In the first year of the Tianqi reign of the Ming Dynasty, Nurhaci, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, led the Eight Banners Army and took advantage of the change of imperial power and the slack of military preparations in the Ming Dynasty to capture important towns outside the Great Wall one after another. When the Liaodong border was in danger, Yuan Chonghuan rode out of the border alone to inspect the situation and later served in Liaodong.