Chapter 354 Chapter 353 Taizu Aixinjueluo Nurhachi

In the thirty-eighth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1559 A.D.), a boy was born in the family of Tu Ke, a nobleman of Zuowei Jurchen in Jianzhou, Ming Dynasty.He has a long face and phoenix eyes, a great body and big ears, and his voice is like a bell.In addition, he is the first boy in the Tucker family, and his parents love him very much. This boy is Nurhachi. The Jurchen tribe to which Nurhachi belongs is one of the oldest ethnic groups in Northeast my country.In ancient China, she was successively called Sushen, Yilou, Wuji, and Mohe.In the Five Dynasties, it began to be called Jurchen.In 1127 A.D., Aguda, the leader of the Jurchen Wanyan Tribe, established the Jin Dynasty and ruled the vast area north of the Huaihe River for more than a hundred years. It was not until 1234 that it was destroyed by the coalition forces of the Southern Song Dynasty and Mongolia. between.

The Yilan area in the lower reaches of the Songhua River is where Nurhaci's ancestors lived for generations.During the reign of the Yuan Dynasty, three Wanhu mansions were set up here.Nurhaci's ancestors acted as Wanhu of the Wanhu Mansion in Udori.This is an official position that can be hereditary. From then on, Nurhachi's ancestors have been officials for generations.At the turn of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, disputes among the Jurchen tribes continued, and the situation in the Northeast was turbulent.Faced with this situation, Nurhaci's sixth ancestor Mengge Timur led his tribe to migrate to the banks of the Wumu River (now Huining, North Korea) in the lower reaches of the Tumen River during the Hongwu period to settle down in order to avoid the war.At the same time, Wanhu Ahachu of Huligai Wanhu Mansion also led his tribe to move southward, and settled in Fengzhou in the upper reaches of the Huifa River.In the first year of Yongle (AD 1403), Aha went to Nanjing to pay tribute. The Ming Dynasty immediately set up the "Jianzhou Guard Military and Civilian Commander Division" and appointed him as the Jianzhou Guard Commander.In the third year of Yongle, Meng Ge Timur accompanied the Ming Dynasty to send Qianhu Wang Jiaohua to Nanjing to enter the court.Ming Chengzu also appointed him as the commander of the Jianzhou Guard, and he still governed the Wudoli tribe.In the tenth year of Yongle, Meng Ge Timur entered the court again. Ming Chengzu appreciated his loyalty and bravery, so he specially added Jianzhou Zuowei and appointed him as the commander of Jianzhou Zuowei.Because Mengge Timur loyally guarded the border for the Ming Dynasty and made outstanding achievements, he was successively promoted to the positions of Governor Qianshi and Right Governor, leaving a prominent and prosperous page in Nurhachi's family history.Counting from Mengge Timur to Nurhachi's father, Takshi is the sixth generation. For 200 years, this family, as subjects of the Ming Dynasty, has inherited the official position of Jianzhou for generations.When Nurhachi came to the world, there were still fierce disputes among the Jurchens, and the danger of being annexed and eliminated still threatened his family.But it is precisely this historical environment that provides a broad stage and a good opportunity for Nurhachi to make contributions.

Like all nobles, Nurhachi's father, Ta Keshi, also regarded having many wives as a symbol of his noble status. He married three wives successively.Nurhachi's biological mother, surnamed Xitara and named Emuqi, was the daughter of Wang Gao, the leader of the Jianzhou Guard.Sitara gave birth to three sons and one daughter, Nurhachi, Shuerhaqi and Zhierhaqi.As the eldest son, Nurhachi was loved by his parents and lived a happy life since he was a child.However, when he was 10 years old, his mother Sitara passed away suddenly.This major change fundamentally changed Nurhachi's life. He bid farewell to the superior status of the former favored son and began to live in the shadow created by his stepmother.His stepmother, Nalashi, is a mean and vicious woman. Since she took charge of the family affairs, the Nurhachi brothers have lost the warmth of the family in the past, and have suffered from her pickiness and cold treatment.Instigated and influenced by his wife, Nurhachi's father also became icy cold towards the Nurhachi brothers.Due to the pressure of life, Nurhachi started to make a living with his own hands when he was a boy. He often climbed mountains and ridges, went in and out of vast forests, dug ginseng, picked pine nuts, picked hazelnuts, picked mushrooms, and then brought these mountain goods to the market for money. , to maintain their own lives.

Nurhachi often goes to Fushun Mashi, where the business is booming. In addition to trading, he is more interested in extensive contacts and exchanges with Han people through trade, and learning various knowledge.Over time, he learned to speak Chinese and recognize Chinese characters.In this school in Mashi, Fushun, Nurhachi, who is smart, studious and ambitious, has learned a lot, learned knowledge, increased his talents, and broadened his horizons. A strong desire for knowledge drove Nurhachi to read a lot of Chinese books through the Han people he met.and are the two books he is most interested in.The resourcefulness and deeds of Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Song Jiang and other heroes in the book stirred up the young Nurhachi's desire to make contributions.Every time he read something wonderful, he could not help clapping his hands in admiration, and his yearning for the heroic achievements was beyond words.

At the age of 15, the ruthless whip of life forced Nurhachi to run away from home with his 10-year-old younger brother Shuerhaqi and join his grandfather Wang Gao. Wang Gao is a Jurchen with deep Sinicization. With his wisdom and talent, he made a fortune in the turbulent era and became a famous leader of the Jurchen in Jianzhou.After the mid-Ming Dynasty, he thought he was powerful, so he ignored the decrees of the court's frontier generals and often disturbed the frontiers.In the third year of Wanli (AD 1574), Li Chengliang, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty, led his army to break through Wang Gao's village, and Wang Gao and his relatives were all killed.At this time, the Nurhachi brothers who were in Wang Gao's house were also taken prisoner. The smart and astute Nurhachi immediately knelt down in front of Li Chengliang's horse, wept bitterly, and asked him to die in Chinese.Li Chengliang saw that he was smart, clever and pitiful, so he not only pardoned him, but also kept him in the tent as a book boy to serve him specially.Nurhachi began to practice riding and shooting from the age of seven or eight, and by the time he was sixteen or seventeen, he was already proficient in bow and horse and martial arts.Under Li Chengliang's tent, every time he went to war, he always charged bravely and made many military exploits.Li Chengliang appreciated him very much and made him his entourage and bodyguard.The two are inseparable, have a close relationship, and love each other like father and son.

Under Li Chengliang's command, Nurhachi had more opportunities to get in touch with Han people. He had a better understanding of Han culture, and his frequent practice of participating in wars allowed him to improve and display his military talents, and he became more and more confident in his strategy.Li Chengliang also took him to Beijing for a pilgrimage. The bustling market and splendid palace opened his eyes.All this gave birth to his great ambition to create a career. However, Nurhachi's obedience and allegiance to Li Chengliang are only superficial.He always held a grudge against the killing of his grandfather, but he was afraid of Li Chengliang's reputation at that time, so he didn't dare to act rashly.In private, he already had other plans, and he only took action when the time was right.

