1582, the Jianzhou confederation was met by the Ming military who launched a campaign which intended to stabilize the disintegrating confederation. The chieftain Nikan Wailan allied with the Ming general Li Chengliang against Wang Gao's son Atai. Giocangga, chief of the Beiles of the Sixes, was originally under Li's command since his grandson, the young Nurhaci was under his hostage. But Giocangga later chose to oppose Nikan Wailan and took his fourth son Taksi to support Atai at his stronghold Fort Gure. The battle at Gure, claimed Atai, Giocangga, and Taksi's lives. A number of leaders within the Suksuhu tribe stood ready to take Nurhaci's place. However, Nurhaci eventually rose to power. Nurhaci and Leadership of Jianzhou Jurchens Taking control of his grandfather's Suksuhu River tribe, Nurhaci confronted the Ming and released the Seven Grievances. Nurhaci sought vengeance for the untimely deaths of his immediate family members and a vendetta against the Ming forces who took his father and grandfather's life was launched. Although the Ming were reluctant, Nikan Wailan was eventually held responsible for the deaths of Giocangga and Taksi, and was killed in 1586. The Ming claimed that their deaths were accidental and not part of the campaign. Afterwards, Li Chengliang even acted as a surrogate father. Nurhaci may have had actually lived within Li Chengliang's household in Fushun in his youth and perhaps gained his literacy in Chinese as a result of this experience. Nurhaci would later be responsible for unifying the Jurchens confederacies. The leadership of the Jianzhou confederacies found its lineage from the Odori Jurchens whose leader Mongke Temur was renown by both the Ming and by the Yi. Giocangga, Nurgaci grandfather, claimed to be a fourth-generation descendant of Mongke Temur. The elite members of the Jurchen lineage possessed the Chinese characters for Jiagu in their names. In 1588 Nurhaci brought the Wanggiya tribe and Donggo tribe together. The unification of the Jianzhou Jurchens became a stepping stone for Nurhaci to expand his power throughout southern and central Manchuria, and to create a truly unified Manchu state. The very name Manchu (Jurchen: manju) was perhaps an old term for the Jianzhou Jurchens. Language Unlike the Jurchen people, who spoke the Jin Jurchen language that was adopted from phonetic Kitan language established in the Jin dynasty, the Jianzhou Jurchens commonly used three different language: Jurchen, Mongolian and Chinese. According to the Qing imperial history, the Jianzhou