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He Wenqing He Wenqing was the lineage leader of a rich and influential household in Zhuji. He was well-respected, an accomplished martial artist, and a skilled practitioner of Chinese medicine. In early 1860, He formed a militia called the “Lotus Seedpods Crew,” which was formed in part by those fleeing from natural disasters afflicting the neighboring counties. Numbering in the thousands, the militia eventually acted a a quasi-governmental entity. The local governmental officials viewed the militia and He with distrust, believing He to be bandit that was fomenting rebellion. However, the local government was forced to tolerate He's activities, even after the county magistrate Xu Yaoguang was beaten and detained by He's cohort, because He's militia was needed to prevent the Taiping from entering eastern Zhejiang.

The militia burned the camp of the approximately 20,000 Qing troops in Zhuji and joined the Taipings. He incited other local strongmen to join the Taiping and served as a guide for their forces. He was credited by the British as the source of the Taiping's continued success in Zhejiang.

Luo Dagang was a pirate leader who joined the God Worshipping Society and participated in the Taiping Rebellion.

In July 1850, the God Worshipper's leaders directed their followers to converge in Jintian. Luo Dagang answered the call, bringing with him a force of several thousand pirates. Unlike most bandit or bandit leaders to converge on Jintian, Luo Dagang became a faithful God Worshipper and a leader within the movement.

However, they were prevented from crossing the Yellow River in the province of Henan because a local magistrate had burned all of the boats on the river. The Northern Expedition was forced to march westward for several hundred miles until they could locate a ferry route.

Defense of Changsha: Local gentry led drilled militias made up of local residents which were able to repel the Taiping.

Tuanlian:


 * Kuhn and Smith articles detail Yong vs. yong-ying, etc. could write about that.