After living under Li Chengliang's tent for about 3 years, Nurhachi took the opportunity to leave Li Chengliang and return to his long-lost hometown on the grounds that his father had sent a letter asking him to go home and get married.According to his father's order, 19-year-old Nurhachi married Tong Jiashi.According to the custom of Jurchen, when a man becomes an adult, he must set up a separate family.The vicious stepmother Nalashi also used this as an excuse to instigate Takshi to drive the newly married son out of the house, and only gave him a very poor family property.Regarding these, Nurhachi was not too sad and fussy.He believes that with his intelligence and hard work, he can create a new and happy life.

After living independently, he often went to Changbai Mountain to collect and hunt, and traveled between Fushun Mashi and Jurchen areas in exchange for production and daily necessities.Sometimes he traveled around and worked as a servant.Sometimes they follow the Ming court's conscripts and join the war.After several years of hard work, Nurhachi has a richer experience.He has a better understanding of the language customs of various ethnic groups, the situation in the Central Plains, and the situation of the court, officialdom, and army, which laid a good foundation for his future development.

When Nurhachi was 25 years old, Jurchen tribes and tribes often attacked and killed each other in order to compete for hegemony.Jianzhou Jurchen has two fortified fortifications: one is Gule City, and the owner of the city is Atai; the other is Shaji City, and the owner of the city is Ahai.Atai is the son of Wang Gao, Nurhachi's grandfather, and Atai's wife is the daughter of Nurhachi's uncle Li Dun.After Wang Gao was killed, Atai vowed to avenge his father. Taking advantage of the geographical advantage of Gule City, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, he built a city on the mountain, set up trenches, and repeatedly violated the Ming border and plundered with troops. This angered Ming. Li Chengliang, the commander-in-chief of the dynasty, decided to send troops to attack Gule City, intending to put Atai to death and then quickly.

There is also a city of Tulun in Jianzhou Jurchen, and the lord of the city is called Nikanwailan.He didn't have many troops, but he was ambitious. He always wanted to annex the surrounding tribes and dominate Jianzhou Jurchen.For this reason, he tried his best to please the border officials of the Ming Dynasty, and provoke the relationship between Atai, Ahai and Ming.He expressed to Li Chengliang that he was willing to serve as a guide for the Ming Dynasty to conquer the cities of Gule and Shaji.Li Chengliang decided to send troops immediately to attack the two cities of Gule and Shaji, and promised that Nikanwailan would be promoted to the leader of the Jianzhou Department on the day he was under the city.

Li Chengliang's brigade of men and horses was divided into two groups, all the way to Shaji City, and the other was led by him personally, and the troops approached the city of Gule.Ahai, the owner of Shaji City, was unprepared for the sudden attack of the army, and the city walled down without a fight, and Ahai was killed.However, Gule City was built by Atai Jiayi, and the city was strong and difficult to capture.Li Chengliang personally supervised the battle for two days and nights, but he still did not capture it.Nurhaci's grandfather Jue Chang'an heard that Gule City was besieged, so he went with his son Ta Keshi to persuade him. After the official army let the father and son into the city, Atai refused to surrender, and both father and son were besieged in the city. Besides, Gule City could not be attacked for a long time, which made Li Chengliang extremely annoyed. He blamed Nikan Wailan for making crooked ideas and wanted to punish him.In order to protect himself, the cunning Nikanwailan came up with another trick.He lied to the officers and soldiers guarding the city that whoever could kill the city lord and surrender would be the lord of Gule City.Atai's subordinates believed Nikanwailan's lies, so they killed Atai and surrendered the city.After Li Chengliang entered the city, he massacred more than 2,000 people, and Nurhachi's father and grandfather were also killed in the chaos. When the bad news came, Nurhachi was distraught.He came to Liaodong Dusi angrily, and asked the Ming court officials why he killed his grandfather and father who had always been loyal to the court.The border officials of the Ming Dynasty felt wronged, repeatedly explained that this was manslaughter, and immediately found the remains of Jue Changan and Takshi and handed them to Nurhachi for burial.Later, Nurhachi was given 30 imperial edicts and 10 war horses, allowing him to succeed his grandfather and become the commander of the left guard capital of Jianzhou.On the surface, Nurhachi accepted the consolation of the Ming Dynasty, but in his heart he vowed to avenge the murder of his ancestors and father. In order to take revenge, Nurhachi decided to raise his troops to attack Nikanwailan first.He is weak and the situation is very difficult, but Nurhachi firmly believes that his actions are just and will never back down.He collected 13 sets of armor left by his father and grandfather, and led a group of less than 100 people to Tulun City, where Nikanwailan lived.On the surface, Nikan Wailan was very proud, but in fact he was as timid as a mouse. When he heard that Nurhachi had led his troops to attack, he left his followers and fled to Jiaban in the Hunhe Department alone with his wife and children in embarrassment.The city of Tulun was not attacked, and Nurhachi returned