1
鄧禹字仲華，南陽新野人也。 年十三，能誦詩，受業長安。 時光武亦遊學京師，禹年雖幼，而見光武知非常人，遂相親附。 數年歸家。
Deng Yu, whose courtesy name was Zhonghua, came from Xinye in Nanyang commandery. At thirteen he had already memorized the Classic of Odes and pursued his studies in the capital. Guangwu was then studying in the capital as well. Deng Yu was still a boy, but one look at Guangwu convinced him that this was no ordinary man, and he attached himself to him. Some years later he went home.
2
及漢兵起，更始立，豪傑多薦舉禹，禹不肯從。 及聞光武安集河北，即杖策北渡，追及於鄴。 光武見之甚歡，謂曰：『我得專封拜，生遠來，寧欲仕乎？ 』禹曰：『不願也。 』光武曰：『即如是，何欲為？ 』禹曰：『但願明公威德加於四海，禹得效其尺寸，垂功名於竹帛耳。 』光武笑，因留宿閑語。 禹進說曰：『更始雖都關西，今山東未安，赤眉、青犢之屬，動以萬數，三輔假號，往往群聚。 更始既未有所挫，而不自聽斷，諸將皆庸人屈起，志在財幣，爭用威力，朝夕自快而已，非有忠良明智，深慮遠圖，欲尊主安民者也。 四方分崩離析，形勢可見。 明公雖建藩輔之功，猶恐無所成立。 於今之計，莫如延攬英雄，務悅民心，立高祖之業，救萬民之命。 以公而慮天下，不足定也。 』光武大悅，因令左右號禹曰鄧將軍。 常宿止於中，與定計議。
When the Han armies rose and Liu Xuan took the throne as Emperor Gengshi, local leaders repeatedly urged Deng Yu to serve; he refused. Learning that Guangwu was consolidating his position north of the Yellow River, he took his riding crop, rode north, and caught up with him at Ye. Guangwu was delighted to see him and said, 'I alone can grant titles and posts. You have traveled a long way—are you looking for an appointment?' Deng Yu answered, 'No, I am not.' Guangwu asked, 'Then what do you want?' Deng Yu replied, 'I only hope your lordship's power and virtue will spread across the realm, and that I may contribute whatever small service I can, so that my name might be recorded for posterity.' Guangwu laughed, kept him as a guest that night, and they talked at leisure. Deng Yu urged him, saying, 'Gengshi may hold the Guanzhong heartland, but the region east of the mountains is still unsettled. The Red Eyebrows, the Green Calves, and their like field tens of thousands of men. In the Three Adjuncts, impostors claiming rank are everywhere, clustering into bands.' Gengshi has not been checked by any reverse, yet he will not take decisions himself. His generals are petty men who have clawed their way up; they care only for plunder, vie to throw their weight around, and live from day to day for their own amusement. There is no loyal wisdom among them, no long view of how to exalt the sovereign and bring peace to the common people. The empire is coming apart; the trend is plain to see. You have done great service as his supporter, yet I fear that will not be enough to build something lasting. For now, nothing beats winning over able men, earning the people's goodwill, reviving the enterprise of Emperor Gaozu of Han, and rescuing the common people from their plight. A man of your caliber need only bend his will to the empire—its pacification is assured. Guangwu was deeply pleased and told his attendants to address Deng Yu as General Deng. Deng Yu was often quartered in headquarters, where he and Guangwu hammered out strategy together.
3
及王郎起兵，光武自薊至信都，使禹發奔命，得數千人，令自將之，別攻拔樂陽。 從至廣阿，光武舍城樓上，披輿地圖，指示禹曰：『天下郡國如是，今始乃得其一。 子前言以吾慮天下不足定，何也？ 』禹曰：『方今海內淆亂，人思明君，猶赤子之慕慈母。 古之興者，在德薄厚，不以大小。 』光武悅。 時任使諸將，多訪於禹，禹每有所舉者，皆當其才，光武以為知人。 使別將騎，與蓋延等擊銅馬於清陽。 延等先至，戰不利，還保城，為賊所圍。 禹遂進與戰，破之，生獲其大將。 從光武追賊至蒲陽，連大克獲，北州略定。
When Wang Lang rebelled, Guangwu marched from Ji to Xindu. He had Deng Yu raise emergency levies, gathered several thousand men, put Deng Yu in independent command, and sent him to storm and seize Leyang. He accompanied Guangwu to Guang'a. Guangwu sat on the city wall with the empire's map spread before him, traced the commanderies and kingdoms, and said to Deng Yu, 'The realm looks like this—and we hold only a single corner of it.' You once told me that if I set my mind on the whole realm, I could not hope to pacify it. What did you mean by that?' Deng Yu replied, 'The empire is in turmoil. The people are crying out for a true ruler, as an infant longs for its mother.' The founders of old rose or fell on the depth of their virtue, not on the size of the territory they started with. Guangwu was satisfied. Whenever Guangwu dispatched his generals, he often asked Deng Yu's advice. Every man Deng Yu put forward proved equal to the task, and Guangwu concluded that he had a gift for reading character. He gave him a separate cavalry command to join Gai Yan and the others in attacking the Bronze Horse band at Qingyang. Gai Yan's detachment arrived first, was beaten in the fight, fell back to hold the city, and found itself besieged by the rebels. Deng Yu advanced to give battle, broke the enemy, and took their chief general alive. He followed Guangwu in pursuit of the rebels to Puyang, won victory after victory, and helped bring the northern provinces under control.
4
及赤眉西入關，更始使定國上公王匡、襄邑王成丹、抗威將軍劉均及諸將，分據河東、弘農以拒之。 赤眉眾大集，王匡等莫能當。 光武籌赤眉必破長安，欲乘釁並關中，而方自事山東，未知所寄，以禹沈深有大度，故授以西討之略。 乃拜為前將軍持節，中分麾下精兵二萬人，遣西入關，令自選偏裨以下可與俱者。 於是以韓歆為軍師，李文、李春、程慮為祭酒，馮愔為積弩將軍，樊崇為驍騎將軍，宗歆為車騎將軍，鄧尋為建威將軍，耿訢為赤眉將軍，左於為軍師將軍，引而西。
When the Red Eyebrows marched west into Guanzhong, Gengshi sent Wang Kuang the Duke Who Settles the State, Cheng Dan the king of Xiangyi, Liu Jun the General Who Resists Might, and other officers to divide their forces between Hedong and Hongnong and block the advance. The Red Eyebrows massed in overwhelming strength, and Wang Kuang's line could not hold them. Guangwu reckoned the Red Eyebrows would inevitably take Chang'an and wanted to slip through the opening and seize Guanzhong for himself, yet he was tied down east of the mountains and had no one to whom he could safely delegate the western campaign. Deng Yu's gravity and breadth of mind convinced him to entrust the plan to Deng Yu. He therefore commissioned Deng Yu as General of the Van with imperial credentials, detached twenty thousand picked troops from his own army, and sent them west into the passes, leaving Deng Yu to choose which subordinate officers would accompany him. Han Xin was named director of the army; Li Wen, Li Chun, and Cheng Lü became libationers; Feng Yin, general of accumulated crossbows; Fan Chong, general of valiant cavalry; Zong Xin, general of chariots and cavalry; Deng Xun, general who establishes might; Geng Xin, general of the Red Eyebrows; Zuo Yu, general who serves as army director—and the column marched west.
