Battle of Nanking
Li, and his remaining force of 40,000, came back to eastern Guangdong province, the Guangdong had been home to many Taiping forces of the first generation before they were driven out of their homeland during the first Battle of Nanking. Zuo Zongtang ordered six major generals to lead 70,000 soldiers of the Qing army, staging them for an invasion in Jiaoling County. On May 1, 1865, 20,000 Taiping forces surrendered to this army. Li disguised himself as a monk and escaped. On May 23 he came back to Taiping, however the army he had led no longer trusted him. He was betrayed, and assassinated on August 25, 1865.