He helped to raise the Green Standard Army to 250,000 to fight against the Taiping Rebellion.

Zeng Guofan praised Zhang and said he was Jiangnan's "Great Wall of China."

In 1856, Zhang Guoliang led his army in the recovery of Zhenjiang, which had been occupied by Taiping for five years.

The Emperor rewarded Zhang with the Imperial yellow jacket and promoted him to First Class Senior General.

In April 1860, Zhang was defeated and led his remaining 20,000 soldiers in retreat to Danyang.