Gao Jie, the word Yingwu, a native of Mizhi, Shaanxi, is a fellow villager with Li Zicheng. He was originally Li Zicheng's right-hand man, nicknamed the Mountain Harrier. Li Zicheng's earliest wife, Han, was originally a prostitute, and Han later had an affair with the county servant Gai Junlu and was killed by Li Zicheng. Soon after, Li Zicheng plundered Xing as his stepwife. Xing is not only beautiful, "brave and wise, and also in charge of military resources".

In October of the seventh year of Chongzhen (1634), the Ming general He Longwei Li Zicheng was in Longzhou. In desperation, Li Zicheng sent Gao Jie to pretend to surrender to He Renlong. Soon, He Renlong's military envoys had close contacts with Gao Jie, and it seemed that the fake drama had come true, all of which made Li Zicheng suspicious. At the same time, Gao Jie once went to the military warehouse to support grain and rice, and was overwhelmed by Xing's appearance, and fell in love at first sight. Xing was originally a woman from a good family, but she was snatched into the army by Li Zicheng, and she didn't really return to her heart, she also fell in love with the tall and burly Gao Jie.

Under the persuasion of Xing, and because he was worried that Li Zicheng would be killed if he found out, Gao Jie took Xing and a group of soldiers to surrender to the Ming general He Renlong (He Renlong was also a fellow villager of Mizhi) in the eighth year of Chongzhen (1635), and was awarded the position of guerrilla.

Gao Jie later participated in the pursuit and suppression of the peasant army many times, and was promoted to the general army. At the beginning of the first year of Shunzhi (1644), the Great Shun army crossed the river to the east, and a large number of military generals of the Ming Dynasty were attached. When Gaobu entered Shandong, he saw that the local people had lost confidence in the Ming court, and they were all looking forward to the early arrival of the Dashun army.

During the Kangxi period, Shen Yuan, the magistrate of Jinxiang County, recorded a local anecdote: "The old man who still remembers the news is said to be the one who turned the sky over the sky in March of Chongzhen Jiashen, and the general under Gao Jie is also." Thousands of deserters were recruited under the false name of 'Chuang Wang Anmin', and the soldiers were thin in Jinxiang City. When Fang is the time, the thieves are full, the officials and people of Jinxiang guard the city, the city gate is closed day and night, and seeing the thief's words, he likes the people, Fang seeks cattle wine to welcome labor, and asks how the people are like this? "

When Gao Jie was rushing to seize the road, he sent an envoy to Shouzhou to contact Ma Shiying, the governor of Fengyang. Ma Shiying learned that his subordinates had 30,000 soldiers and 9,000 horses and mules, and immediately replied to solicit: "The general promises the country with his body, and he should lead it together." At the same time, let Gao Jie's department be stationed in Xuzhou and obey his own moderation. Gao Jie went to Shouzhou to meet Ma Shiying and returned to Xuzhou, and soon became the father of the "decision" due to the needle threading of the eunuch Lu Jiude.