<P> In 1855, Zhang Lexing took direct action by launching attacks against government troops in central China . By the summer, the fast - moving Nian cavalry, well - trained and fully equipped with modern firearms, had cut the lines of communication between Beijing and the Qing armies fighting the Taiping rebels in the south . Qing forces were badly overstretched as rebellions broke out across China, allowing the Nian armies to conquer large tracts of land and gain control over economically vital areas . The Nian fortified their captured cities and used them as bases to launch cavalry attacks against Qing troops in the countryside, prompting local towns to fortify themselves against Nian raiding parties . This resulted in constant fighting which devastated the previously rich provinces of Jiangsu and Hunan . </P> <P> In early 1856, the Qing government sent the Mongol general Sengge Rinchen, who had recently crushed a large Taiping rebel army, to defeat the Nian . Sengge Rinchen's army captured several fortified cities and destroyed most of the Nian infantry, and killed Zhang Lexing himself in an ambush . However, the Nian movement survived as Taiping commanders arrived to take control of the Nian forces, and the bulk of the Nian cavalry remained intact . Sengge Rinchen's infantry - based army could not stop the fast moving cavalry from devastating the countryside and launching surprise attacks on Qing troops . In 1865, Sengge Rinchen and his bodyguards were ambushed by Nian troops and killed, depriving the government of its best military commander . The Qing regime sent general Zeng Guofan to take command of Qing imperial forces, providing him with modern artillery and weapons, purchased from the Europeans at extortionate prices . Zeng's army set about building canals and trenches to hem in the Nian cavalry--an effective, but slow and expensive method . Zeng was removed from the post after the Nian rebels broke one of his defense fronts . Generals Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang were put in charge of the suppression . In late 1866, the Nian movement split into two--east Nian stayed in central China and west Nian sneaked close to Beijing . By late 1867, Li and Zuo's troops had recaptured much territory from the Nian rebels, and in early 1868, the movement was crushed by the combined forces of imperial troops and the Ever Victorious Army . </P> <P> The Du Wenxiu Rebellion (1856--1872) was a separatist movement of Muslim Hui in western Yunnan, led by Du Wenxiu (born Sulayman ibn ` Abd ar - Rahman). </P> <P> Du claimed the title of Qa _́ id Jami al - Muslimin ("Leader of the Community of Muslims"). He was known in English as the Sultan of Dali upon the city's capture . It became the base for the rebels, who declared themselves "Pingnan" (平 南国, lit . "The Pacified South"). The rebels besieged the city of Kunming four times (1857, 1861, 1863, and 1868) and briefly held the city during the third attempt . Later, as Qing forces began to gain the upper hand against the rebellion, the rebels sent a letter to Queen Victoria, asking the British for formal recognition and for military assistance; the British demurred . The rebellion was eventually suppressed by Qing troops, who killed and posthumously decapitated Du . The brutal suppression led to many Hui people fleeing to neighboring countries bordering Yunnan . Surviving Huis escaped to Burma, Thailand and Laos, forming the basis of a minority Chinese Hui population in those nations . Hundreds of thousands of Hui people were massacred or died in these purges . </P>

Who led a rebellion against the shang dynasty