5
建武元年正月，禹自箕關將入河東，河東都尉守關不開，禹攻十日，破之，獲輜重千餘乘。 進圍安邑，數月未能下。 更始大將軍樊參將數萬人，度大陽欲攻禹，禹遣諸將逆擊於解南，大破之，斬參首。 於是王匡、成丹、劉均等合軍十餘萬，復共擊禹，禹軍不利，樊崇戰死。 會日幕，戰罷，軍師韓歆及諸將見兵勢已摧，皆勸禹夜去，禹不聽。 明日癸亥，匡等以六甲窮日不出，禹因得更理兵勒眾。 明旦，匡悉軍出攻禹，禹令軍中無得妄動； 既至營下，因傳發諸將鼓而並進，大破廣。 匡等皆棄軍亡走，禹率輕騎急追，獲劉均及河東太守楊寶、持節中郎將弭韁，皆斬之，收得節六，印綬五百，兵器不可勝數，遂定河東。 承制拜李文為河東太守，悉更置屬縣令長以鎮撫之。 是月，光武即位於鄗，使使者持節拜禹為大司徒。 策曰：『制詔前將軍禹：深執忠孝，與朕謀謨帷幄，決勝千里。 孔子曰：「自吾有回，門人日親。 」斬將破軍，平定山西，功效尤著。 百姓不親，五品不訓，汝作司徒，敬敷五教，五教在寬。 今遣奉車都尉授印綬，封為酂侯，食邑萬戶。 敬之哉！ 』禹時年二十四。
In the first month of Jianwu 1, Deng Yu advanced on Hedong through Jiguan. The commandery captain refused to yield the pass. Deng Yu assaulted it for ten days, forced it, and seized over a thousand supply wagons. He then laid siege to Anyi but could not reduce it for months. Gengshi's grand general Fan Can crossed Dayang at the head of tens of thousands, intending to fall on Deng Yu. Deng Yu sent his officers to intercept them south of Xie, shattered their army, and took Fan Can's head. Wang Kuang, Cheng Dan, Liu Jun, and their allies then threw more than a hundred thousand men against him. Deng Yu's army took heavy losses, and Fan Chong was killed in the fighting. Night was falling when the fighting stopped. Han Xin the army director and the other officers, seeing how badly the tide had turned, urged Deng Yu to withdraw under cover of darkness; he refused. The next day was guihai, a 'spent' day in the sexagenary cycle. Wang Kuang and his colleagues would not leave their lines, which gave Deng Yu time to reorganize his battered army. At daybreak Wang Kuang threw his whole force against Deng Yu, who ordered his men to hold their ground and not stir rashly. Once his men were at the enemy camp, he signaled his generals; the drums rolled and every unit charged as one, shattering Wang Kuang's army. Wang Kuang and his allies broke and ran. Deng Yu led light horse in hot pursuit, ran down Liu Jun, Hedong Administrator Yang Bao, and Household Gentleman Mi Jiang, executed them all, took six imperial batons, five hundred seals and cords, and arms beyond reckoning, and secured Hedong. Acting with delegated authority he named Li Wen administrator of Hedong, replaced every county magistrate in the commandery, and set them to restoring order. That same month Guangwu took the throne at Hao and dispatched an envoy with imperial credentials to appoint Deng Yu grand minister of education. The appointment edict read: 'Thus commands the throne to General of the Van Deng Yu: You have held fast to loyalty and filial devotion, counseled Us within the curtain, and won victories a thousand li away.' Confucius said, "Since I gained Yan Hui, my disciples drew daily closer to me."' You have cut down enemy generals, shattered their hosts, and pacified the territory west of the Taihang range; your achievements stand out above the rest.' When the people lack harmony and the five relationships lack proper instruction, it is the minister of education who sets them right. Spread the five moral teachings with care, and let those teachings be tempered by leniency.' We therefore send the chief charioteer to present your seal and ribbon and enfeoff you as marquis of Zan with revenue from ten thousand households. Bear this charge with reverence!' Deng Yu was twenty-four at the time.
6
遂渡汾陰河，入夏陽。 更始中郎將左輔都尉公乘歙，引其眾十萬，與左馮翊兵共拒禹於衙，禹復破走之，而赤眉遂入長安。 是時三輔連覆敗，赤眉所過殘賊，百姓不知所歸。 聞禹乘勝獨克而師行有紀，皆望風相攜負以迎軍，降者日以千數，眾號百萬。 禹所止輒停車住節，以勞來之，父老童稚，重發戴白，滿其車下，莫不感悅，於是名震關西。 帝嘉之，數賜書褒美。
He then crossed the Fenyin ford and marched into Xiayang. Gengshi's household gentleman general and colonel of the left assistant regions, Gongshe Xi, brought a hundred thousand men to join the Left Fengyi garrison in blocking Deng Yu at Ya. Deng Yu routed them again, while the Red Eyebrows pushed on into Chang'an. The Three Adjuncts had been beaten again and again. The Red Eyebrows left a trail of destruction, and the people had nowhere to look for safety. Word spread that Deng Yu was winning every fight and that his troops marched under strict discipline. Families shouldered their children and flocked to meet his columns; thousands surrendered each day until his army was said to number a million. Whenever he halted, he would rein in his carriage and display his credentials to welcome and reassure the people. Gray-haired elders and small children crowded beneath his wheels, and none went away unmoved. His name resounded through the western passes. The emperor commended him again and again in letters of praise.
7
諸將豪傑皆勸禹徑攻長安。 禹曰：『不然。 』今吾眾雖多，能戰者少，前無可仰之積，後無轉饋之資。 赤眉新拔長安，財富充實，鋒銳未可當也。 夫盜賊群居，無終日之計，財谷雖多，變故萬端，寧能堅守者也？ 上郡、北地、安定三郡，土廣人稀，饒谷多畜，吾且休兵北道，就糧養士，以觀其弊，乃可圖也。 』於是引軍北至栒邑。 禹所到，擊破赤眉別將諸營保，郡邑皆開門歸附。 西河太守宗育遣子奉檄降，禹遣詣京師。
His officers and local leaders all pressed him to strike Chang'an at once. Deng Yu said, 'That would be a mistake.' We may have great numbers, but few of them are real fighters. We have no stockpiled supplies ahead of us and no supply lines behind us. The Red Eyebrows have just seized Chang'an. They sit on full treasuries and their morale is razor-sharp; this is no moment to meet them head-on. They are nothing but a horde of bandits with no long-term strategy. However rich their grain and loot, they will splinter under a thousand shifting fortunes. How could they possibly hold what they have taken?' Shang, Beidi, and Anding are thinly peopled but rich in grain and herds. I mean to halt the army on the northern road, forage there, rest and feed the men, and watch the rebels wear themselves out. Then we can strike. He therefore marched north to Xunyi. Wherever he went he overran the Red Eyebrows' detached camps and stockades, and city after city opened its gates to him. Zong Yu, the grand administrator of Xihe, sent his son with a formal surrender; Deng Yu forwarded him to the capital.