triumphantly. Soon, Nurhaci took advantage of the victory and pursued to escape to Nikanwailan in Jiaban.After hearing the news, Nikan Wailan ran towards the Hekou Tower in the south of Fushun City. After being blocked by the guards, he panicked and turned to Erhun City.In the fourteenth year of Wanli (AD 1586), Nurhachi attacked again.Nikanwailan fled after hearing the news again, hoping to get the protection of border officials at Fushun Pass.The border officials kept him out of the side platform and secretly informed Nurhachi's people, who rushed to hack Nikan Wailan to death under the side platform.Nurhachi got rid of his sworn enemy and fulfilled a wish. At that time, there were many Jurchen ministries, and Jianzhou Jurchen was no exception.In the two years since Nurhaci started his army with 13 armors, he successively defeated the four-city coalition forces of Jianzhou Jurchen Jiefan, Sarhu, Dong Jia, and Barda, as well as Mohe, Zhangjia, Barda, Sarhu, and Jiefan. The coalition forces of the five cities broke through the cities of Antu Guerjia, Kebeihuan and Tuomohe.After beheading Nikanwailan, he took advantage of the victory to pacify the Zhechen tribe and captured the Wanyan tribe.In the face of Nurhachi's increasingly powerful offensive, Su Wanbu and Dong Ebu came to surrender automatically.By the 16th year of Wanli (AD 1588), except for the Changbai Mountain tribes, the Jianzhou Jurchen tribes were basically unified by Nurhachi. Five years later, he successively captured the three parts of Changbai Mountain Neyin, Zhusheli and Yalu River, and the entire Jianzhou Jurchen was unified under Nurhachi's command. In order to expand his influence and establish a foundation, Nurhachi built Hetuala City at the foot of Yantong Mountain in the fifteenth year of Wanli in the process of unifying Jurchen and became king.In order to show his dignity as a king, he worked out a set of etiquette that had begun to take shape.Whenever he entered and exited Zhacheng, the band would respectfully stand on both sides of the gate and play music.Hetuala City became the political, economic and military center of Jianzhou Jurchen at that time, and later became the base for Nurhachi to unify the Jurchen ministries. With the completion of the unification of the Jurchen ministries in Jianzhou, the Haixi Jurchen became another target for Nurhachi. The "Haixi Jurchen" lived in the east of Kaiyuan and the middle reaches of the Songhua River. They mainly belonged to the Yehe, Hada, Huifa and Ulahui tribes, also called Hulunhui tribes.Yehe and Hada are two powerful forces.Being adjacent to the economically developed Han city Kaiyuan and having the geographical advantage of controlling the tribute roads gave them unique conditions to compete for supremacy and expand.Nurhachi's victory in the unified Jianzhou Jurchen was regarded by them as a serious problem.In the 19th year of Wanli, the leader of the Yehe tribe sent two envoys to Nurhachi aggressively and said: "Wula, Hada, Yehe, Huifa, and Jianzhou have the same language and the same power. How can there be any reason for the five kings to build separately? In the current country, you have more states than we have, so you should choose one of Ermin and Zakumu to give us." Regarding this kind of deliberate provocation, Nurhachi sternly reprimanded him, and Ye He's two envoys had no choice but to return angrily. After the leader Yehe's blackmail failed, he resorted to force to achieve his goal of subduing Jianzhou and ruling the Jurchens.In June of the 21st year of Wanli, Ye He first rallied three other Haixi tribes to launch a tentative attack on Jianzhou, but it ended in failure.But Yehe did not learn the lesson. In September of the same year, Yehe Beilebuzhai and Nalinbulu once again entangled the three tribes of Hada, Wuda, and Huifa of the Haixi Jurchen, the Zhusheli of Changbai Mountain, the second tribe of Neyin, and the second tribe of Mongolia. Horqin, Xibo, and Guercha, a total of nine armies with 30,000 soldiers and horses, attacked Jianzhou in three ways.When Nurhachi heard the news, he immediately made military deployments, ambushed elite soldiers, and set up obstacles. When everything was ready, he went home to sleep in peace. At dawn the next day, in order to boost morale, Nurhachi first led the generals to worship the gods, and then set off on the journey with a large group of people.At this time, the scouts sent by Nurhaci came to report, and learned from a surrendered Yehe population that there were more than 30,000 people in the Nine Allied Forces.All the generals showed horror after hearing this.Nurhachi looked around and said to the crowd calmly: "The nine coalition forces claim to be 30,000, but they are just mobs. Although we are small in number, we are united in one mind, and we can take risks and be concise. One is as good as ten. As long as we kill their leaders first, the rest The subordinates will surely collapse without fighting." Hearing this encouragement, the soldiers immediately became more confident, and Nurhachi ordered the soldiers to remove the jackets on their hands and necks and go into battle lightly.After analyzing the lineup of the nine coalition forces, he led the army to seize the opportunity of the nine coalition forces to attack one of his castles, Hezig City, and seize Gule Mountain.Gule Mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and Nurhachi is condescending, and the geographical situation is very favorable to him.Besides, Nurhachi had been closely guarded in Hezig City, and the nine coalition forces had been attacking for two days but failed to capture it. Seeing that Nurhachi had occupied Gule Mountain, he turned to attack.Nurha took the lead