Complex sentence: Zeng Guofan considered him an evasive if charming fame-seeker, and some of his sarcasm may have been lost on magistrates that, in the first place, may have been as confused as Ting believed.
Split into simpler sentences: Zeng Guofan considered him an evasive if charming fame-seeker. Some of his sarcasm may have been lost on magistrates that, in the first place, may have been as confused as Ting believed.