8
帝以關中未定，而禹久不進兵，下敕曰：『司徒，堯也； 亡賊，桀也。 長安吏人，遑遑無所依歸。 宜以時進討，鎮慰西京，系百姓之心。 』禹猶執前意，乃分遣將軍別攻上郡諸縣，更征兵引谷，歸至大要。 遣馮愔、宗歆守栒邑。 二人爭權相攻，愔遂殺歆，因反擊禹，禹遣使以聞。 帝問使人：『愔所親愛為誰？ 』對曰：『護軍黃防。 』帝度愔、防不能久和，勢必相忤，因報禹曰：『縛馮愔者，必黃防也。 』乃遣尚書宗廣持節降之。 後月餘，防果執愔，將其眾歸罪。 更始諸將王匡、胡殷等皆詣廣降，與共東歸。 至安邑，道欲亡，廣悉斬之。 愔至洛陽，赦不誅。
Guanzhong was still unsettled, and Deng Yu had not moved his army for a long time. The emperor sent down an edict: 'My minister of education is a Yao among men;' these defeated rebels are no better than Jie. The officials and commoners of Chang'an wander in terror with nowhere to turn. You should attack at the proper moment, restore calm to the western capital, and win back the people's trust. Deng Yu stuck to his original plan. He detached generals to raid the counties of Shang, raised more troops, gathered grain, and fell back to Dayao. He left Feng Yin and Zong Xin to hold Xunyi. The two quarreled over authority and came to blows. Feng Yin killed Zong Xin, then turned on Deng Yu. Deng Yu sent a courier to inform the throne. The emperor asked the messenger, 'Who is Feng Yin's closest confidant?' The answer came: 'The adjutant Huang Fang.' The emperor reasoned that Feng Yin and Huang Fang could not long remain at peace and would soon fall out. He wrote back to Deng Yu: 'When Feng Yin is taken, it will be Huang Fang who does it.' He then sent Minister Zong Guang with imperial credentials to negotiate their submission. A little over a month later Huang Fang seized Feng Yin, brought his troops in, and surrendered for judgment. Gengshi's old generals Wang Kuang, Hu Yin, and others presented themselves to Zong Guang and marched east with him. When they reached Anyi and tried to slip away en route, Zong Guang executed them all. Feng Yin was pardoned when he arrived in Luoyang and was not put to death.
9
二年春，遣使者更封禹為梁侯，食四縣。 時，赤眉西走扶風，禹乃南至長安，軍昆明池，大饗士卒。 率諸將齋戒，擇吉日，修禮謁祠高廟，收十一帝神主，遣使奉詣洛陽，因循行園陵，為置吏士奉守焉。
In the spring of the second year the court dispatched an envoy to transfer Deng Yu's fief to the marquisate of Liang, with revenue from four counties. The Red Eyebrows had meanwhile withdrawn west into Fufeng. Deng Yu marched south to Chang'an, camped his army at Kunming Pond, and held a grand feast for the troops. He took his officers through the purification rites, picked an auspicious day, and performed sacrifice at Gaozu's temple. He gathered the spirit tablets of eleven Han emperors and sent them under escort to Luoyang, then inspected the imperial tombs and parks and posted men to maintain them.
10
禹引兵與延岑戰於藍田，不克，復就谷雲陽。 漢中王劉嘉詣禹降。 嘉相李寶倨慢無禮，禹斬之。 寶弟收寶部曲擊禹，殺將軍耿訢。 自馮愔反後，禹威稍損，又乏食，歸附者離散。 而赤眉復還入長安，禹與戰，敗走，至高陵，軍士饑餓，皆食棗菜。 帝乃征禹還，敕曰：『赤眉無谷，自當來東，吾折捶笞之，非諸將憂也。 無得復妄進兵。 』禹慚於受任而功不遂，數以饑卒僥戰，輒不利。 三年春，與車騎將軍鄧弘擊赤眉，遂為所敗，眾皆死散。 事在《馮異傳》。 獨與二十四騎還詣宜陽，謝上大司徒、梁侯印綬。 有詔歸侯印綬。 數月，拜右將軍。
He offered battle to Yan Cen at Lantian but could not break him, then withdrew to forage in Yunyang. Liu Jia, king of Hanzhong, came to Deng Yu and surrendered. Liu Jia's chancellor Li Bao treated him with arrogant disrespect; Deng Yu had him executed. Li Bao's younger brother rallied his brother's followers, attacked Deng Yu, and killed General Geng Xin. After Feng Yin's mutiny Deng Yu's prestige ebbed, and with supplies running short his adherents began to melt away. The Red Eyebrows swept back into Chang'an. Deng Yu gave battle, was routed, and fell back to Gaoling. His men were starving and lived on jujubes and weeds. The emperor recalled Deng Yu with orders: 'The Red Eyebrows are out of grain; they will drift east on their own. I will break them like kindling. This is no longer the generals' concern.' Do not thrust your army forward without cause.' Deng Yu was mortified that such a great charge had come to so little. Again and again he threw famished troops into risky fights and lost every time. In the spring of the third year he joined Deng Hong the general of chariots and cavalry against the Red Eyebrows and was shattered; his army was killed or scattered to the winds. The full account appears in Feng Yi's biography. He rode into Yiyang with only twenty-four horsemen, returned the seals of grand minister of education and marquis of Liang, and offered his apology. An edict sent back his marquis's seal and ribbon. A few months later he was named general of the right.
11
延岑自敗於東陽，遂與秦豐合。 四年春，復寇順陽間。 遣禹護復漢將軍鄧曄、輔漢將軍於匡，擊破岑於鄧； 追至武當，復破之。 岑奔漢中，餘黨悉降。
After his defeat at Dongyang, Yan Cen threw in his lot with Qin Feng. In the spring of the fourth year he struck again along the Shunyang frontier. The emperor dispatched Deng Yu to support Deng Ye, general who restores Han, and Yu Kuang, general who assists Han; together they crushed Yan Cen at Deng. They pursued him to Wudang and broke his army a second time. Yan Cen fled into Hanzhong, while every remnant of his force submitted.
12
十三年，天下平定，諸功臣皆增戶邑，定封禹為高密侯，食高密、昌安、夷安、淳於四縣。 帝以禹功高，封弟寬為明親侯。 其後左右將軍官罷，以特進奉朝請。 禹內文明，篤行淳備，事母至孝。 天下既定，常欲遠名勢。 有子十三人，各使守一藝。 修整閨門，教養子孫，皆可以為後世法。 資用國邑，不修產利。 帝益重之。 中元元年，復行司徒事。 從東巡狩，封岱宗。
In the thirteenth year, with the empire at peace, the court enlarged the fiefs of the founding ministers and fixed Deng Yu's title as marquis of Gaomi, with income from Gaomi, Chang'an, Yi'an, and Chunyu. In recognition of Deng Yu's towering service, his brother Deng Kuan was made marquis of Mingqin. Later the posts of left and right general were discontinued; Deng Yu received the honorary rank of special advancement and was summoned to court as protocol allowed. Deng Yu was refined and discerning by nature, unfailingly honest in conduct, and devoted to his mother in the extreme. After peace returned, he habitually sought distance from celebrity and political ambition. He fathered thirteen sons and apprenticed each to a different skill or specialty. He kept good order in the household, rearing sons and grandsons by example until they became patterns for posterity. He lived on his fief's revenue and never schemed to enlarge his private estates. The sovereign's regard for him only deepened. In Zhongyuan 1 he resumed the portfolio of grand minister of education. He accompanied the emperor on the eastern progress and received his share of the sacrifice at Mount Tai.