naked and led the army to charge from above. He hacked and killed all the way, even beheading nine soldiers from Yehe's tribe.Seeing this, Bu Zhai rushed forward angrily, but the horse was knocked down by the wooden pier, throwing him to the ground.Nurhachi's soldiers rushed forward and ended his life with a knife.Seeing the leader's death, all the soldiers lost their minds and fled in a panic.Nurhachi led his troops to take advantage of the victory and pursue them until the territory of Hada.In this battle, Ula leader Bu Zhantai and a large number of soldiers were captured, more than 4,000 enemies were killed, 3,000 horses, and nearly a thousand pairs of armor were captured. In September of the twenty-seventh year of Wanli (1599 AD), Ye He and Hada had a conflict.The leader of Hada, Gegebulu, knew that he was not an opponent, so he sent his three sons to Hetuala City as hostages, and asked Nurhachi to send troops to help him.This undoubtedly gave Nurhachi a good opportunity to send troops.He immediately sent Fei Yingdong and Gagai to lead 2000 soldiers and horses to rescue.Ye He panicked when he learned that Hada had attracted Nurhachi's reinforcements.After some deliberation, Ye He decided to try to induce Hada to fight back in order to get out of the predicament.Ye Hebu sent someone to send a letter to Meng Gebulu, in which he tried his best to threaten and lure him, and declared that if Hada could capture the two generals sent by Jianzhou, Ye He and Hada would reconcile.Meng Gebulu really fell into Ye He's trap and promised to act according to his idea.Hearing this, Nurhachi was so angry that he immediately ordered his younger brother Shuerhaqi to be the vanguard, and led 1,000 troops to conquer Hada, who had rebelled against him and repayed his revenge.Shuerhaqi led his army to the city of Hada. Seeing that the enemy army was in full swing and did not dare to fight, he stood still under the city.Nurhachi, who arrived immediately, braved arrows and stones to take the lead in the onslaught.After seven days and seven nights of fierce fighting, Nurhachi finally captured the city of Hada and captured Menggebulu alive. Hada has always been closely related to the Ming Dynasty, and now it has been annexed by Nurhachi, which naturally attracted the attention of the Ming Dynasty.What made the Ming Dynasty even more alert was that Nurhachi's increasingly independent behavior had offended the Celestial Emperor Shengwei, so he ordered him to restore the Hada Department.Nurhachi felt that he did not have enough strength to compete with the Ming Dynasty, so he married his daughter to Wu Ergu, the son of Menggebulu, as his wife, and sent him back to Hada to become king.But the Hada Department is essentially in name only. In 1601, a great famine occurred in Chenghata of Jianzhou, which destroyed it.Since then, Jianzhou has also become more prosperous, and its momentum has developed rapidly, which is beyond the control of the power of the Ming Dynasty. Subsequently, the Huifa Department became the target of Nurhachi's attack.In the thirty-fifth year of Wanli, Nurhachi first sent dozens of elite soldiers dressed as businessmen to sneak into Huifa City as internal support.Afterwards, he personally led his soldiers and horses to approach the city of Huifa, cooperating with the inside and the outside, and destroyed Huifa in one fell swoop. After Huifa's demise, Nurhachi's gaze turned to the Ula tribe again.Ulake is different from Hada and Huifa in that it has a strong city, a large population, and Nurhachi has always adopted a strategy of appeasing it.After the Battle of Gule Mountain captured Ulabelbu Zhantai, instead of killing him, Nurhachi enshrined him and treated him with great courtesy.Later, Mantai, the leader of the Ula tribe, was killed, and Nurhachi sent Buzhantai back to succeed him.Nurhachi also married his niece and daughter to Bu Zhantai successively, hoping to win him over by marriage. In September of the 40th year of Wanli, on the pretext of Ula's harassment of Jianzhou and failure to pay tribute in time, Nurhachi led an army to conquer Ula again.Jianzhou's soldiers were strong and strong, and they took down the six cities of Ula with lightning speed.Panicked, Buzhantai fled to the Ula River in a small boat. He pretended to be pitiful and begged Nurhachi for mercy.Nurhachi counted his crimes of ingratitude and repeated covenant violations, and expressed that he would pardon him from death because of his past affection.Nurhaci ordered Bu Zhantai to send the hostages to Jianzhou, leaving thousands of soldiers to garrison, and then led the army to withdraw. In the second year, Nurhachi came to the city again on the grounds that Buzhantai broke the contract again.In front of the ferocious Jianzhou army, Bu Zhantai threw away his armor and fled to Yehe alone.The Jianzhou Army defeated 30,000 enemy soldiers, beheaded 10,000, won 7,000 armors, and destroyed Ula.So far, only one of Ye He is left among the four tribes of Hercyn Hulun. In 1619, Nurhaci launched a war to capture Yehe.Before the battle, he summoned the kings Baylor to discuss the battle plan to attack Yehe, and vowed not to destroy Yehe and never return to the army.On the night of August 21st in the forty-seventh year of Wanli, Nurhachi's son Daishan and Huang Taiji led their troops to Yehe.At that time, Yehe had two strong castles in the east and west, which were guarded by the two chiefs Jintaishi and Buyangu respectively.Yehe's army is brave and good at fighting, and is good at riding and shooting, but the well-trained Jianzhou soldiers who have been on the battlefield are even more unstoppable.Ye Hebing fought for several rounds, but seeing that he was not