During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty still sat on the land of China, but unlike the glory of the past, this once powerful dynasty was gradually declining. A new force is quietly rising in the northeastern border, and the protagonist is none other than Nurhachi, who was born in the Jianzhou Jurchens. This wise and heroic leader has been plotting for a long time, and he has blatantly expanded his territory, attacked cities and plundered land, and encroached on the hinterland of Liaodong, posing a great challenge to the Ming Dynasty. But what is puzzling is why the Ming court turned a blind eye to this rising new force? Do they really think that relying only on the old minister Li Chengliang can curb Nurhachi's ambitions? What was it that made the Ming Dynasty indifferent and connived at this serious crisis?
Ming Dynasty Decline Inner Illness
During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty fell into an unprecedented crisis. Up and down the government and the opposition, there is a decadent atmosphere everywhere, and the national strength is declining at an accelerated pace.
First of all, the Wanli Emperor, who was in charge of the government, was extravagant and had bleak political achievements. The emperor, known as the "Long Live Dragon and Phoenix", was once diligent and conscientious in the early days of his succession, implementing a new social policy, which brought a short dawn to the Ming Dynasty. However, as he grew older, so did his penchant for tyranny. The beauties in the palace are like clouds, he spends money like dirt, extravagance and waste, and drains the treasury. What's even more terrifying is that he is indifferent to the government and politics, and has never set foot in the court for thirty years, the eunuchs are autocratic, and the country is abandoned.
At the same time, the corruption of the government and the opposition and the division of border warlords were also an important factor in the decline of the Ming Dynasty. Since ancient times, faint masters and faint classes will inevitably breed flies. In order to curry favor with the emperor, all the civil and military officials of the government and the opposition took risks, embezzled and accepted bribes, and speculated. In particular, the border towns are even more dominated by local military generals who have monopolized military power and confronted the central authorities, thus creating huge loopholes in security affairs. The imperial court turned a blind eye to all this and connived at the spread of this corruption.
Eventually, the Mongol threat waned, and the Ming lost vigilance. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the cunning and ferocious remnants of the Mongols posed a great threat to the Ming Dynasty, so the imperial court defended the north with heavy troops and created many military victories. But by the Wanli period, the Mongol threat had begun to wane, and the Ming dynasty had lost their vigilance, concentrating too much on power struggles and extravagance, while ignoring the new crisis brewing in the northeastern frontier.
It was against this backdrop of internal and external troubles that Nurhachi began his rise to prominence. This young hero, who was born in a Jurchen family in Jianzhou and suffered unfair treatment, was the root cause of the crisis of the Ming Dynasty.
The cunning Nurhachi
Nurhachi was born in a Jurchen family in Jianzhou, and his maternal grandfather Wang Gao was the commander of the left guard capital of Jianzhou. However, when Nurhachi was young, Wang Gao was killed by Li Chengliang, the general soldier of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty. This grievance deeply stung the young Nurhachi and planted the seeds of his future revenge.
Subsequently, Nurhachi's father, Takshi, and grandfather, Kyaw Chang'an, were also brutally killed in a surrender incident. In this regard, Nurhachi was heartbroken and vowed to avenge his ancestors. However, as a Jurchen from humble origins, he was clearly powerless to compete with the powerful Ming Dynasty. Therefore, he chose to secretly accumulate strength and wait for the opportunity.
First, in the name of revenge, Nurhachi began to eradicate other families in the Jurchen tribe. He was scheming, using various means to sow discord, and pointed the finger at the patriarchs of other Jurchen tribes one by one. For example, in the eleventh year of Wanli, he booby-trapped Hai Qingnu, the leader of the Yehe Jurchens; In the same year, he attacked the Hada tribe on a large scale and razed his entire clan.
In this way, in just a few years, Nurhachi relied on ruthless means and extraordinary wisdom to reduce the Jurchen tribe that was originally full of nine tribes into zero, which was unique. And under the nose of the Ming Dynasty, this ambitious alien leader has always pretended to be subservient and fought quietly and steadily.
Secondly, in order to unite forces, Nurhachi specially created the Manchu alphabet, so that the Jurchen language had a written form and strengthened national cohesion. In addition, he also vigorously reorganized the army, established strict discipline, adopted advanced organizational methods, divided the army into eight banners, and divided it into the Han army, the Manchurian army, and the Mongolian army, ensuring the elite and efficient army.
