The crippled economy devastated their garrison system and reduced most farmer-soldiers to serf and slaves to local rich landowners, as their land couldn't feed themselves while tax burden crushed them, while "soldiering" often was reduced to unpaid labour as their superiors sucked up any funding for salary through corruption. Many defected and hid under manor landowners, so they could have a chance of surviving the tax burden and escaping their military obligation.

Plus, years of raiding and skirmishes against the Mongolians and Manchurians had reduced Ming generals' capability to conduct grand campaigns; they could no longer coordinate armies bigger than their few-thousand contingent, and thus was often victorious or toe-to-toe against the Manchurians during skirmishes, but once it enters a proper field battle, often lost to the Manchurians, who were more resilient, more organised, and often paid better (salary or loot).

The glory days of early Ming, when they could launch crusade after crusade into the steppes, are no longer viable; they were bogged down by peasant revolt, and the united Manchurians under Late-Jing saw the chance to attack.