When Lin Zhe saw Li Hongzhang's letter, he did not feel happy, but disappointed when he saw the submission hidden in the words in the letter.

In this letter, Li Hongzhang categorically did not talk about any defection, anyway, there was not even any political topic, he only systematically expounded his own theories of official supervision and business management and official office through writing, and the interesting thing is that although this kind of letter is only a private letter, it is in a very formal format, but some titles are slightly diluted.

There is no need to say it explicitly in the letter, but this is already clear enough: Li Hongzhang wants to do it anyway, and is even willing to take the initiative to work for Lin Zhe.

And in this regard, Lin Zhe felt quite disappointed!

His curiosity and appreciation of Li Hongzhang is not because of how successful he is, but because he is a failed unlucky guy, the reason for his failure is not to say, throughout Li Hongzhang's life, it can be described as a 'helpless failure'!

His foolishness, his struggles, are all reasons for interest.

However, now, Lin Zhe found that Li Hongzhang was just a mortal, without his foolish loyalty to the Manchu Dynasty, and without the struggle he still struggled in the predicament, his current submission behavior is the same as the original Taiping Heavenly Kingdom loyal king Li Xiucheng, in order to survive in person, he personally wrote a letter to Lin Zhe and wrote a self-incrimination book of up to 100,000 words.

When the sacred aura on these historical celebrities disappeared, what Lin Zhe saw was just ordinary natives of this era, at most they had a little more talent than other natives. Nothing else.

If Li Hongzhang didn't give Lin Zhe this letter expressing his willingness to surrender, maybe Lin Zhe would occasionally think of him. Then call him over to talk about him and think of him as a historical celebrity. Treat him as a friend on an equal footing, talk about some militaristic topics, and hope that he will be under house arrest for the rest of his life, but he may become Lin Zhe's friend.

But now, Li Hongzhang has succumbed, Lin Zhe doesn't know what caused Li Hongzhang to succumb, and he has no interest in knowing, what he knows now is that Li Hongzhang succumbed.

And a Li Hongzhang who has already succumbed. Lin Zhe didn't have much interest!

A few days later, Li Hongzhang met several people in his small courtyard, who were officials of the Organization Department, and they talked with Li Hongzhang in the room for more than an hour before leaving.

The next day, the Imperial Military Police officially informed Li Hongzhang that his captivity career was officially over.

The release notice of the gendarmerie was accompanied by officials from the Organization Department, who sent Li Hongzhang a letter of appointment, which did not include a traditional official position. Rather, it is an ad hoc position called 'Director of Strategic Development for Business and Industry'.

This is not what Lin Zhe meant, but the solution after careful consideration by the Organization Department!

After Lin Zhe received Li Hongzhang's letter, he was greatly disappointed in Li Hongzhang. Because the paster Li Hongzhang disappeared, the subordinate Li Hongzhang appeared.

So he just casually ordered it, saying that Li Hongzhang wanted to do it anyway. As for how to deal with it, it is naturally operated by the people on the cabinet side, and Lin Zhe is no longer interested in paying attention.

Li Hongzhang wants to be anyway. This is no small matter, Li Hongzhang is currently the highest-ranking captive of the Chinese Empire. He was not only the governor of Jiangsu in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but also the assistant military affairs officer of the north and south of the Yangtze River, and the commander of the Jianghuai New Army.

After he was captured, it also caused a small shock in the country!

After the Chinese army captured Li Hongzhang, they specially sent someone to transfer him to Nanjing as soon as possible, and we can know how much influence Li Hongzhang, who was organized and trained in the Jianghuai New Army in this era, has in the domestic environment of contemporary China.

Some people say that Li Hongzhang is a pseudo-Qing minister, and I am afraid that there will be chaos in the future if he reuses his words, and some people say that Li Hongzhang's influence is huge, if he also officially declares his allegiance to His Majesty and allegiance to the empire, then it will cause a huge blow to other forces in the country, and it will have a positive significance for the unification of the subsequent empire.

In the end, the discussion came and went, but it was decided to accept Li Hongzhang's surrender and prepare to publicize it widely, intending to create momentum.

But after accepting Li Hongzhang, how to arrange this follow-up is more troublesome, he is different from Li Xiucheng, although Li Xiucheng said that he has the name of a loyal king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but he is an active surrender, and this person has a little ability to lead troops to fight, but no matter what, it is impossible for Li Xiucheng to continue to serve in the army, and his level in politics is no different from that of ordinary farmers, and this person is still a soft bone who is greedy for life and afraid of death.

This is not talented, and his character is not good, so the Chinese Empire does not pay much attention to him, and just let him hang up an idle post and still put him under house arrest.

But this Li Hongzhang's surrender was approved by His Majesty Lin Zhe anyway, and Lin Zhe specially summoned Li Hongzhang before, that is to say, the reason why Li Hongzhang surrendered is very likely to be persuaded by His Majesty Lin Zhe himself.