13
顯宗即位，以禹先帝元功，拜為太傅，進見東向，甚見尊寵。 居歲餘，寢疾。 帝數自臨問，以子男二人為郎。 永平元年，年五十七薨，謚曰元侯。 帝分禹封為三國：長子震為高密侯，襲為昌安侯，珍為夷安侯。
When Emperor Ming ascended the throne, Deng Yu was named grand tutor as a pillar of the former reign; he was granted the eastern-facing seat reserved for the most honored ministers and enjoyed extraordinary favor. A little over a year later he took to his bed with a serious illness. The emperor visited him again and again at his bedside and ennobled two of his sons as gentlemen of the palace. He died in Yongping 1 at the age of fifty-seven and received the posthumous epithet Yuan, meaning the foremost among peers. The emperor split Deng Yu's marquisate three ways: the eldest son became marquis of Gaomi, another son marquis of Chang'an, and a third marquis of Yi'an.
14
禹少子鴻，好籌策。 永平中，以為小侯。 引入與議邊事，帝以為能，拜將兵長史，率五營士屯雁門。 肅宗時，為度遼將軍。 永元中，與大將軍竇憲俱出擊匈奴，有功，征行車騎將軍。 出塞追畔胡逢侯，坐逗留，下獄死。
Deng Yu's youngest son, Deng Hong, had a passion for military planning. During the Yongping era he was given a junior marquisate. Summoned to counsel on the borders, he impressed the court as able; he was named senior clerk to a commanding general and led troops of the five camps to hold Yanmen. Under Emperor Zhang he rose to general who crosses the Liao. In the Yongyuan years he campaigned with Grand General Dou Xian against the Xiongnu, distinguished himself, and was advanced to acting general of chariots and cavalry. He led a column beyond the frontier after the renegade Fenghou but was charged with dilatory command, imprisoned, and died there.
15
高密侯震卒，子乾嗣。 乾尚顯宗女沁水公主。 永元十四年，陰皇后巫蠱事發，乾從兄奉以後舅被誅，乾從坐，國除。 元興元年，和帝復封乾本國，拜侍中。 乾卒，子成嗣。 成卒，子褒嗣。 褒尚安帝妹舞陰長公主，桓帝時為少府。 褒卒，長子某嗣。 少子昌襲母爵為舞陰侯，拜黃門侍郎。
When the marquis of Gaomi died, his son Deng Qian inherited the title. Deng Qian wed the Princess of Qinshui, a daughter of Emperor Ming. In Yongyuan 14 the witchcraft case of Empress Yin exploded. Deng Qian's cousin Deng Feng, the empress's uncle, was executed; Deng Qian was implicated, stripped of rank, and his fief extinguished. In Yuanxing 1 Emperor He restored Deng Qian's old marquisate and named him a palace attendant. Deng Qian was succeeded by his son Deng Cheng. Deng Cheng was succeeded in turn by his son Deng Bao. Deng Bao married the Princess of Wuyin, Emperor An's younger sister, and under Emperor Huan served as minister of the lesser treasury. When Deng Bao died, his eldest son succeeded him; the text leaves that heir unnamed. The younger son, Deng Chang, succeeded to his mother's title as marquis of Wuyin and became a gentleman at the yellow gates.
16
昌安侯襲嗣子藩，亦尚顯宗女平臯長公主，和帝時為侍中。
Fan, heir to the Chang'an marquisate of Deng Xi, likewise married the Princess of Pinggao, another daughter of Emperor Ming, and served as palace attendant under Emperor He.
17
夷安侯珍子康，少有操行。 兄良襲封，無後，永初六年，紹封康為夷安侯。 時諸紹封者皆食故國半租，康以皇太后戚屬，獨三分食二，以侍祠侯為越騎校尉。 康以太后久臨朝政，宗門盛滿，數上書長樂宮諫爭，宜崇公室，自損私權，言甚切至。 太后不從。 康心懷畏懼，永寧元年，遂謝病不朝。 太后使內侍者問之。 時宮人出入，多能有所毀譽，其中耆宿皆稱中大人。 所使者乃康家先婢，亦自通中大人。 康聞，詬之曰：『汝我家出，亦敢爾耶？ 』婢怨恚，還說康詐疾而言不遜。 太后大怒，遂免康官，遣歸國，絕屬籍。 及從兄騭誅，安帝征康為侍中。 順帝立，為太僕，有方正稱，名重朝廷。 以病免，加位特進。 陽嘉三年卒，謚曰義侯。
Deng Kang, son of the marquis of Yi'an, showed moral fiber even as a young man. His elder brother Deng Liang had held the title but left no son; in Yongchu 6 Deng Kang was re-enfeoffed as marquis of Yi'an. Renewed fiefs normally drew only half the old revenue, but Deng Kang, as the empress dowager's kin, received two-thirds; he held the title of marquis who attends sacrifice and served as colonel of agile cavalry. With the empress dowager ruling from behind the curtain and his clan swollen with influence, Deng Kang repeatedly memorialized the Changle Palace, urging her to elevate the public authority of the Liu house and rein in the Dengs' private power—his language was blunt and uncompromising. She ignored his advice. Frightened for his safety, in Yongning 1 Deng Kang feigned illness and stayed away from the court. The empress dowager dispatched palace attendants to question him. Court ladies who passed in and out could make or ruin reputations at whim; the senior eunuchs among them were reverently addressed as inner-court magnates. The envoy turned out to be a former bondmaid from Deng Kang's own household, who now claimed the same inner-court title. Deng Kang heard of it and berated her: 'You were a servant in my family—how dare you put on such airs?' Smarting from the insult, she went back and told the palace that Deng Kang was shamming illness and had spoken lese-majeste. The empress dowager was furious: she dismissed Deng Kang from office, banished him to his fief, and expunged his name from the rolls of the imperial clan. After his cousin Deng Zhi was put to death, Emperor An recalled Deng Kang as palace attendant. Under Emperor Shun he became grand coach of the heir apparent, famed for upright character and commanding great respect at court. Illness forced his retirement, but the court added the honorific rank of special advancement. He died in Yangjia 3 with the posthumous name Yi, the righteous.
18
論曰：『夫變通之世，君臣相擇，斯最作事謀始之幾也。 鄧公嬴糧徒步，觸紛亂而赴光武，可謂識所從會矣。 於是中分麾下之軍，以臨山西之隙，至使關河響動，懷赴如歸。 功雖不遂，而道亦弘矣！ 及其威損栒邑，兵散宜陽，褫龍章於終朝，就侯服以卒歲，榮悴交而下無二色，進退用而上無猜情，使君臣之美，後世莫窺其間，不亦君子之致為乎！
The historian's judgment runs: 'When times shift and institutions bend, sovereign and servant select one another—that first choice is the pivot on which every later success or failure turns.' Deng Yu packed his own provisions and walked to war, cutting through anarchy to reach Guangwu—he knew where destiny lay and threw in his lot at the right instant. He then detached half his command to strike through the breach west of the Taihang range until the Yellow River and the passes echoed with his advance and recruits poured in as though coming home. He never quite finished the conquest, yet the path he opened was magnificent in its own right! Later, when his prestige crumbled at Xunyi and his army melted away at Yiyang, when imperial favor was withdrawn in a morning yet he accepted a marquis's quiet retirement—honor and disgrace chased each other while he betrayed not a flicker of resentment; he was used and set aside while the throne never quite lost trust in him. That seamless grace between lord and servant is a closeness later ages can scarcely glimpse: is it not the perfection of what a gentleman may become!
