More than ninety years before Nurhaci was born, two wars broke out between the Ming Dynasty and the Jurchens of Jianzhou. As early as the early years of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the Jurchen chieftains of Jianzhou submitted to the Ming Dynasty. However, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Mingxianzong made a big move, united with the Lee Dynasty of Korea, and twice sent troops to attack the Jurchens, known in history as "Chenghua Ploughing Court". In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the strategy had been adjusted to focus on defense, but why did it launch a large-scale crusade against the Jurchens of Jianzhou?
First, the Jurchens of Jianzhou rose and the Ming Dynasty declined
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Timur, the Jurchen leader of Jianzhou, was attached to the Ming Dynasty and was appointed by Zhu Di as the commander of Jianzhou Wei. The Court of the Ming Dynasty was very kind to the Jianzhou Jurchens, "Ming Zhi favored those who belonged to Yi, and the Jianzhou Jurchens were the thickest." Later, after the Jianzhou Jurchens moved to the Suzi River and the Po Pig River, the social economy was developed rapidly. The development of agriculture led to the rapid growth of the population, so in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Jianzhou women were really quite powerful.
In the process of the development of the Jurchen Dynasty in Jianzhou, the Ming Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline. In 1449, Emperor Mingying's Zhu Qizhen was defeated by the Wala cavalry, resulting in the change of Tumu Fort. Ming Yingzong himself was captured, half a million Ming troops collapsed, and after this battle, the Ming Dynasty went into decline. At the same time, the Ming Dynasty began to shrink strategically, and its border defense policy changed from active offensive to passive defense. In this context, the Jianzhou Jurchens and the Ming Dynasty had a conflict.
Second, the Jianzhou Jurchen provoked a border challenge
Due to the decline in strength between the two sides, the Jianzhou Jurchens began to plunder the Ming Dynasty and Korea. In the same year that the Tumubao Rebellion broke out, Li Manzhu and Dong Shan, the Jurchen leaders of Jianzhou, began to continuously "steal the border", resulting in "Liaodong being troubled". At that time, the Ming Dynasty was in the autumn of troubles, so it was not dealt with in time. During the reign of Emperor Mingxianzong, the Jianzhou Jurchen was even more unscrupulous, "entering the Kou ninety-seven times at the age of one year, killing more than 100,000 people."
In the second year of Chenghua (1466), more than 7,000 Jurchens plundered Kaiyuan, Fushun, Liaoyang, Shenyang and other places, seriously threatening the Ming Dynasty's rule in Liaodong. In the first month of the third year of Chenghua (1467), Dong Shan, the jurchen leader of Jianzhou, and others went to Beijing to pay tribute and apologize. When it came time to go to the ceremonial department to accept the emperor's feast, Dong Shan was very arrogant and ordered his men to "give out insults and bronze medals of the cooks." On the way home, Dong Shan clashed with the Ming officials and troops, and war between the two sides was inevitable.
3. Emperor Mingxianzong made a big deal of tarts
In August of the third year of Chenghua (1467), zhao fu, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, led an army to attack the Jurchens of Jianzhou, at the same time, the Lee Dynasty of Korea received the Ming Dynasty's will to "try to suppress it in a big way", so they also sent troops. At this time, although the Jurchens were strong, they were still not opponents of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming army was like a bamboo and won a complete victory, and Li Manzhu was also beheaded. In the words of Zhao Fu, "If you are strong, you will be killed, and if you are old and childish, if you collapse and the fire is extinguished, you will disintegrate and the ice will disappear."
However, after this war, the Jianzhou Jurchens revived and plundered the Liaodong region. So in October of the fifteenth year of Chenghua (1479), the Ming Dynasty sent 20,000 troops, divided into five routes, and united with Korea to once again attack the Jianzhou Jurchens. This war was a real blow to the Jianzhou women, and they could not recover for a long time. However, the problem of the founding of the state has not been completely solved. In 1583, Nurhaci, a descendant of Li Manju, was appointed by the Ming Dynasty as the commander of The Left Wei Capital of Jianzhou, and the Jurchens of Jianzhou rose again.
References: 1. Records of Emperor Myeongseongjong; 2. Records of Chinese Historical Materials in the Records of the Lee Dynasty of Joseon Dynasty; 3. Records of the Prequets of the Qing Dynasty