S01E30 Taiping Rebellion: Zeng Guofan Builds His Army In this episode, we look at the process that Zeng Guofan went through to build his army. When he was in Hunan to mourn the death of his mother, in 1853 he accepted the mission from the emperor to take charge of military affairs in the province. Ordinarily, the Han elements of the Qing army had a divided command structure to keep them from uniting against the Manchurian dynasty. Due to the extreme emergency situation, the emperor gave Zeng Guofan unified command authority. Zeng Guofan was not a military man, but he set up a plan based on discipline and he insisted on "kill or be killed" approaches to training. We draw upon Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War by Stephen R. Platt. Including insights from The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alistair Smith. If You'd Like to Support the Podcast Subscribe, share, leave a rating. Give once, give monthly at www.buymeacoffee.com/crpodcast Subscribe to the substack newsletter at https://chineserevolutions.substack.com/ Also... Please reach out at chineserevolutions@gmail.com and let me know what you think!