19
訓字平叔，禹第六子也。 少有大志，不好文學，禹常非之。 顯宗即位，初以為郎中。 訓樂施下士，士大夫多歸之。
Deng Xun, whose courtesy name was Pingshu, was the sixth son of Deng Yu. As a boy he aimed high and disdained bookish pursuits, to his father's frequent disapproval. When Emperor Ming first took the throne, Deng Xun began his career as a gentleman of the palace. Deng Xun loved to spend his wealth on humble talents, and a host of scholars and officials gathered around him.
20
永平中，理虖沱、石臼河，從都慮至羊腸倉，欲令通漕。 太原吏人苦役，連年無成，轉運所經三百八十九隘，前後沒溺死者不可勝算。
During Yongping he supervised work on the Hutuo and Shijiu waterways from Dulü to Yangchang Granary, hoping to carve out a canal for tribute grain. The people of Taiyuan groaned under endless labor gangs; the channel never advanced, and along its three hundred eighty-nine choke points the drowned—before and after—were countless.
21
建初三年，拜訓謁者，使監領其事。 訓考量隱括，知大功難立，具以上言。 肅宗從之，遂罷其役，更用驢輦，歲省費億萬計，全活徒士數千人。 會上谷太守任興欲誅赤沙烏桓，烏桓怨恨謀反，詔訓將黎陽營兵屯狐奴，以防其變。 訓撫接邊民，為幽部所歸。
In Jianchu 3 the court named Deng Xun an usher and put him in charge of the project. Deng Xun surveyed the ground, saw that the grand design could not succeed, and laid the facts before the throne in a full report. Emperor Zhang accepted his counsel, canceled the dig, switched to mule-drawn transport, saved untold millions each year, and spared thousands of corvée workers' lives. About then Shanggu Administrator Ren Xing planned a purge of the Red Sands Wuhuan; they plotted revenge. Deng Xun was ordered to take the Liyang garrison and hold Hunu against an outbreak. He won the border population by kindness and became the man Youzhou looked to.
22
六年，遷護烏桓校尉，黎陽故人多攜將老幼，樂隨訓徙邊。 鮮卑聞其威恩，皆不敢南近塞下。 八年，舞陰公主子梁扈有罪，訓坐私與扈通書，征免歸閭里。
In the sixth year he was promoted colonel for the protection of the Wuhuan; old comrades from Liyang packed up families and gladly followed him to the border. The Xianbei, hearing of his blend of terror and mercy, would not venture south of the garrisons. In the eighth year Liang Hu, son of the Princess of Wuyin, was charged with a crime; Deng Xun was implicated for private correspondence with him, recalled, stripped of office, and sent home.
23
元和三年，盧水胡反畔，以訓為竭者，乘傳到武威，拜張掖太守。
In Yuanhe 3 the Lu River Hu rose in revolt; Deng Xun was named court usher, rode relay to Wuwei, and took office as grand administrator of Zhangye.
24
章和二年，護羌校尉張紆繡誅燒當種羌迷吾等，由是諸羌大怒，謀欲報怨，朝廷憂之。 公卿舉訓代紆為校尉。 諸羌激忿，遂相與解仇結婚，交質盟詛，眾四萬餘人，期冰合渡河攻訓。 先是，小月氏胡分居塞內，勝兵者二三千騎，緣勇健富強，每與羌戰，常以少制多。 雖首施兩端，漢亦時收其用。 時迷吾子迷唐，別與武威種羌合兵萬騎，來至塞下，未敢攻訓，先欲脅月氏胡，訓擁衛稽故，令不得戰。 議者，咸以羌胡相攻，縣官之利，以夷伐夷，不宜禁護。 訓曰：『不然。 今張紆失信，眾羌大動，經常屯兵，不下二萬，轉運之費，空竭府帑，涼州吏人，命縣絲發。 原諸胡所以難得意者，皆恩信不厚耳。 今因其迫急，以德懷之，庶能有用。 』遂令開城及所居園門，悉驅群胡妻子內之，嚴兵守衛。 羌掠無所得，又不敢逼諸胡，因即解去。 由是湟中諸胡皆言『漢家常欲鬥我曹，今鄧使君待我以恩信，開門內我妻子，乃得父母。 』咸歡喜叩頭曰：『唯使君所命。 』訓遂撫養其中少年勇者數百人，以為義從。
In Zhanghe 2 Zhang Yu, colonel for the protection of the Qiang, executed Mixian and other leaders of the Burn-Dang tribe; the Qiang confederations exploded in fury and swore vengeance, and the capital trembled. The high ministers nominated Deng Xun to succeed Zhang Yu as protector colonel. The Qiang clans, white-hot with rage, buried old quarrels, intermarried, exchanged hostages, swore blood oaths, and raised over forty thousand warriors to ford the Yellow River on winter ice and fall on Deng Xun. The Lesser Yuezhi tribes had long lived inside the frontier; they could field two or three thousand good riders and, being fierce and well-equipped, habitually beat larger Qiang forces with handfuls of men. Though they hedged between Han and barbarian, the court still found them useful on occasion. Mitang, son of Mixian, then combined ten thousand Wuhuan and Qiang riders from Wuwei and rode to the frontier. Unwilling to strike Deng Xun head-on, he tried first to bully the Lesser Yuezhi; Deng Xun threw a protective cordon around their chief Jigu and forbade them to give battle. Advisers argued that pitting Qiang against Hu served the empire—let barbarian fight barbarian—and that Deng Xun ought not shield the Yuezhi. Deng Xun replied, 'That is shortsighted.' Zhang Yu has forfeited the tribes' trust and set every Qiang clan in motion. We keep twenty thousand men under arms out west and bleed the treasury dry supplying them. The people of Liangzhou hang by a thread. If you ask why the frontier tribes never quite submit, the answer is always that Han good faith has been too thin. They are desperate; win them with a steady show of kindness now and they may yet fight for us. He threw open the city gates and the compound gates, herded every Hu wife and child inside under arms, and sealed the walls behind them. The Qiang raiders found nothing to seize, dared not storm Deng Xun's Hu wards, and broke off the siege. The Huang-shore Hu cried, 'The Han court has always tried to set us at each other's throats. Now Director Deng deals in good faith: he opens the gates, shelters our wives and children, and gives us back our families.' They kowtowed for joy and swore, 'We will obey Director Deng in everything.' Deng Xun then adopted several hundred of the boldest young men from among them as sworn retainers.
