In 1583, Nurhaci, who was later revered by the emperors of the Qing Dynasty as the Grandfather of the Qing Dynasty, formally raised an army to attack the enemy Nikan Wailan, who killed his father and ancestor, and began his war to unify the Jurchen tribes, and by 1587, Nurhaci had basically unified the three guards of Jianzhou after nearly five years of bloody struggle, and initially gained a foothold.
The city of Foala surrounded by mountains and waters
With the continuous expansion of strength, the original simple camp of the Tun soldiers can no longer meet the needs, in order to further recruit the Jurchen tribes, Nurhaci urgently needs to create a capital of his own. Soon, he chose the Halsa Mountains (six kilometers south of yongling town in present-day Xinbin County, Liaoning Province) and began to build a new city, Foala City, on the ruins of the old camp of his fifth ancestor Dongshan, which the Ming Dynasty called "Jianzhou Old Camp" and the general people called it "Old City".
Nurhaci chose to build a city here not only because it was the place where he was born, but also because of the terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. There is Jiming Mountain in the east, Shihuadingzi Mountain in the south, chimney mountain in the northwest, and the three mountains are connected, forming a natural barrier on the east, south and west sides; the Gaha River from the southwest and the Shuoliga River from the southeast pass under the foot of the mountain and merge at the northern end of the city, forming a dangerous terrain surrounded by mountains and waters.
The Manchu script was born here
Foala City has a set of castles, with three floors: the outer city and the inner city. The 9-mile set of castles is built on open land, from the north of the city to the southwest of the city, a total of 9 miles and 90 steps, with four doors. Inside the set of castles is the outer city, around 11 miles and 6 steps, the height of the city is more than 2 zhang, a total of six city gates, which are still faintly recognizable today. Inside the outer city is the inner city, 2 miles and 120 steps away, there is a gate to the east and south, and there is a wooden fence inside the inner city, and the home of Nurhaci and his brother Shulhaqi is located in the wooden fence.
In addition to residences, Foala City also has shrines, drum towers, living rooms, pavilions, buildings and so on. There are more than 800 people living in and around the city, and more than 30,000 Jurchens. It was in this city of Foala that Nurhaci ordered Bakshi (scholars) Erdene and Gagai to spell the Manchu script in Mongolian and Jurchen scripts and promulgate them into the middle of the country. The creation of the Manchu language has far-reaching historical significance for the formation and development of the Manchus, and also marks the entry of the Jurchens into the era of civilization.
The Eight Flags system was established here
In 1593, nurhaci defeated in one fell swoop at the Battle of Guleshan, a 30,000-strong coalition of Hada, Ula, and Huifa of The Khalimbuds of Narinbulu, the leader of the Hesiye Hebu clan. This campaign was a turning point in the history of the unification of the Jurchen tribes, and it also relieved the external threat to the city of Foala, so that Nurhaci presented a dominant and prominent position among the Jurchen tribes, laying the foundation for him to become khan in Hetuala in the next step.
In 1601, Nurhaci compiled the cattle as sigushan (i.e., flag), with four flags of yellow, white, red and blue. It is stipulated that every 300 people are compiled into 1 cattle record, and each cow record is set up as 1 person, and all the affairs of the cattle record are managed, which is the transition from the cow record to the eight flags system, which is a major progress and development of the Manchu eight flags cattle record system. This important reform also laid the foundation for the establishment of the eight flags system in the future.
In 1603, Nurhaci moved the capital from foala to Hetuala.