Jianzhou's opponent, he had to retreat into the city and stand firm.They fired arrows, threw boulders, and threw firearms on the city, causing heavy casualties to Jianzhou soldiers.After repeated fighting, Jianzhou soldiers rushed into Dongcheng after the Dongcheng was bombed and collapsed, but the Yehe people defended their homes.Under such circumstances, Nurhachi adopted psychological tactics and issued an order: all soldiers and civilians in the city will not be killed if they surrender.This method really worked. Yehe's soldiers and civilians gave up resistance and surrendered after hearing the news.Only the leader Jin Taishi continued to hide on the fort tower with his family members and close ministers to resist stubbornly.His nephew Huang Taiji and his surrendered son Delger shouted loudly downstairs to persuade him to surrender, but he remained indifferent.In desperation, Nurhachi's soldiers were about to chop down the stone building with axes. Seeing that there was no way out, Jintaishi wanted to set fire to himself, but Jianzhou soldiers rushed up and captured him.Jintaishi was so stubborn that Nurhachi ordered him to be hanged. Hearing that the east city was conquered, the west city was also thrown into disarray.Buyangu's cousin opened the city gate and surrendered, and Daishan finally surrounded Buyangu's residence.In order to save his life, Buyangu was forced to surrender to the Jianzhou soldiers after receiving a promise not to kill after surrender.Nurhachi treated Buyangu with courtesy and poured wine from a gold cup to calm him down as a gesture of generosity.But when Buyangu saw Nurhachi, he stood and didn't kneel, showing no gratitude at all.Nurhachi was afraid that keeping him would eventually become a future trouble, so he ordered him to be hanged the next day.Nurhaci was lenient to all other descendants and allowed them to move to Jianzhou with bows and arrows and clothing. While unifying the four tribes of Jianzhou and Haixi, Nurhaci also adopted a strategy of conquest and appeasement against the Jurchen tribes in the East China Sea.From the twenty-sixth year of Wanli, Nurhaci moved more than 50,000 people from the East China Sea Jurchen Warka, Woji, and Huerha tribes to Jianzhou.By the end of Wanli, all Jurchen tribes were unified. The first day of the first lunar month in the forty-fourth year of Wanli (1616 A.D.) was the day when Nurhachi was founded and proclaimed Khan.The city of Hetuala is very lively, and a grand enthronement ceremony is being held in the inner city.The sons of Nurhachi, the leaders of the Eight Banners and the civil and military officials stood on both sides of the "Zunhaotai" in the order of the Eight Banners.When Nurhachi ascended the throne, the eight ministers knelt down in a row, holding the badges of persuasion, followed by all the ministers.Nurhaci's bodyguard, Bakshi Erdeni, took the seal presented by the eight ministers and read it aloud.In the seal, Nurhachi's honorary title is "Fengtian Fuyu the Wise Khan of All Nations".After reading the inscription, Nurhachi got up and left the throne, burned incense and prayed, and led all the officials to kneel three times and kowtow nine times.Then he ascended the throne and accepted congratulatory gifts from ministers of various banners.At the end of the ceremony, Nurhachi announced the establishment of the "Great Jin Kingdom", and the year name was the Mandate of Heaven.This is the "Later Jin" in the history of our country. After the ceremony, all the ministers toasted and drank freely, and the whole city was full of jubilation.However, at this moment, Nurhachi was not intoxicated by joy, and his thoughtful expression was slightly tired.Since he joined the army at the age of 25, he is now 58 years old when he ascended the throne.In his sixtieth year, he ascended to the sweat position he had dreamed of for many years. The bloody struggle and painstaking efforts he had made for the establishment of the Jurchen Kingdom for more than 30 years are all vivid in his eyes and linger in his heart at this moment. Nurhachi knew well that a solid material foundation was necessary to establish a country, so he focused on developing agriculture, handicrafts and commerce. In terms of agriculture, the main measures Nurhachi took were to organize farming and expand the scope of farming.The valleys and plains in Jianzhou have all been reclaimed, and even the difficult-to-cultivate mountainous lands have been planted with crops in many places.Every time he captured a land, Nurhachi arranged for cultivation, grazing or farming according to local conditions.After capturing Hada, he strongly advocated farming land and grazing horses and cattle here.After killing Huifa, he resettled more than a thousand households in the local area for reclamation. The handicraft industry in the Jianzhou area was originally very backward, and a large number of daily necessities such as iron farm tools, cloth, and silk had to be imported from Han areas.Nurhachi tried to change this situation.He attaches great importance to craftsmen, and believes that they are far more valuable than gold, silver and jewelry, and are truly priceless treasures.Thanks to his advocacy, the handicraft industry in the Jianzhou area soon took shape, capable of smelting iron, mining and manufacturing sophisticated weapons.In Hetuala City, there are workshops connected for several miles, specializing in the manufacture of various weapons. On the one hand, Nurhachi is actively developing the economy of the Jianzhou area, and on the other hand, he is committed to developing trade with the Han nationality area, so as to make up for the lack of Jianzhou's economy.He exchanged local products