25
羌胡俗恥病死，每病臨困，輒以刃自刺。 訓聞有困疾者，輒拘持縛束，不與兵刃，使醫藥療之，愈者非一，小大莫不感悅。 於是賞賂諸羌種，使相招誘。 迷唐伯父號吾乃將其母及種人八百戶，自塞外來降。 訓因發湟中秦、胡、羌兵四千人出塞，掩擊迷唐於寫谷，斬首虜六百餘人，得馬、牛、羊萬餘頭。 迷唐乃去大、小榆，居頗巖谷，眾悉破散。 其春，復欲歸故地就田業，訓乃發湟中六千人，令長史任尚將之，縫革為船，置於箄上以度河，掩擊迷唐廬落大豪，多所斬獲。 復追逐奔北，會尚等夜為羌所攻，於是義從羌胡並力破之，斬首前後一千八百餘級，獲生口二千人，馬、牛、羊三萬餘頭，一種殆盡。 迷唐遂收其餘部，遠徙廬落，西行千餘里，諸附落小種皆背畔之。 燒當豪帥東號稽顙歸死，餘皆款塞納質。 於是綏接歸附，威信大行。 遂罷屯兵，各令歸郡。 惟置弛刑徒二千餘人，分以屯田，為貧人耕種，修理城郭塢壁而已。
Qiang and Hu alike reckon death by sickness a disgrace; the dying often fall on their knives. Whenever Deng Xun heard that a tribesman lay desperately ill, he had the man seized, bound, and disarmed, then nursed him with physicians and drugs. Many lived; the whole frontier was moved. He then distributed bribes among the Qiang bands and set them to lure each other in. Mitang's uncle Haowu then shepherded eight hundred households, with the women and elders of the line, in from beyond the frontier to defect. Deng Xun then marched four thousand Huang-shore Han, Hu, and Qiang troops beyond the wall and ambushed Mitang in Xie Gorge, taking six hundred heads and over ten thousand head of livestock. Mitang abandoned the Great and Lesser Yu strongholds for the rugged Yan gorges; his following disintegrated. Next spring Mitang tried to slip back to his old pastures. Deng Xun sent six thousand Huang-shore troops under Ren Shang, who stitched hides into boats, floated them on bamboo rafts across the river, and stormed Mitang's camps, cutting down many chiefs. In the pursuit Ren Shang's detachment was surprised by night. Deng Xun's sworn followers—Qiang and Hu together—counterattacked and killed over eighteen hundred in the two actions, took two thousand prisoners, thirty thousand head of stock, and all but wiped out that tribe. Mitang rallied his survivors, struck his tents, and withdrew a thousand li westward; every petty clan that had followed him peeled away. The Burn-Dang leader Donghao came forehead to dust to offer his life; the others opened the frontier and delivered hostages in earnest. He welcomed every surrender with generosity, and his reputation for justice spread across the steppe. He then stood down the field army and sent the men back to their home commanderies. He kept only some two thousand men on commuted sentences, split them among military colonies to farm for the destitute, and put them to patching walls and forts—nothing more.
26
永元二年，大將軍竇憲將兵鎮武威，憲以訓曉羌胡方略，上求俱行。 訓初厚於馬氏，不為諸竇所親，及憲誅，故不離其禍。
In Yongyuan 2 Grand General Dou Xian took an army to Wuwei. Knowing Deng Xun's grasp of frontier policy, Dou petitioned to have him along. Deng Xun had long been close to the Ma family, not to the Dou inner circle, so when Dou Xian died he escaped the purge.
27
訓雖寬中容眾，而於閨門甚嚴，兄弟莫不敬憚，諸子進見，未嘗賜席接以溫色。 四年冬，病卒官，時年五十三。 吏人羌胡愛惜，旦夕臨者日數千人。 戎俗，父母死，恥悲泣，皆騎馬歌呼。 至聞訓卒，莫不吼號，或以刀自割，又刺殺其犬、馬、牛、羊，曰：『鄧使君已死，我曹亦俱死耳。 』前烏桓吏士皆奔走道路，至空城郭。 吏執不聽，以狀白校尉徐傿。 傿嘆息曰：『此義也。 』乃釋之。 遂家家為訓立祠，每有疾病，輒此請禱求福。
Outwardly Deng Xun was easygoing, but at home he was austere: his brothers stood in awe of him, and when his sons came for an audience he never offered a seat or softened his expression. He died in office in the winter of the fourth year, aged fifty-three. Officials, commoners, Qiang, and Hu alike mourned him; thousands filed past the bier every day. On the steppe it was thought shameful to wail for the dead; mourners instead rode in circles, singing at the top of their lungs. When the word came that Deng Xun had died, they howled, slashed their own flesh, and slaughtered the dogs, horses, and sheep, crying that with the director gone they might as well die too. Old Wuhuan troopers stampeded through the streets until towns looked deserted. Local officers tried to restrain them and sent word to Colonel Xu Gui. Xu Gui sighed, 'Let them—they are showing true devotion.' He ordered them freed. Households raised shrines to him; the sick came to pray for a cure.
28
元興元年，和帝以訓皇后之父，使謁者持節至訓墓，賜策追封，謚曰平壽敬侯。 中宮自臨，百官大會。 訓五子：騭、京、悝、弘、閶。
In Yuanxing 1 Emperor He, honoring Deng Xun as the empress's father, dispatched an usher with imperial batons to his grave, issued a posthumous patent, and named him reverent marquis of Pingshou. The empress came herself while the whole bureaucracy gathered for the rite. Deng Xun left five sons: Deng Zhi, Deng Jing, Deng Kui, Deng Hong, and Deng Chang.
29
騭字昭伯，少辟大將軍竇憲府。 及女弟為貴人，騭兄弟皆除郎中。 及貴人立，是為和熹皇后。 騭三遷虎賁中郎將，京、悝、弘、閶皆黃門侍郎。 京卒於官。 延平元年，拜騭車騎將軍、儀同三司。 儀同三司始自騭也。 悝虎賁中郎將，弘、閶皆侍中。
Deng Zhi, courtesy name Zhaobo, began his career as a recruit in Dou Xian's command staff. When his younger sister entered the palace as honored consort, all her brothers received appointments as gentlemen of the palace. When she was raised to empress, she became Empress Hexi, Empress Deng Sui. Deng Zhi rose thrice to leader of the rapid-tiger guard; Deng Jing, Deng Kui, Deng Hong, and Deng Chang became gentlemen at the yellow gates. Deng Jing died in harness. In Yanping 1 Deng Zhi was named general of chariots and cavalry with honors matching the three dukes. The title 'equal to the three excellencies' began with Deng Zhi. Deng Kui led the rapid-tiger guard; Deng Hong and Deng Chang served as palace attendants.
30
殤帝崩，太后與步騭等定策立安帝，悝遷城門校尉，弘虎賁中郎將。 自和帝崩後，騭兄弟常居禁中。 騭謙遜不欲久在內，連求還第，歲餘，太后乃許之。
When Emperor Shang died, the empress dowager and the ranking ministers fixed the succession on Emperor An. Deng Kui became colonel of the gates; Deng Hong took command of the rapid-tiger guard. After Emperor He's death the Deng brothers were seldom out of the inner palace. Deng Zhi, uneasy at lingering inside, begged again and again to go home; only after a year did the empress dowager allow it.
