rict of
Yalookiang, which, taken by surprise, was forced to submit to his arms.

This act of spoliation roused general apprehension among the chiefs.
Here was a man who was not satisfied with petty feuds, but evidently had
higher objects in view. Roused by apprehension of danger, seven of the
neighboring chiefs gathered their forces, and with an army of thirty
thousand Niuche and Mongols invaded the territory of the daring young
leader. The odds against him seemed irresistible. He had but four
thousand men to oppose to this large force. But his men had been well
chosen and well trained, and they so vigorously resisted the onset of
the enemy that the principal Niuche chief was killed and the Mongol
leader forced to flee. At this juncture Noorhachu charged his foes with
such vigor that they were broken and put to flight, four thousand of
them being slain in the pursuit. A number of chiefs were taken
prisoners, while the spoils included several thousand horses and plaited
suits of armor, material of great value to the ambitious young victor.

Eight years passed before Noorhachu was ready for another move. Then he
conquered and annexed the fertile district of Hada, on the north. In
1607 he added to this the state of Hwifa, and in the following year that
of Woola. These conquests were preliminary to an invasion of Yeho, the
most powerful of the Niuche states. His first attack upon this important
district failed, and before repeating it he deemed it necessary to show
his strength by invading the Chinese province of Liautung. He had long
been preparing for this great enterprise. He had begun his military
career with a force of one hundred men, but had now an army forty
thousand strong, well drilled and disciplined men, provided with engines
of war, and of a race famed for courage and intrepidity. Their chief
weapon consisted of the formidable Manchu bow, while the horsemen wore
an armor of cotton-plaited mail which was proof against arrow or spear.
The invasion was preceded by a list of grievances drawn up against the
Chinese, which, instead of forwarding it to the Chinese court, Noorhachu
burnt in presence of his army, as an appeal to Heaven for the justice of
his cause.

The Chinese had supinely permitted this dangerous power to grow up among
their tributaries on the north. In truth, the Ming dynasty, which had
begun with the great Hongwou, had shared the fate of Chinese dynasties
in general, having fallen into decadence a