Zeng Guofan raises the Xiang Army
1853 · Event
With the imperial banner armies useless, a Confucian scholar-official is licensed to raise his own force in Hunan — recruited locally, paid locally, loyal to its commander. The Xiang Army becomes the instrument that eventually strangles the Taiping, and the precedent of regional armies under regional strongmen will haunt China into the warlord era.
On these timelines: The Taiping Rebellion, China, Master
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