31
其夏，涼部畔羌援蕩西州，朝廷憂之。 於是詔騭將左右羽林、北軍五校士及諸部兵擊之，車賀幸平樂觀餞送。 騭西屯漢陽，使征西校尉任尚、從事中郎司馬鈞與羌戰，大敗。 時以轉輸疲弊，百姓苦役。 冬，征騭班師。 朝廷以太后故，遣五官中郎將迎拜騭為大將軍。 軍到河南，使大鴻臚親迎，中常侍賫牛、酒郊勞，王、主以下候望於道。 既至，大會群臣，賜束帛乘馬，寵靈顯赫，光震都鄙。
That summer Liangzhou Qiang rebels convulsed the west, and Luoyang fretted. The court ordered Deng Zhi to take the feathered forest guards, the northern army's five camps, and allied columns against them, while the emperor rode to Pingleguan to stage a farewell banquet. Deng Zhi camped west at Hanyang and detached Ren Shang and Sima Jun; their battle with the Qiang ended in disaster. Supply lines were broken and the people groaned under endless labor levies. That winter the court recalled Deng Zhi's army. For the empress dowager's sake the throne sent a household general of the fifth grade to escort Deng Zhi home as grand general. South of the Yellow River the grand herald met him in person, a chief eunuch brought oxen and wine for a suburban feast, and princes and princesses lined the route. His return was marked by a full-dress audience, gifts of silk and mounts, and honors so dazzling that they lit up the capital and the suburbs.
32
時，遭元二之災，人士荒饑，死者相望，盜賊群起，四夷侵畔。 騭等崇節儉，罷力役，推進天下賢士何熙、祋諷、羊浸、李郃、陶敦等，列於朝廷； 辟楊震、朱寵、陳禪，置之幕府，故天下復安。
The empire was reeling from the famines of the yuan-er years: corpses lined the roads, rebels sprang up everywhere, and border tribes raided at will. The Deng brothers preached austerity, canceled grandiose corvée projects, and brought He Xi, Dui Feng, Yang Jin, Li He, Tao Dun, and other able men to the capital. They recruited Yang Zhen, Zhu Chong, and Chen Chan into their staff, and the realm slowly steadied.
33
四年，母新野君寢病，騭兄弟並上書求還侍養。 太后以閶最少，孝行尤著，特聽之，賜安車駟馬。 及新野君薨，騭等復乞身行服，章連上，太后許之。 騭等既還裏第，並居冢次。 閶至孝骨立，有聞當時。 及服闋，詔喻騭還輔朝政，更授前封。 騭等叩頭固讓，乃止，於是並奉朝請，位次在三公下，特進、侯上。 其有大議，乃詣朝堂，與公卿參謀。
In the fourth year their mother, Lady Xinye, fell dangerously ill; the brothers begged leave together to nurse her. The empress dowager singled out the youngest, Deng Chang, for his conspicuous filial piety, granted his request, and gave him an official carriage with a four-horse team. When Lady Xinye died they asked to resign and observe the full mourning; she approved after a flurry of memorials. They retired to their estates and lived in rough shelters beside her grave. Deng Chang mourned until he was skin and bone; contemporaries spoke of nothing else. When mourning ended an edict summoned Deng Zhi back to government and restored his old titles. They kowtowed and refused; the court let the matter drop and kept them on summons-only status, ranked below the three dukes but above ordinary marquises and men of special advancement. On weighty questions they were called to the court hall to advise with the high ministers.
34
元初二年，弘卒。 太后服齊衰，帝絲麻，並宿幸其第。 弘少治《歐陽尚書》，授帝禁中，諸儒多歸附之。 初疾病，遺言悉以常服，不得用錦衣玉匣。 有司奏贈弘驃騎將軍，位特進，封西平侯。 太后追思弘意，不加贈位衣服，但賜錢千萬，布萬匹，騭等復辭不受。 詔大鴻臚持節，即弘殯封子廣德為西平侯。 將葬，有司復奏發五營輕車騎士，禮儀如霍光故事，太后皆不聽，但白蓋雙騎，門生挽送。 後以帝師之重，分西平之都鄉封廣德弟甫德為都鄉侯。 四年，又封京子黃門侍郎珍為陽安侯，邑三千五百戶。
Deng Hong died in Yuanchu 2. The empress dowager wore second-degree mourning, the emperor third-degree, and both kept vigil at his house. Deng Hong had mastered the Ouyang recension of the Shangshu and tutored the young emperor in the palace; scholars flocked to his banner. His deathbed will insisted on plain shrouds—no brocade, no jade for the inner coffin. The ministry proposed posthumous honors: general of swift cavalry, special advancement, and the marquisate of Xiping. Mindful of his wishes, she skipped the grand titles and sent ten million cash and ten thousand bolts of silk instead; the brothers declined even that. She then had the grand herald invest his son Guangde as marquis of Xiping at the bier. Officials asked for a Huo Guang–style escort of light cavalry from the five camps; she refused and sent him to the grave with white umbrellas, two outriders, and disciples tugging the hearse. Later, to honor his role as imperial tutor, she carved a Duxiang district from the Xiping fief for Guangde's younger brother Fude. In the fourth year Deng Zhen, son of Deng Jing and a gentleman at the yellow gates, was made marquis of Yang'an with thirty-five hundred households.
35
五年，悝、閶相繼並卒，皆遺言薄葬，不受爵贈，太后並從之。 乃封悝子廣宗為葉侯，閶子忠為西華侯。
The next year Deng Kui and Deng Chang died in quick succession, each asking for a humble funeral and no posthumous titles; she granted every wish. She then named Guangzong as the marquis of Ye and Zhong as the marquis of Xihua.
36
自祖父禹教訓子孫，皆遵法度，深戒竇氏，檢敕宗族，闔門靜居。 騭子侍中鳳，嘗與尚書郎張龕書，屬郎中馬融宜在臺閣。 又中郎將任尚嘗遺鳳馬，後尚坐斷盜軍糧，檻車征詣廷尉，鳳懼事泄，先自首於騭。 騭畏太后，遂髡妻及鳳以謝，天下稱之。
Since Deng Yu's day the family had lived by the code, shunned Dou-style excess, policed their own kin, and kept a low profile behind closed doors. Deng Feng, Deng Zhi's son and a palace attendant, once wrote Zhang Kan of the masters' office asking that Ma Rong be considered for a secretariat post. Colonel Ren Shang had once given Deng Feng horses; when Ren was arrested for stealing the army grain, Feng feared exposure and confessed to his father first. Deng Zhi, terrified of the empress dowager's wrath, had his wife and son shaved as criminals to atone; the empire called it righteous.
