....the Qing government has no choice but…

....the Qing government has no choice but to rely on the local militia forces, such as the Hunan Braves (later called the Hunan Army) organized by Zeng Guofan in 1852.

These armies, composed of the village farmers and inspired with a strong sense of mission for protecting the Confucian orthodoxy, are used for wider operations than merely protecting their own villages.

The local gentry initially provide the necessary funds for maintaining them.