such as ginseng, mink fur, Dongzhu, and horses for what he needed.In order to solve the problem that wet ginseng is perishable, Nurhachi also created the method of cooking and drying, that is, boiling and drying ginseng, and then storing it for sale.As a result, the Han merchants' intention to delay the time in order to buy at a low price will not succeed.As a result, in the city of Fushun alone, Nurhachi earns tens of thousands of taels of profit every year. The establishment of the Eight Banners system is also a major achievement of Nurhachi.The embryonic form of the Eight Banners system was the hunting organization at the end of the Jurchen clan commune.At that time, each clan member sent out an arrow every time he went out to hunt, with 10 people as a unit, which was called "Niulu", which means arrow or big arrow in Chinese. The 10 people neutralized a general, called "Niu Lu Yan Zhen".Yan Zhen means the leader.Niu Luyan is really the master of the big arrow.While the production of Jurchen society continued to develop, the Niulu organization also expanded day by day, and evolved into a tool for slave-owners and nobles to launch plundering wars and conduct military defense, but its outstanding feature was its remarkable temporary nature.Nurhachi transformed it into a permanent form of social organization. In 1601, he expanded each Niulu to 300 people, with yellow, white, red and blue four-color flags as symbols.Due to the continuous increase in the number of troops, in 1615 Nurhachi set up Jiala and Gushan on top of Niulu, with 5 Niulu as 1 Jiala and 5 Jiala as 1 Gushan.Jiala set up Jiala Ezhen to rule, and Gushan was governed by Gushan Ezhen.Each Gushan also has two people, Meile Erzhen, as Gushan Ezhen's assistants.In this way, the original Four Great Niulu was expanded into Four Great Gushan Mountains, which are still marked by four-color flags, also known as Four Banners.Later, four banners with yellow, red, blue and white were added, which together with the previous four banners were called the Eight Banners.The Eight Banners system is a form of social organization in which the military and the people are integrated and the military and the government are integrated.The soldiers of the Eight Banners plow and hunt in peacetime, and go out in armor in wartime.The masters of the Eight Banners, that is, the eight Gushan Ezhen are all held by the descendants of Nurhachi, who are both military commanders and political leaders.Nurhachi is the parent and supreme commander of the Eight Banners. He established strict discipline for the Eight Banners army.The implementation of the Eight Banners system improved the military combat effectiveness of Jurchen and promoted the development of Manchu society. The creation and promulgation of Manchu script is a milestone established by Nurhaci in the history of Manchu cultural development.After the rise of Nurhaci, Jianzhou often exchanged official documents with the Ming Dynasty and North Korea, but because there was no Jurchen script, it could only be written by Han people in Chinese.Whenever a decree is issued to the Jurchens, it is first drafted in Chinese and then translated into Mongolian.The Jurchens spoke the Jurchen language, but wrote in Mongolian. This contradiction between language and writing prompted Nurhachi to create a symbol for recording the Manchu language—Manchu.He ordered Erdeni and Gagai to undertake the task of creating Manchu.But they both felt that the Jurchens had been using Mongolian script for a long time, and now it was too difficult to create their own characters, and they simply didn't know where to start.Nurhachi asked them to refer to the Mongolian alphabet, combine the Jurchen language to spell the sentence, and then write it into Manchu.Gagai was later killed for his crimes, and Erdeni completed the task of creating Manchu.The creation and promulgation of the Manchu language strengthened the ideological and cultural exchanges between the Manchu people and between the Manchu and Han, and also accelerated the feudalization of the Manchu society. After Jianguo proclaimed Khan, Nurhachi spent a lot of energy rectifying the interior.At the same time, he openly pointed his troops at the Ming Dynasty.The political corruption and disarmament of the Ming Dynasty at that time were the catalysts that led to Nurhachi's strategic shift. In the spring of the third year of Destiny (the forty-sixth year of Wanli, 1618 A.D.), when everything was ready, Nurhachi led all the ministers and soldiers, worshiped the ancestors, and proclaimed the oath of "seven great hatreds" against Ming.The oath says: "My father and grandfather never harmed Ming's plants or trees, but Ming provoked for no reason and killed my father and grandfather. I hate Yiye. They do not invade each other, but the Ming army trampled on the covenant, crossed our border, and sent troops to help Ye He, hating both of them; Ming people on both sides of the Qinghe River entered our territory to rob every year. I killed without authorization, and took my envoy Ganguli and other 11 people as hostages, and forced me to kill 10 people in exchange. My daughter remarried to Mongolia, and I hate Siye; Chaihe, Sancha, Fu'an and other three places have been under the control of our ministry in the past, but the people of the three places were not allowed to farm and harvest, and sent troops to expel them. I hate Wuye; Yehe, but Ming listened to Yehe's words, and sent envoys to abuse and insult me, hating Liuye; Ming Dynasty forced me to return the captive Hada, but was plundered by Yehe, hating Qiye. Ming Dynasty deceived people It's too much, it's beyond reason. Because of these seven great hatreds, I swear