According to the official version of the Qing Dynasty, Nurhachi's ancestor was named Mengge Timur, who was the commander of the Jianzhou Left Guard, and then Nurhachi's ancestors inherited this position, which was later passed to Nurhachi's hands. In other words, Nurhachi's family has been the leader of the Jianzhou Left Guard for generations. However, the real situation is not the case, Nurhachi's grandfather and father are just local small heads, and they are insignificant at all, so why did Nurhachi rise strongly?
1. Jurchen small-headed people
According to the records of Qing Dynasty historical records, Nurhachi's grandfather's name was Jue Chang'an, the fourth son of Du Du Fuman, and his father's name was Takshi, the fourth son of Jue Chang'an. From this ranking, we can see the problem, Jue Chang'an and Takshi have brothers, even if they are descendants of Meng's brother Timur, it is unlikely that the position of the leader will pass into their hands. "Ming Shilu" records in detail the situation of the leaders of the left guard of Jianzhou entering Beijing to pay tribute, but there is no name of Juechangan and Takshi.
A historical material left in the last years of the Ming Dynasty reveals the identity of Jue Chang'an and Takshi. In the literature of the Ming Dynasty, Jue Chang'an is called "Calling the Field", and Takshi is called "He Lost", of course, this is just a transliteration. During the period from April 17 to July 8 in the sixth year of Wanli, Jue Chang'an came to Fushun Ma City three times to trade, and the Ming Dynasty officially called it "buying and selling Yiren". Jue Chang'an only brought twenty or thirty people at a time, far less than others, so it can be seen that he is just a small head of the Jianzhou Left Guard.
2. The Battle of Gule
Although Jue Chang'an has a low status and weak strength, he is quite brainy, on the one hand, he married Wang Gao, a military strongman in Jianzhou, and on the other hand, he expressed his deference to the Ming Dynasty, so his power is also growing. Later, the Ming Dynasty sent troops to attack Wang Gao, and Jue Changan decisively chose to support the Ming Dynasty and became the "leading party", which directly led to Wang Gao's defeat and death. After Wang Gao's death, his son Atai was not arrested, he returned to Gule Mountain, recruited troops, and still provoked the Ming Dynasty.
In 1583, Li Chengliang led his troops to attack Atai, and this time it was Jue Chang'an and Takshi father and son who led the way. Because the terrain of Gule Mountain was dangerous, it was difficult for the Ming army to take it, so Jue Chang'an "took the name of the elder and entered the city province to his granddaughter and persuaded Atai to surrender". As a result, Atai refused to surrender and detained Kyaw Changan and Takshi. Li Chengliang had no choice but to lead his troops to attack the city, but after the city was broken, Jue Chang'an was burned to death by a fire caused by the Ming army's artillery, and Takshi was mistakenly killed by the Ming army.
3. The rise of Nurhachi
Afterwards, the Ming Dynasty felt very sorry for their friends, because Jue Chang'an and Takshi were "loyal and obedient and served China". As a result, the Ming Dynasty gave Nurhachi a rich reward, "with 30 Dao, 30 horses, the dragon and tiger generals, and the reply to the governor", "since then 800 taels of silver and 15 python satin". Only then did Nurhachi officially obtain the official position granted by the Ming Dynasty, and he also got the corresponding trade vouchers, and he could also get rewards every year. These have become the capital of Nurhachi's strong rise!
If there was no battle of Gulecheng, Nurhachi might have taken over the profession of his grandfather and father, and continued to be a "trader", while serving as a "leading party" for the Ming Dynasty. The war completely changed Nurhachi's fate, on the one hand, he pretended to be obedient to the Ming Dynasty, and even went to Beijing to pay tribute, and on the other hand, with the help of the Ming Dynasty, he continued to expand his own strength. After more than thirty years of conquest, Nurhachi unified the Jurchen tribes and challenged the Ming Dynasty.
References: 1. "Ming Shilu"; 2. "Ming and Qing Historical Materials"