Abstract: In the aftermath of the warfare with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom，local governments in the Jiangnan were confronted with essential tasks such as the reconstruction of social order and the recovery of economic production，but the sense of crisis and potential danger of turmoil in the postwar years made
these tasks difficult． This paper explores the revolt by so-caued “jiaofei” ( religious bandits) to attack Guangde department and Jianping county in March，1865，and narrates the cooperative quelling actions by authorities of Jiangsu，Zhejiang and Anhui provinces． Although it is generally acknowledged that local social control was weakened to various degrees after the Taiping Rebellion，this vertical integrated system of control from the court to the local governments included the baojia system and provincial administrations at all levels． The view that local social control was weak，is perhaps incorrect given the successful suppression of this insurrection