n0, apologize, it is late tonight for me to go into the Rambam (even as the Rambam advises that best learning is at night, but who pasken like Rambam !?) – but my understanding was that Rambam thinks it is a disgrace for the Torah scholar to rely on charity, that is making other people to work instead of him. Obviously, this means that he himself thinks that his learning is more important than learning or any other mitzvos by other people, and he also causes other people to begrudge him and belittle Torah scholars.
I understand Brisker Rav brings these 2 Rambams, and concludes that 1st Rambam is for “general audience” and the 2nd for “yehidim” like Rashbi (and, presumably, Briskers).
Interestingly, Mishna Berurah takes an _opposite_ approach saying that we are too weak to work and learn, so if given just one choice, we should learn. chofetz Chaim himself was selling needles first and his seforim later on. I am not sure whether he has a position on using government funds, I don’t think Russian or Polish governments paid for Radin yeshiva.
Also, to paraphrase Mishna Berurah, as he conjectures that Rambam “at his times” would agree to learning for money, I am thinking that Mishna Berurah would agree “in our times” to work for a day a week and then learn for the rest while living modestly.