Balance of power. Although Zeng Guofan's Xiang army was the strongest after the encirclement and suppression by the Taiping Army, there were also local powerful factions such as Li Hongzhang's Huai Army and the left Chu Army, and Manchu nobles such as Monk Qin of the Qing Dynasty also had considerable military strength. Empress dowager cixi, who is in power, is ruthless and skillful in politics, which is very difficult to deal with. Once Zeng Guofan was anti-Qing, he was likely to become the target of public criticism, and it was difficult to suppress these forces by relying solely on the strength of the Xiang army.

The influence of ethics. Zeng Guofan was educated by orthodox Confucianism since childhood, and his traditional feudal ethics and loyalty to the monarch were very heavy. He is not as ambitious as Yuan Shikai, and because of his age, it is difficult to form Kang Youwei's reform thought and Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary thought. Naturally, it is difficult to make anti-Qing moves and stand on its own feet.

Thought of loving the people. Zeng Guofan was originally a scholar, and the reason why he joined the army was related to seeing ordinary people fall into civil war. When Zeng Guofan established the Xiang Army, his slogan was to defend his hometown. Therefore, after the collapse of the Taiping Army, Zeng Guofan did not want to launch a civil war again. So Zeng Guofan is still widely respected today for a reason.