to destroy my master!" At the same time, Nurhachi promulgated the Art of War and declared military discipline.He told all the soldiers: "Today's troops are sent against the Ming army. Do not bully or ravage the people along the way; kill those who resist our army; do not kill those who surrender." The next day, Nurhachi marched towards Fushun with thousands of troops and horses.Fushun City, which is on the verge of the Hun River, was a fortress fortified by the Ming Dynasty and an important place for mutual trade between the Ming Dynasty and Jianzhou.In his youth, Nurhachi often went in and out of here for trade, so he knew the situation of mountains and rivers in Fushun and the situation of all parties.He decided to use tactics to outwit, supplemented by force attack.He first sent a person to Fushun, claiming that 3,000 Jurchens would come to do business tomorrow.The next day, Hou Jin's advance troops disguised as businessmen came to Fushun City to lure local businessmen, soldiers and civilians to trade with them.The Fushun defenders never dreamed that the Houjin soldiers had spread all over the market, and the main force of the Houjin came one after another, took the opportunity to break into the city, joined forces with the advance troops, and captured Fushun City in one fell swoop.Li Yongfang, the guard of Fushun, was caught without warning.Zhang Chengyin, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, heard the news and led tens of thousands of troops to rush to help. At this time, Nurhachi had withdrawn from Fushun, set up an ambush on the way, wiped out Zhang Chengyin's reinforcements, seized a large number of weapons and luggage, and returned with a full load. Nurhachi launched an army against Ming, and won a complete victory in the first battle. He was very excited, but he was not dazzled by the victory.He knew very well that although the Ming Dynasty was in decline, it was still a colossus and had considerable strength, so it could not be rashly invaded.Therefore, he continued to conduct tentative attacks on the Ming Dynasty.Three months after the capture of Fushun City, he took Qinghe City by tricks and killed more than 10,000 guards and soldiers.With successive victories, Nurhachi became more and more courageous.The Ming Dynasty sent envoys to seek peace, and Nurhachi took the opportunity to make a series of demands to the Ming Dynasty.Economically, he asked for 3,000 pieces of satin, 300 taels of gold, and 3,000 taels of silver for him, Zhong Baylor, and ministers.Politically, he asked the Ming Dynasty to respect him as king, recognize that what he did was legal, and withdraw the officers and soldiers sent by the Ming Dynasty to Yehe (Nurhachi had not yet destroyed Yehe at that time).He claimed that only when these conditions are met can the strike be made and peace be negotiated.Obviously, the dignified "Heavenly Dynasty" will not accept such a request, and a larger-scale war between the two sides is imminent and imminent. Nurhachi captured Fushun and Qinghe one after another, the Ming Dynasty was shaken, emergency documents flew to the capital like snowflakes, and the fatuous emperor Wanli, who had always ignored state affairs, was restless.He thought that it was intolerable for a small foreign country to dare to be so rampant. He believed that Nurhachi's series of demands were purely unreasonable, so he resolutely rejected them, and decided to send troops and generals to sweep the ground and destroy them with all their strength. After gold.He personally promulgated the imperial decree, handed over Liao affairs to the Jiuqing Kedao Conference, and immediately appointed Yang Gao as the right servant of the Ministry of War and Liaodong Economic Strategy.In order to attack Houjin, the Ming Dynasty sent additional Liao salaries throughout the country and transferred food and fodder to meet military needs; it also sent a message to North Korea, coercing it to send troops, and joined forces to conquer; the Ming Dynasty also issued an order for the entire army.It is known to the world: Those who capture and kill Nurhachi will be rewarded with ten thousand gold; the Ming Dynasty quickly mobilized more than 88,000 officers and soldiers from all over the country, plus reinforcements from Yehe and North Korea, a total of more than 100,000 people, and prepared to divide troops into four groups to attack Hetu, the center of Nurhachi Allah City. Due to various reasons such as rugged mountain roads, the Mingdong and Northern Route Army delayed their march.Only juniper traveled all the way day and night, traveling hundreds of miles a day, and arrived at Sarhu on March 1.They were divided into two groups: one camped at the foot of Salhu Mountain, and the other, led by Juniper himself, marched northeast to Jilin Cliff, the Jurchen stronghold.Nurhachi led the Eight Banners Army with nearly 60,000 people to fight.He said to Dai Shan and others: "Ming soldiers rely on their numbers and power, and they can disperse their battles; we must concentrate our superior forces to defeat the Ming army one by one. The Jilin Yaming army only sends a small group of soldiers to monitor.军一定要好好对付，千万不能掉以轻心。只要打败了萨尔浒的明军，吉林崖的就会不战自溃。”布置好之后，他亲率六旗兵力包围萨尔浒，派四贝勒皇太极率领其余两旗前往吉林崖，监视明军的动静。 奉命在萨尔浒扎寨的明军，初至萨尔浒谷口便遭后金400名埋伏者的袭击，兵伤马毙，锐气大挫。而对冲杀而至的六旗铁军，他们慌忙列阵，仓促迎战。开始，明军施放的火炮使没有火器的后金六旗兵暂时受阻。但精于骑射的六旗兵随之仰面扣射，顿时矢箭如雨，铁甲骑兵又乘机奋力冲击，打得明军四处逃窜，方阵大乱。在震天的呐喊声中，后金兵冲进明营，歼灭了驻守萨尔浒山的全部明军。 随之，努尔哈赤挥师前往吉林崖。原来坚守吉林崖的后金军队见杜松率部抵达山脚，便从山上冲下来迎击。此时，皇太极率领的两骑兵马正好赶到。杜松军腹背受敌，眼看就要招架不住，萨尔浒大营已破的消息又在这时传到，顿时军心动摇。杜松正待收拾残兵撤退，努尔哈赤的六旗军似从天而降，挡住了明军的去路。士气颓落的明军乱作一团，后金兵乘胜而战，士气高昂，杀得明军尸首遍野。明军主将杜松左右冲击，也未能杀出重围，最后矢尽力竭，落马而死。明朝四路大军中的一支主力就这样毁于一役。 接着，努尔哈赤马不停蹄，率师北上，去迎击马林的北路军。马林一部得知杜松惨败的消息后，将士哗然，士气低落，滞留在萨尔浒西北30里处的尚间崖消极防守。 