甘南藏族自治州
Niu Xianke himself initially served as a minor bureaucrat in his home county of Chungu (鶉觚, in modern Pingliang), and was respected by the county magistrate Fu Wenjing (). Fu was later charged with the operation of military farming settlements in the Longyou (隴右, modern eastern Gansu) region, and he brought Niu with him as an aid. For Niu's contributions in military matters, he was eventually promoted to military adviser to the prefect of Tao Prefecture (洮州, roughly modern Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu).