Chapter 56 237 After the establishment of Nurhaci

The politics of the Ming Dynasty became more and more corrupt, and the border defense became more and more lax. A branch of the Jurchens in the northeast of my country—Jianzhou Jurchen took the opportunity to expand its power and began to grow stronger. Its leader was Aixinjueluo Nurhachi. Nurhaci was born into a noble Jurchen family in Jianzhou.His grandfather, Jue Chang'an, and his father, Ta Keshi, were both Jurchen nobles in Jianzhou, and they were named Jianzhou Zuowei officials by the Ming Dynasty.Nurhachi has practiced horseback riding and archery since he was a child, and he has developed a good martial arts.When he was ten years old, his mother died and his stepmother treated him badly.Nurhachi had to leave his family and go hunting, digging ginseng, picking pine nuts, and picking mushrooms in the vast forest with his local friends, and then brought these mountain products to Fushun to sell to earn money.The bazaar in Fushun was very lively, where the Jurchens often used mountain goods to exchange ironware, grain, salt and textiles with the Han people.Nurhachi met many Han people in Fushun and learned Chinese. He also liked reading novels such as "Water Margin".

There are several Jurchen tribes in Jianzhou, and they fight and kill each other.Li Chengliang, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, took advantage of the contradictions between the various ministries in Jianzhou to strengthen his rule. When Nurhaci was twenty-five years old, Nikan Wailan, the lord of Toulon City in the Jurchen Ministry of Jianzhou, led the Ming army to attack Atai, the lord of Gulezhai.Atai's wife is Jue Chang'an's granddaughter.Jue Chang'an got the news and took Tu Keshi to Gule Village to visit his granddaughter.Just as the Ming army attacked Gule Village, both Jue Changan and Takshi were killed by the Ming army in the melee.

Nurhachi cried bitterly and buried his grandfather and father, but thinking that his strength was too small to dare to offend the Ming army, he focused all his resentment on Nikanwailan.He ran to the officials of the Ming Dynasty and said, "It was Nikanwailan who killed my grandfather and father. As long as you hand over Nikanwailan to me, I will be willing." The body was returned to him, but he refused to hand over Nikanwailan. Nurhachi returned home full of grief and indignation, dug out the thirteen sets of armor left by his father, distributed them to his soldiers, and attacked Toulon.Nurhachi was brave and good at fighting, but Nikanwailan was no match for him, so he fled in embarrassment.Nurhaci captured the city of Toulon, continued to pursue, and took the opportunity to conquer some tribes of Jianzhou Jurchen.Nikanwailan ran east and west, and finally fled to Elehun (near Qiqihar today), asking for the protection of the Ming army.Nurhachi also chased there.Seeing that he refused to give up, the Ming army ordered Nurhachi to kill Nikanwailan for fear of causing a war.

Nurhachi wiped out Nikanwailan, and the momentum grew louder and louder.After a few years, Jianzhou Jurchen was unified.This caused panic among other Jurchen tribes.At that time, there were three Jurchen tribes. In addition to Jianzhou Jurchen, there were Haixi Jurchen and "savage" Jurchen.Among the Haixi Jurchen, there is one Yehe tribe who is the strongest.In 1593 AD, the Yehe tribe united nine tribes of Jurchen and Mongolia, formed an alliance, combined 30,000 troops, and attacked Nurhachi in three ways. When Nurhachi heard that the nine coalition forces were coming to attack, he made preparations for the battle in advance.He ambushed the elite soldiers on the way the enemy army came; he placed rolling logs and stones on the side of the roadside mountains, and after everything was arranged properly, he fell asleep peacefully.His wife was very anxious when she saw it, pushed him awake, and asked him: "The nine soldiers came to attack, why did you fall asleep? Are you really scared and confused?"

Nurhachi smiled and said, "If I'm afraid, I won't be able to sleep even if I want to." The next day, the spies sent by Jianzhou reported that there were a large number of enemy soldiers, and the soldiers were a little scared when they heard this.Nurhachi explained: "Don't be afraid, now we occupy a dangerous terrain. Although there are many enemy soldiers, they are just mobs. We must wait and see each other. If there is a leader who attacks first, we will kill one or two leaders. I am not afraid that they will not retreat. " When the nine allied forces arrived at the foot of Gule Mountain, the Jianzhou soldiers were waiting on the mountain, and first sent a hundred cavalry to challenge.A leader of Ye He's tribe rushed over, and his horse tripped over a wooden stake. Jianzhou soldiers went up and killed him. The other leader also fainted from fright when he saw this scene.As a result, the nine coalition forces did not have a unified command and fled in all directions. Nurhachi took advantage of the victory to pursue and defeated the Yehe tribe.After a few more years, the various tribes of the Jurchen tribe were basically unified.

In the process of unifying the Jurchens, Nurhaci compiled the Jurchens into eight banners, which are both an administrative unit and a military organization.There are many Niulu under each flag, and each Niulu has three hundred people, who plow and hunt in peacetime, and fight in wartime.This not only promotes production, but also strengthens combat effectiveness.In order to paralyze the Ming Dynasty, he continued to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming court thought that Nurhachi was submissive and named him General Dragon and Tiger.He also went to Beijing many times to personally inspect the reality of the Ming government.In 1616 AD, he thought the time was right, so with the support of the nobles of the Eight Banners, he ascended the throne in Hetuala (near Xinbin, Liaoning today) and proclaimed himself Khan, with the country name Dajin.

In order to distinguish it from the past Jin Dynasty, it was called Houjin in history.