: 少年中国学会) and published several articles advocating for "saving the country through education.

He hired fellow members of Young China Association, including Wang Dexi and Yun Daiying, to implement educational reforms.

In August of that year, he invited Danish engineer Jesper Johansen Schultz to survey, design and oversee the construction of a railway connecting Chuanbei and Hechuan counties.

[9] On 27 March 1928, Lu converted a temple dedicated to Guan Yu into the Beibei Library with approximately 400 books donated by the local community.

[10] In 1930, with support from scholars and politicians like Cai Yuanpei, Huang Yanpei and Weng Wenhao, Lu similarly transformed the upper hall of Dongyue Temple in Huoyan Mountain into the Western Science Academy of China (Chinese: 中国西部科学院).

In 1933, he facilitated the merger of five major coal plants along the Beichuan Railway, leading to the formation of the Tianfu Mining Company (Chinese: 天府矿业公司).

Due to limited ship capacity, he requested the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to requisition 2,000 wooden boats from Chongqing and an additional 800 from Hubei.

[16] Due to bombing by Japanese military aircraft, Minsheng Company lost 16 ships during transportation, 116 employees died, and 61 others were disabled.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the machinery and equipment evacuated from arsenals and private enterprises during this operation could produce 300,000 grenades, 70,000 mortar shells, 6,000 aircraft bombs, and over 200,000 pickaxes per month.

Due to his outstanding contributions in the evacuation, the Chinese government awarded Lu the third-class Brilliant Jade Medal in January 1939.

[21] In recognition of his contributions to military transportation during the war, the Nationalist government awarded Lu the second-class Propitious Clouds Medal in May 1944.

[17] As the Chinese Civil War resumed in 1947, Minsheng Company faced significant financial hardship due to an unstable business environment.

Three days later, the company held a Five-anti Campaign mobilization meeting, during which Lu was accused of "corrupting and influencing state officials".