Why did the saint personally persuade Li Hongzhang to surrender?

Subsequently, some of the contents of Li Hongzhang's letter to Lin Zhe were also published by Lin Zhe, and some of the theories of industry and commerce were very profound, and the people in the cabinet guessed that the reason why the saint persuaded Li Hongzhang anyway was because he took a fancy to his talent.

That is to say, Li Hongzhang cannot be dismissed with a middle- or lower-level position or idle position, but it is even more impossible to directly let Li Hongzhang hold an important position of power.

Therefore, in the end, the discussion came and went, and the meeting decided to give Li Hongzhang a position with limited real power, but at the same time, his status was acceptable, and he could give full play to his talents.

As for what position is suitable, that's a matter for the Organization Department.

After the cabinet meeting, the Organization Department also held several small meetings. In the end, Li Ganzhou, the assistant minister of the Organization Department, was adopted to set up a post for Li Hongzhang.

And this position is the 'Director of Strategic Development for Business and Industry'. This position leads the 'Industrial and Commercial Strategic Development Office', and of course, this Industrial and Commercial Strategic Development Office was also specially set up for Li Hongzhang. Now there is no one, just Li Hongzhang is a bald commander, the industrial and commercial strategic development office is directly under the jurisdiction of the cabinet, as long as the function is to investigate the domestic industrial and commercial development, and submit relevant industrial and commercial strategic development proposals to the cabinet.

If this department is in the words of later generations, it is actually a think tank, you say that it is important, he can't manage his affairs, he can only make so-called suggestions. You say that he is not important, but he is a direct agency of the cabinet, and the documents from this investigation can be directly sent to Lin Zhe's desk.

In order to arrange Li Hongzhang, this organization department can be regarded as a pioneering innovation!

Although Li Hongzhang has read a lot of books in the past year and has a slight understanding of the official positions of the Chinese Empire, he certainly does not know the specific official system, and if you want to understand the imperial official system, you have to read through the many official regulations and rules compiled by the Organization Department.

Although he was a little unhappy with the length of his title, he was very satisfied with his function. Because the documents of this industrial and commercial strategy development office can be directly on Lin Zhe's desk.

And this is basically straight to the heavens, which is very difficult for the relationship between monarchs and ministers in the feudal era.

And although he said that he was honest anyway, he still felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, after all, being a traitor would be somewhat stressful. So he didn't really want to do too much practical work for the Chinese Empire anyway.

Moreover, if he wants to mix in the Chinese Empire as a vassal, it is best to keep a low profile in the early stage. It is estimated that if you go to fight for the so-called real power now, you will die a miserable death.

So Li Hongzhang is still quite satisfied with his job arrangement, um. It's just that the number of words in the title is a bit too much, and it would be much better to simplify it. For example, 'Director of Commerce' is much better.

Breathing the outside air and becoming an imperial official, Li Hongzhang's heart felt a little complicated, but he soon left these complexities behind him and began to think about how to carry out his work and make a name for himself in the system of the Chinese Empire.

His office is not located in the ministries, but in the Prime Minister's Building, which houses the Prime Minister and the Associate Minister, as well as a number of smaller cabinet-affiliated agencies.

Li Hongzhang's Industrial and Commercial Strategic Development Office is directly under the cabinet, and the Organization Department has only given a staff of only eight people, so it is naturally impossible for such a small organization to work alone, so it has obtained an independent office in the Prime Minister's Building.

When Li Hongzhang stepped out of the carriage and stood in front of the four-storey brick and stone building of the main building, Li Hongzhang had a sense of impermanence in a trance, once upon a time he was still fighting with the Jianghuai New Army and the Chinese Army, but now he is wearing short hair, wearing Chinese clothes, and wearing the badge of the peony national emblem, and is about to enter this building to serve China and serve Lin Zhe.

This makes him still a little unaccustomed!

After entering the building, Li Hongzhang found himself in a very unfamiliar environment, except for an official from the Organization Department who accompanied him, he didn't recognize any of the others, and no one greeted him with excitement or amazement, he was like a nobody, and he didn't receive any extra attention when he arrived here.

After being introduced by an official of the Organization Department to a deputy director of the General Affairs Office of a cabinet, Li Hongzhang was taken by the deputy director, who was about 356 years old, to an office in the innermost part of the corridor on the third floor.

After entering the inside, Li Hongzhang saw that there were already three people working in it, and the deputy director of the General Affairs Department of the Cabinet next to him said: "Now the people who are good at industry and commerce are relatively tight, and many of them are arranged to go to the provincial government yamen. I have reported the other four vacancies to the Organization Department, and it is expected that it will be completed for you in the future, and if you have your favorite candidate, and the other party is willing to come, you can also take the initiative to apply to the Organization Department! ”

The deputy director of the General Affairs Department didn't stay long, but left after a few simple words, leaving Li Hongzhang and three officialdom newcomers! (To be continued......)