Complex sentence: A large crowd formed, and when the mourners learned that their mass had been banned by the government, they dispersed accordingly, but instead of going home they went to persuade more business owners to close up shop.
Split into simpler sentences: A large crowd formed, and when the mourners learned that their mass had been banned by the government, they dispersed accordingly. But, instead of going home, they went to persuade more business owners to close up shop.