Taiwanese researcher Li Shoukong asserts that in responding to the Qing offer for surrender; Ma Rulong acted hastily with no plan or thought other than to gain access to the Walled city of Kunming.

Ma Rulong's forces had come to believe that he could no longer be trusted to achieve their goal of uniting under a single rebel government.

In 1863 Ma Dexin declared himself "King-Who-Pacifies-the-South (Pingnan Wang)", seized the official seals & stopped using the Qing reign year when dating documents.

Ma Dexin hoped to keep the rebel forces united under him until he could hand over control to Du Wenxiu.

[14] Ma Rulong immediately rushed back to Kunming, His former followers rebuked him from the city walls and told him that "If you only crave to be an official with no thought for your fellow Muslims, you should return to [your home in] Guanyi."

[15] The Hui rebels viewed Ma Rulong as someone who had betrayed the anti-Qing cause, and this generated widespread resentment among his followers.