努尔哈赤急驰至尚间崖，他登高远眺，见马林的营壕内外防守严整，便下令军士绕道而行抢占尚间崖顶，以便居高临下，杀明军个措手不及。代善、阿敏和莽古尔泰抢占有利地形后，各率部属直冲敌阵，奋力拼杀。仓猝之中明军用枪炮还击，但后金来势迅猛，锐不可挡，明军扔下火器争相逃命，死伤惨重，仅总兵马林等少数人策马而逃。 努尔哈赤连胜明朝西路和北路两支大军后，又得消息：另外两路明军正从东、南两个方向逼近都城赫图阿拉。他当即班师回京。为了避免与两支明军同时交战，努尔哈赤心生一计。他把缴获的杜松令箭交给明军降卒，让其假扮为杜松的使者去催促刘纟廷前来会战。刘纟廷一部这时正从宽甸向赫图阿拉行进，道路艰险，又受后金砍倒的树木阻碍，行军速度很慢。接到杜松的令箭，刘纟廷不知其中有诈，他惟恐杜松独占头功，遂加快速度，向赫图阿拉孤军深入。努尔哈赤令代善、莽古尔泰和皇太极率主力迎战刘纟廷。皇太极抢先占领了山头，埋伏起来。待明军进入伏击后，后金的攻势似山洪暴发，打得明军晕头转向。刘纟廷奋战了几十个回合，两臂都受了重伤，最后力竭身亡。明朝士兵被杀者无数，尸横遍野，惨不忍睹。努尔哈赤自己带4000兵士守城，准备对付李如柏的南路军。 在沈阳坐镇的辽东经略杨镐，派遣四路大军出师后，自以为胜券在握，只等着部将报捷。哪里料到，不过几天工夫，三路大军相继败北。他料定幸存的李如柏更不是后金的对手，便急命李如柏回兵。胆小怯懦的李如柏，出师最晚，且行动迟缓，所以还没同后金交手。接到杨镐的命令，他就像得到了大赦，率部落荒而逃。 在这次著名的萨尔浒大战中，努尔哈赤仅用5天时间，就大败明朝十几万大军，称得上是他军事指挥生涯中的一次精湛表演。他以集中兵力、各个击破为原则，以铁骑驰突、速战速决为法宝，以诱敌深入、以静制动为手段，以亲临战阵、身先士卒为表率，终于取得了以少胜多的辉煌战绩。 萨尔浒大战之后，明朝在东北的统治日趋崩溃，而已经立住了脚跟的努尔哈赤，则开始由防御转入进攻。 万历四十八年（公元1620年），万历皇帝病死，一个月后，刚刚继位的朱常洛又吞红丸死于乾清宫。朱常洛的长子朱由校继承了皇位，是为熹宗天启帝。从此，宦官专权，宦党与东林党之间的党争愈演愈烈。大臣之间结党营私，排斥异己，互相攻讦。镇守辽东的熊廷弼虽然身居千里之外的边陲，但由于他性情刚直，不受贿循私，不巴结权贵，得罪了一些奸佞之人，遂成为被攻讦的对象。忌恨他的权贵们屡次上书，以莫须有的罪名弹劾熊廷弼。他先后5次上疏自辩，针砭弊政要害，并请求圣上信任边吏，用而不疑。但是，明廷气数将尽，已经不辨忠奸，到底自毁长城，罢免了熊廷弼，改派袁应泰任辽东经略。 袁应泰走马上任后，宽娇属下，随意撤换武将，很快造成了军纪松弛、军纪混乱的局面。他又不分良莠，收纳了许多蒙古和女真的降兵，大量敌探乘机混入，成了后金的内应。刚刚由熊廷弼恢复巩固起来的辽东防务，被袁应泰搞得一塌糊涂。 一直在等待时机的努尔哈赤见明朝大势已去，于天命六年（公元1621年）春，发动了辽沈之战。 沈阳在明代是辽东重镇之一，它被作为辽阳的“屏障”而受到重视。这里精心构筑了坚固的防御体系。努尔哈赤的大军在城东七里处安营驻扎。他几次派少量兵士诱明军出战，每次都让他们佯装败退，以便麻痹明军。 当努尔哈赤认为决战的时机成熟之后，便派后金的精锐骑兵设下埋伏，然后又派兵到沈阳城下挑战。贪功轻敌、有勇无谋的明总兵贺世贤果真中了圈套。他率万余兵丁出城迎战。后金兵假装败逃，贺世贤紧追不舍，进入了埋伏圈。当他发现自己中计时，为时已晚，身中数箭坠马，被后金兵杀死。之后努尔哈赤统军奋力攻击城的东北角。开始明军在城上使用火炮，重创后金兵。但火炮连发使炮身炽热，必须使其降温后才能再射。后金兵利用这个间隙，进逼城下，猛攻东门。激战之中，一些原先混入城内的女真降民突然将吊桥绳砍断，放下吊桥，后金兵一拥而入，攻占了沈阳城。这次战役，使明朝7万兵民丧生。 攻占沈阳不久，努尔哈赤又召集诸贝勒大臣，宣布了向辽阳进军的重大军事决定。 辽阳当时是东北政治、经济、军事和文化的中心，明朝对其极为重视，将城池修建得异常坚固，并有严密的防御体系。 在经过几番野战大大削弱了明军之后，三月二十一日，后金军在努尔哈赤率领下向辽阳发起总攻。守城军士乱作一团。各城门相继失守，正在镇远楼督战的袁应泰见城池难保，遂焚楼身亡。监军崔儒秀上吊自杀。几经奋战之后，后金终于占领了辽阳。接着，努尔哈赤将后金的国都迁到了辽阳。以后努尔哈赤率军几经征战又攻占了整个辽西地区，兵锋直指山海关下。 进占辽河流域、迁都辽阳之后，如何治理和巩固这个幅员辽阔、人口繁盛的地区，成了摆在努尔哈赤面前的重大课题。 辽沈地区汉族人口众多，由于明朝在这里长期实行军屯制度，农业比较发达。后金进入辽沈后，激烈的战争使生产受到严重破坏，不少汉族地主官僚非死即逃，大片土地荒废。新迁入的八旗军民和当地汉民，都急需恢复生产以安定社会。天命六年（公元1621年），努尔哈赤颁布了“计丁授田”之令，将辽沈地区的闲废田地30万日（日是当时辽东计算土地的单位，1日约合6亩），分给后金士兵。后来，他又令辽东五卫及海州、盖州、复州、金州四卫共交出无主田地30万日，实行“计丁授田”。 继“计丁授田”之后，努尔哈赤又于天命十年发布了“按丁编庄”令。八旗军进入辽沈后，大量汉人被俘后没为奴隶，编入奴隶制田庄。但他们生活困苦难以聊生，叛亡殆尽。鉴于这一情况，努尔哈赤颁行的“按丁编庄”令规定：所有被俘获的奴隶均编入田庄，从而使庄田转变为官田，使原来为奴隶主服务的田庄过渡为封建制田庄。以“计丁授田”和“按丁编庄”为标志，后金初步完成了由奴隶制向封建制的转变。 迁都辽阳一年后，因辽阳城年久失修、且面积过大不宜防守，努尔哈赤便想另筑新城。他说服了众贝勒、大臣，调集上万名民工在辽阳城东的太子河边破土动工。民工们昼夜不停地营造，新城很快建成了，城方圆约6里，城墙高达12米，开设了8个城门。努尔哈赤对新城十分满意，命名为“东京”。他率领众贝勒举家迁居东京，还将景祖、显祖的陵墓也迁到附近的鲁阳山上。 在东京住了不过3年，努尔哈赤又决定把都城迁到沈阳。诸王大臣一听就急了，他们七嘴八舌地劝阻说，东京刚建就舍弃太可惜，迁都劳民伤财，民不堪苦。听了这些话，努尔哈赤顿露不悦之色，说：“你辈哪里晓得我迁都沈阳的用意？沈阳乃战略要津，西可征明，北可攻蒙古，南可伐朝鲜。再说，附近有浑河和苏克苏护河，可以顺流而下运来木材，建造宫殿又有何难？此事我已拿定主意，你们不必多言。”众人见努尔哈赤动了肝火，也就不再言语了。 天命十年，征明心切的努尔哈赤未等兴建新宫室完毕，就迁都沈阳。此后，他大兴土木，改建了沈阳城，使之成为后金新的统治中心。 明后期，蒙古逐渐形成了漠西厄鲁特蒙古、漠北喀尔喀蒙古和漠南蒙古三大部。其中漠南蒙古与后金接壤。努尔哈赤深知，降服蒙古既能解除同明作战的后顾之忧，又可解决后金兵力不足的困难。因此，他对蒙古采取了攻抚结合以抚为主的策略。漠南蒙古的科尔沁部，曾参加以叶赫为首的九部联军，大败而逃，后来又同乌拉合兵抵抗建州兵。随着后金的强盛，科尔沁自知不是对手，便遣使请盟，联姻结好，努尔哈赤尽弃前嫌，欣然与科尔沁部通婚。他先后以科尔沁两贝勒的女儿为妃，他的儿子也相继纳蒙古王公之女为妻。1614年，他的次子代善、五子莽古尔泰、八子皇太极和十子德格类全都娶了科尔沁蒙古女子。尔后，蒙古又同他的十二子阿济格和十四子多尔衮联姻。努尔哈赤也不断将建州女子嫁给蒙古王公为妻。1614年喀尔喀蒙古巴岳特贝勒的儿子恩格德尔归顺建州女真，努尔哈赤十分高兴，立即将弟弟舒尔哈齐的第四女嫁给他为妻。后来恩格德尔与妻子来朝，受到努尔哈赤的特殊礼遇。朝拜时，努尔哈赤让恩格德尔率众蒙古贝勒在贝勒代善之后叩头，而二贝勒阿敏、三贝勒莽古尔泰、四贝勒皇太极等都在恩格德尔之后。恩格德尔对努尔哈赤自然感恩戴德。朝觐后，他要求偕公主留居建州，努尔哈赤允其所请，发誓对他要像对待自己的亲生儿子一样，还赐给他4处田庄，20个满汉奴仆。努尔哈赤这些具有象征性的举动，对蒙古诸部首领产生了极大的吸引力，很多人相继投奔后金。科尔沁、喀尔喀等部先后成为后金的政治同盟。 但是，努尔哈赤以抚为主、联姻结好的策略并非对所有蒙古部落都能奏效，以察哈尔部林丹汗为首的蒙古诸部，一直联合明朝，与后金为敌。林丹汗占据漠南蒙古的大片地域，他野心勃勃，力图称雄蒙古。为了对付后金，明朝极力笼络林丹汗，每年赠银4000两，后来又增至4万两。林丹汗兵强马壮，又有明朝作靠山，对后金的态度非常骄横。万历四十七年（公元1619年）十月，他派使给后金送了一封书信。他在信中自称为“蒙古国统40万众的英主成吉思汗”，称努尔哈赤为“水滨3万人的英主”，同时还威吓努尔哈赤：若敢向广宁发动进攻，决无好下场。见林丹汗如此狂妄，努尔哈赤气愤至极。第二年他派遣使者送去了笔锋犀利的复信，他在信中历数林丹汗败于明朝之辱，想以此激起林丹汗的旧恨，拆散他与明朝的联盟，并极力夸耀八旗的军威，拉拢林丹汗归附后金，共同抗明。但这一切都未能奏效，林丹汗囚禁了努尔哈赤的使者，以此作为对努尔哈赤的回答。 由于林丹汗势力较强大，加上有明王朝支持，努尔哈赤几次想对他动兵而又做罢，但后来林丹汗暴虐无道、穷奢极欲，大失人心，内部开始分崩离析。他属下的一些部落将领暗中与后金来往，就连他的两个孙子也跑到后金，向努尔哈赤叩首行礼。努尔哈赤对林丹汗始终采取孤立、打击的策略。天启五年（公元1625年），林丹汗率兵攻打后金的姻盟科尔沁部，努尔哈赤立即出兵援助，打败了林丹汗的进攻。 努尔哈赤以抚为主的对蒙政策，为日后满族统一蒙古诸部奠定了基础。与蒙古交好成为清代的基本政策。 辽西地区失陷后，明政府深感形势严重，又一次征调全国各地的军队会集山海关，全力固守，并将积极主张抗击后金的大学士孙承宗、兵部主事袁崇焕派往关外考察军务。 袁崇焕来到边关后果然不负深望，很有作为，他首先向孙承宗提出要固守山海关必须先守宁远的建议，要求重新修建宁远城。宁远（今辽兴城）地处辽西走廊中段，它依山傍海，形势险要，是由沈阳通往山海关的咽喉要塞。孙承宗采纳了袁崇焕的建议，加意修筑宁远。按照袁崇焕的设计，宁远城新建的城墙高3.2丈，底宽3丈，顶宽2.4丈，宁远遂成为关外的军事重镇，孙承宗又修缮了锦州、松山、杏山、右屯及大小凌河等地的城池，遣兵分守。一条以宁远和锦州为中心的防线迅速建成了，辽西的局势重新稳定下来。 努尔哈赤此时正忙于迁都，他探知孙承宗在辽西严阵以待，故一直没有贸然进攻。但不久明朝内部的党争再起，孙承宗尽管满腹韬略、守边有方，却因秉性忠直遭到魏忠贤一伙的忌恨和排挤。继任孙承宗的是魏忠贤的同党高第，他精于投机钻营，对打仗却是一窍不通。他对后金怕得要死，认为关外必不可守，只想躲在山海关内苟全性命。因此，他不顾袁崇焕等人的强烈反对，尽撤锦州等地的防务，将各城兵力强行调入山海关。孙承宗苦心经营的“宁锦防线”就这样被破坏了。只有袁崇焕坚决不撤，他斩钉截铁地说：“我在宁远做官，就要在这里死守，决不撤退！” 努尔哈赤迁都完成后一直在寻找征伐明朝的时机，得知明军更换主帅全线撤防的消息，他喜出望外，决定立即出兵。天命十一年（明天启六年，公元1626年）正月十四日，努尔哈赤亲率十余万八旗大军向辽西杀来。 一路上，后金军队长驱直入，不费吹灰之力就占据了锦州、松山等大小城池，只剩下宁远这座孤城还由袁崇焕固守着。努尔哈赤认为，后金大军压境，宁远一座孤城已是唾手可取，便派人给袁崇焕送去招降信，用高官厚禄引诱他献城投降。袁崇焕毅然拒绝了后金的招降，全力准备迎战，与宁远共存亡。 当时，袁崇焕的兵马还不到3万，要战胜努尔哈赤的13万军队，谈何容易！他将城外的所有明兵调入城内，将武器兵力集中起来。又将城外的百姓动员进城，把城郊一定范围内的房屋粮食全部烧毁，使后金兵在宁远城外一无所获，袁崇焕用佩刀刺破手指，写下血书，表示要誓死守住宁远。宁远军民为他的爱国热情所感动，全城同仇敌忾，决心同后金军队决一死战：将士们分别据守，老百姓也带着自备的武器登城防守，体弱的就帮助供应饮食，侦拿奸细。 努尔哈赤见袁崇焕誓死不降，亲自指挥千军万马齐攻宁远城。后金的战车、骑兵、步兵铺天盖地，向宁远压来。努尔哈赤采用战车同步骑结合的战术几乎是所向披靡，不知攻下过明军多少城堡，但是在宁远城下，他们的战术失效了。袁崇焕指挥城上的大炮待后金兵冲至城下时一齐开炮，随着一声声巨响，后金兵成片倒地，连专门对付明军火器的楯车也被炸得粉碎。强攻失败了，后金兵又躲在加了厚板遮蔽的战车下靠近城墙，想凿洞进城。宁远的城墙本来就修筑得特别厚实坚固，又加上天寒地冻，凿城的进度很慢，但这毕竟是对宁远的一大威胁。袁崇焕又采用了火烧的新法子，来对付凿城的后金兵。他命令将全城贡献的被褥一卷卷扔下城墙，后金兵不知其中厉害，蜂拥而上，你抢我夺。正在这时，明军投下的火把点燃了裹在被褥中的火药，刹时间烧成一片，不少凿城的后金兵葬身火海。 努尔哈赤指挥后金军队整整攻了三天三夜，部下死伤无数，他自己也负了伤，但宁远城依然固若金汤，巍然屹立。努尔哈赤不得不承认自己无计可施。在凛冽的寒风中，他带着残存的兵力撤回沈阳。 努尔哈赤大概始终没有搞清自己失败的真正原因：袁崇焕指挥有方，固然是战胜后金的重要因素，而宁远百姓不堪后金的暴虐统治，在袁崇焕的号召下，一呼百应，毁家相从，与宁远守军结成了坚不可摧的铜墙铁壁，更决定后金此次战败的命运。此前一系列的军事胜利使努尔哈赤头脑发热，难以进行冷静的思考，他本想在宁远重演当年轻下辽沈的一幕，并未进行认真的准备，便大举进兵，终于在众志成城的明朝军民面前败下阵来。 宁远战败给努尔哈赤造成了巨大的精神创伤，为此努尔哈赤的心情一直忧郁不安，加上已近七旬高龄，又要连续多日征战，这些都严重损伤了他的身体健康。 天命十一年（明天启六年，公元1626年），努尔哈赤终因痈疽突发离开了人世，享年68岁。