Baiden besieged

Since the defeat of Xiongnu during the reign of Qin Shi Huang, the north was quiet for more than ten years. After the fall of Qin, there was a dispute between Chu and Han in the Central Plains, and the Xiongnu took the opportunity to fight their way southward step by step.

In the reign of Han Gaozu, the Xiongnu's MòAdúchánAyú (MòAdúchánAyú is the name of a person, and MòAdúchánAyú is the king of Xiongnu) led 400,000 men and horses to surround the fief of Han Wangxin (the former Korean nobleman and Han Xin are two people) in Mayi (Shuo County, Shanxi). Han Wangxin could not resist and asked Boldon for peace. When Han Gaozu got the news, he sent a messenger to reprimand Han Wangxin. Fearing that Han Gaozu would condemn him, Han Wangxin surrendered to the Xiongnu.

Boldon captured Ma Yi and continued to attack southward, besieging Jin Yang. Han Gaozu himself rushed to Jingyang and confronted Xiongnu.and the men who came back said that Boldon's men were all old and weak, and even their horses were quite thin. If they took advantage of the situation, they could win the battle.

Han Gaozu was afraid that these soldiers' reconnaissance was not reliable, so he sent Liu Jing to the Xiongnu camp to spy.

Liu Jing came back and said, "The Xiongnu men we saw were indeed old and weak, but I think Boldon must have put his elite soldiers in an ambush, Your Majesty must not fall for this."

Han Gaozu was furious and said, "How dare you talk nonsense and try to stop my march." Saying so, he imprisoned Liu Jing.

Han Gaozu had just arrived at Pingcheng (northeast of Datong, Shanxi) with a group of troops, when all of a sudden, countless Xiongnu soldiers came out from all directions, all of them were strong and strong, and all the old and weak soldiers were gone. Han Gaozu desperately tried to kill his way out and retreated to Baideng, east of Pingcheng.

The Han army was surrounded by 400,000 soldiers, and the Han army was unable to rescue him. The Han army around him could not rescue him, and part of his men were besieged at Baideng for seven days, but he could not get out.

Chen Ping, a strategist beside Gaozu, sent a messenger with gold and jewels to meet the Xiongnu (pronounced yānAzhī, the queen of Xiongnu) of Boldon and asked her to put in a good word in front of Shan Yu. When the Xiongnu saw so many gifts, she was very happy.

That night, Xiongnu said to Boldon, "We can't stay here for a long time because we have occupied the place of the Han Dynasty, and besides, someone from Han Emperor will come to save him. Let's withdraw our troops and go back soon."

When Boldon heard what Xiongnu said, he ordered the next morning to remove the encircling net and let the Han soldiers out.

The next morning, when it was foggy, Han Gaozu quietly withdrew from Baideng. Chen Ping was still uneasy and told his archers to draw their bows to the left and right to protect Han Gaozu as he descended from the mountain.

Han Gaozu got out of the Xiongnu's encirclement with fear and trepidation and fled to Guangwu in one breath with his horse speeding up. He settled down and first released Liu Jing, saying, "I didn't listen to you and got surrounded by Xiongnu at Baideng, so I almost couldn't meet you."

Han Gaozu escaped from the tiger's mouth and knew that he had no power to conquer Xiong Nu again, so he had to return to Chang'an. Later, the Xiongnu kept invading the north, telling Han Gaozu to be greatly hurt. He asked Liu Jing what he should do. Liu Jing said, "It is better to adopt the method of 'peace' so that we can make peace and become relatives and live in peace with each other."

Han Gaozu agreed with Liu Jing's opinion and sent him to Xiongnu to negotiate a marriage, and Boldon agreed. Han Gaozu chose a daughter born to a palace maid, called Grand Princess, and sent her to Xiongnu, and Boldon made her his wife.

From that time, Han Dynasty started to adopt the policy of "peace", and the relationship with Xiongnu was temporarily eased.