Most crucially, Nurhachi seized the moment of the decay of the Ming Dynasty. This cunning and resourceful Jurchen leader knew that as long as he waited patiently, one day the Ming Dynasty would reap the consequences. Sure enough, the Ming Dynasty was troubled internally and externally, and the powerful ministers under the king's landing stole the country, the warlords divided the country, and corruption was rampant. This undoubtedly provides a huge window of opportunity for Nurhachi's expansion.
In this way, in obscurity, Nurhachi gradually eradicated dissidents, united forces, expanded the army, and accumulated strength. And the incompetence and mediocrity of the Ming Dynasty became the biggest boost to his wanton expansion. A brave and shrewd alien hero rose in this way, but the Ming Dynasty was unaware of it, and was still immersed in arrogance and lasciviousness.
The Ming Dynasty's defensive measures lagged behind
While Nurhachi quietly rose to prominence in the northeast, the Ming dynasty turned a blind eye to the emerging threat. This is not only due to the neglect of the Jurchen people by the Ming Dynasty leaders, but also related to the selfishness of Li Chengliang, the general soldier of Liaodong.
As a guard general in an important town in the northeast, Li Chengliang should always pay attention to the movements of the border and report the situation to the imperial court in time. However, as the Ming Dynasty had been focused on fighting the Mongols, it was not sufficiently wary of the emerging Jurchens. The court regarded the Jurchens as vassals who had been subservient for a long time, but they did not expect that such a cunning and tenacious alien force was hidden in it.
Coupled with Li Chengliang's connivance with Nurhachi, the Ming Dynasty's defensive measures against the Jurchens completely fell into passivity. As an important minister guarding Liaodong, Li Chengliang had long been disappointed in the decay of the imperial court. Not only did he collude with some warlords in private, but he also secretly connived at the Jurchens' expansionist behavior. After all, rather than being loyal to a decaying dynasty, it is better to use the power of the Jurchens to defend their interests in the Northeast.
Under these circumstances, the Ming Dynasty's defense of the Jurchens completely lagged behind. The court remained reeling from top to bottom of a protracted war with the Mongols, lacking awareness of emerging threats. The important ministers of the border pass are bound by interests and are bound by defense. Even if some people who knew the times were aware of the threat of the Jurchens, it was difficult to persuade the imperial court to take strong action.
More critically, the decay of the Ming Dynasty deprived it of its full ability to make decisions and act. The eunuchs controlled the government, the emperor was extravagant, the warlords were fighting and civil strife, and the entire bureaucratic system had reached the point of abnormality. In the face of such thorny internal and external troubles, the Ming Dynasty was no longer able to cope with Nurhachi's challenge.
The decay and degeneration of the Ming Dynasty and the difficulties at home and abroad are the biggest help for Nurhachi's rise. The incompetence of the Ming Dynasty was complacent, not only losing its vigilance against the Jurchens, but also putting itself in a situation of passive beating. When the cunning and resourceful Nurhachi finally got the idea of the Ming Dynasty, this once glorious dynasty was no longer able to recover.
Three major boosts to the rise of the Jurchens
Under the wise and heroic leadership of Nurhachi, the rise of the Jurchens was gone. And what enabled it to finally defeat the powerful Ming Dynasty stemmed from three key boosts.
First of all, it was Nurhachi who created the Manchu alphabet, which gave the Jurchens their own script. Prior to this, the Jurchens had been taught by mouth and there was a lack of written records, which was inherently flawed in maintaining national identity and unity. After the possession of the Manchu language, the Jurchen language had a foundation for lasting transmission, the thoughts of the people were condensed, and the national consciousness was unprecedentedly high.
The creation of the Manchu script not only helped Nurhachi strengthen his rule, but also laid a solid foundation for the development of the Jurchen nation in later generations. It is precisely with this unity of ideological foundation that the Jurchen people can be of one heart and one mind in the face of the powerful Ming Dynasty.
Second, Nurhachi established an advanced eight-banner army establishment. The so-called Eight Banners are divided into three ethnic flags: the Manchurian Flag, the Han Army Banner and the Mongolian Flag, and each ethnic flag is divided into four flags: the Qinzheng Yellow Flag, the Qinzheng White Flag, the Yellow Banner and the White Flag. This system of dividing the flags of the army according to the nationality and clan has ensured the unity of the army and demonstrated Nurhachi's farsightedness in army building.
The Eight Banners Army not only has a clear division of labor and a scientific and rational establishment, but also has formulated strict discipline, such as the establishment of commanders and deputy commanders under each subordinate, and the establishment of sergeants in a clear sequence. This well-trained elite army later became a sharp weapon for the Jurchens to conquer the Central Plains.
Finally, and most crucially, Nurhachi seized the opportunity of the Ming Dynasty's internal and external troubles. Just when the Ming Dynasty was corrupt and incompetent, and the monarch was in chaos, the Jurchen tribe was silently accumulating strength and brewing a counterattack. Once the Ming Dynasty made a mistake, Nurhachi immediately took advantage of the situation and rapidly expanded its territory.
Especially in the Wanli period, the Ming Dynasty has existed in name only and decayed due to various factors such as eunuchs controlling the government, the emperor being mediocre and absurd, and the warlords fighting each other. This undoubtedly cleared the last obstacle for the rise of the Jurchens and created excellent conditions for Nurhachi to finally win the victory.
It was with the blessing of these three major powers that the Jurchen clan was finally able to develop from a tiny northern alien race under the leadership of Nurhachi to a powerful force that could compete with the Ming Dynasty. This is the dialectic law of history, the strong have nothing to fear, and the weak strengthen themselves because of bad habits, thus gradually forming a new strong man.
The beginning of Jurchen dominance
After years of planning and preparation, Nurhachi finally made up his mind in the 29th year of Wanli (1601) and declared war on the Ming Dynasty. In this year, he summoned the patriarchs in Shengjing and ordered a general offensive against the Ming Dynasty.
In this way, with Nurhachi leading a large army to the battle, the Jurchens' war against the Ming Dynasty began. The first battle was successful, and Nurhachi's army quickly conquered Zhuanglang City, an important town in eastern Liaodong. Then he waved his army to Kaiyuan Mansion and captured this important stronghold of the Ming army.
In the face of the fierce attack of the Jurchens, Li Chengliang and other commanders of the Ming army were powerless to fight back. The incompetence and corruption of the Liaodong defenders made the Ming Dynasty's defense line broken in an instant. Soon, Nurhachi took advantage of the victory to pursue, and even conquered more than 30 cities, completely driving the Ming army out of Liaodong. In this way, in just one year, the Jurchen army broke through the northeastern defense line of the Ming Dynasty and seized all of the Liaodong region.
However, the Ming Dynasty remained unconcerned after losing the important town of Liaodong, turning a blind eye to the threat posed by the Jurchens. This made Nurhachi very angry, so he decided to take advantage of the victory to pursue and attack the camp in the Central Plains. In the thirtieth year of Wanli (1602), the Jurchen army fought all the way to Beijing, and conquered Kaiping, Jumiao, Ningyuan and other important towns.
In the end, Nurhachi personally led 30,000 elite troops to the Shanggu garrison, which was only sixty miles away from the capital. This battle made the Ming court panic, and finally hurriedly dispatched troops and generals, organized a total of 30,000 people from the Imperial Forest Army and various flag divisions, led by the clan Wang Xijue, to fight against the Jurchen army.
The two sides fought fiercely in the Shanggu area for several months, and the Ming army was defeated one after another, and finally had to retreat to the city of Beijing. The Jurchens were arrogant in the Shanggu region, burning and looting, and the hinterland of the Central Plains of the Ming Dynasty was ravaged like never before.
Just when the Ming Dynasty was shocked, Nurhachi suddenly issued a puzzling edict of "submission to obedience", saying that as long as the Ming Dynasty could agree to the four conditions, the Jurchens would immediately withdraw their troops. These four conditions are: giving Nurhachi the prince, canonizing his wife as a princess, inheriting the Jurchen region for eternity, and the Jurchen not being controlled by the Ming Dynasty.
These four seemingly unreasonable demands actually reflect that Nurhachi no longer has any surrender to the Ming Dynasty. He dared to despise the Ming court so much because his repeated victories in defeating the Ming army made him feel like a tiger and think highly of himself. In the chaos and incompetence, the Ming Dynasty had to reluctantly agree to Nurhachi's unreasonable demands and quickly retreated. In this way, Nurhachi, as a foreign race, camped in the heart of the Ming Dynasty domineeringly, and then left arrogantly. This battle marked the beginning of the Jurchens' true dominance of the Ming Dynasty.