37
大司農朱寵痛騭無罪遇禍，乃肉輿櫬，上疏追訟騭曰：『伏惟和熹皇后聖善之德，為漢文母。 兄弟忠孝，同心憂國，宗廟有主，王室是賴。 功成身退，讓國遜位，歷世外戚，無與為比。 當享積善履謙之祐，而橫為宮人單辭所陷。 利口傾險，反亂國家，罪無申證。 獄不訊鞠，遂令騭等罹此酷濫。 一門七人，並不以命，屍骸流離，怨魂不反，逆天感人，率土喪氣。 宜收還冢次，寵樹遺孤，奉承血祀，以謝亡靈。 』寵知其言切，自致廷尉，詔免官歸田里。 眾庶多為騭稱枉，帝意頗悟，乃譴讓州郡，還葬洛陽北芒舊塋，公卿皆會喪，莫不悲傷之。 詔遣使者祠以中牢，諸從昆弟皆歸京師。 及順帝即位，追感太后恩訓，湣騭無辜，乃詔宗正復故大將軍鄧騭宗親內外，朝見皆如故事。 除騭兄弟子及門從十二人悉為郎中，擢朱寵為太尉，錄尚書事。
Minister of Agriculture Zhu Chong, convinced Deng Zhi was innocent, shouldered a coffin bare-chested and memorialized: 'Empress Hexi's sagely goodness makes her the mother-pattern of the Han house.' Her brothers served with loyal hearts; the altars had a pillar, and the Liu house leaned on them. They won the peace, then stepped back and yielded power—no other consort clan in history matched their restraint. They deserved the reward of virtue and humility; instead a palace woman's one-sided tale ruined them. Slanderous tongues poison the state, yet no evidence backed the charge. There was no real trial, yet Deng Zhi and his kin were crushed in a judicial atrocity. Seven members of one family were cut down unnaturally; the bodies lay unclaimed; angry ghosts, they say, could not find rest; all under Heaven went numb with the grief. They should be gathered home to the family tombs, their orphans sheltered, and the ancestral rites kept so the dead may be appeased. Zhu Chong knew he had spoken dangerously and surrendered himself; the emperor stripped him of office and sent him home. Popular outcry called Deng Zhi innocent; the emperor relented, rebuked local officials, and had the dead reinterred on Mang Hill. The whole court turned out, weeping. He sent envoys with a mid-grade sacrifice and summoned every collateral branch back to Luoyang. Emperor Shun, remembering Empress Deng's care for him, cleared Deng Zhi's name and ordered the imperial clan office to restore all Deng kin to their old court privileges. Twelve of the Deng nephews and clients were cleared and made gentlemen of the palace; Zhu Chong was raised to grand commandant with control of the secretariat.
38
寵字仲威，京兆人，初辟騭府，稍遷潁川太守，治理有聲。 及拜太尉，封安鄉侯，甚加優禮。
Zhu Chong of Jingzhao, courtesy name Zhongwei, had begun in Deng Zhi's staff, rose to grand administrator of Yingchuan, and earned fame as an administrator. As grand commandant he received the marquisate of Anxiang and extraordinary marks of favor.
39
廣德早卒。 甫德更召徵為開封令。 學傳父業。 喪母，遂不仕。 閶妻耿氏有節操，痛鄧氏誅廢，子忠早卒，乃養河南尹豹子，嗣後閶後。 耿氏教之書學，遂以通博稱。 永壽中，與伏無忌、延篤著書東觀，官至屯騎校尉。
Guangde died young. Fude was later recalled and named magistrate of Kaifeng. He carried on his father's scholarship. After his mother's death he refused further office. Deng Chang's widow, Lady Geng, mourned the clan's ruin and her son's early death; she adopted the heir of Henan grand administrator Bao to continue Deng Chang's line. She schooled the boy in letters until he was famed as a polymath. In the Yongshou era he joined Fu Wuji and Yan Du as a compiler in the Eastern Institute and rose to colonel of garrison cavalry.
40
禹曾孫香之女為桓帝後，帝又紹封度遼將軍遵子萬世為南鄉侯，拜河南尹。 及後廢，萬世下獄死，其餘宗親皆復歸故郡。
A great-granddaughter of Deng Yu became Emperor Huan's empress; the throne revived the Nanxiang marquisate for Zun's son Wanshi, general who crosses the Liao, and named him grand administrator of Henan. When she was cast down, Wanshi died in prison and the other Dengs were sent back to their home commanderies.
41
鄧氏自中興後，累世寵貴，凡侯者二十九人，公二人，大將軍以下十三人，中二千石十四人，列校二十二人，州牧、郡守四十八人，其餘侍中、將、大夫、郎、謁者不可勝數，東京莫與為比。
After the Han revival the Dengs dominated honors for generations: twenty-nine marquises, two dukes, thirteen men at grand-general rank or higher, fourteen at the top salary grade, twenty-two column colonels, forty-eight governors—plus untold attendants and middle officials. No Luoyang clan equaled them.
42
論曰：漢世外戚，自東、西京十有餘族，非徒豪橫盈極，自取災故，必於貽釁後主，以至顛敗者，其數有可言焉。 何則？ 恩非己結，而權已先之； 情疏禮重，而枉性圖之； 來寵方授，地既害之； 隙開勢謝，讒亦勝之。 悲哉！ 騭、悝兄弟，季遠時柄，忠勞王室，而終莫之免，斯樂生所以泣而辭燕也！
The historian reflects: Eastern and Western Han produced a dozen consort clans. Many fell not merely because their pride courted ruin, but because they bequeathed poison to the next reign—too many to list. Why? They had not earned the sovereign's love, yet power was already theirs. Court etiquette treated them like kin while true intimacy was thin, and they bent themselves to seize more. Fresh favor from the throne only sharpened others' envy. Once their patronage ebbed, slander finished the work. A bitter sight! Deng Zhi and Deng Kui held power too late to save the house they served faithfully—small wonder General Yue Yi wept when he quit the state of Yan!
43
寇恂字子翼，上谷昌平人也，世為著姓。 恂初為郡功曹，太守耿況甚重之。
Kou Xun, courtesy name Ziyi, came from Changping in Shanggu, a family long prominent in the region. He began as merit clerk to the commandery; Grand Administrator Geng Kuang thought the world of him.
44
王莽敗，更始立。 使使者徇郡國，曰『先降者復爵位』。 恂從耿況迎使者於界上，況上印綬，使者納之，一宿無還意。 恂勒兵入見使者，就請之。 使者不與，曰：『天王使者，功曹欲脅之邪？ 』恂曰：『非敢脅使君，竊傷計之不詳也。 今天下初定，國信未宣，使君建節銜命，以臨四方，郡國莫不延頸傾耳，望風歸命。 今始至上谷而先墮大信，沮向化之心，生離畔之隙，將復何以號令它郡乎？ 且耿府君在上谷，久為使人所親，今易之，得賢則造次未安，不緊則只更生亂。 為使君計，莫若復之以安百姓。 』使者不應，恂左右以使者命召況。 況至，恂進取印綬帶況。 使者不得已，乃承制詔之，況受而歸。
Wang Mang fell and Liu Xuan took the throne as Emperor Gengshi. Imperial envoys rode to every commandery with a promise: the first to submit would recover their old titles. Kou Xun accompanied Geng Kuang to meet Gengshi's envoy at the frontier. Kuang handed over his seal of office; the envoy took it and showed no sign of giving it back the next morning. Kou Xun marched in, confronted the envoy, and demanded the seals. The envoy refused. 'I speak for the Son of Heaven,' he snapped. 'Will a mere merit clerk bully me?' Kou Xun answered, 'I would not dream of coercing you, sir—I only regret that no one thought this through.' The empire has barely been pacified and the court's word still means little. You ride here with the imperial baton: every commandery watches, straining to hear what the throne intends. Yet your first stop is Shanggu, and your first act is to break faith. You will kill every hope of allegiance and seed revolt. How will you command the rest of the north after this?' Geng Kuang has governed Shanggu for years and won the people's trust. Replace him with a good man and you still unsettle the district overnight; replace him with a mediocrity and you invite worse turmoil. For your own sake, sir, give him his post back and calm the people. The envoy sulked in silence. Kou Xun's men, citing the envoy's authority, sent for Geng Kuang. When Kuang arrived, Kou Xun stepped forward, snatched the seal cord, and fastened it around Kuang's waist himself. Cornered, the envoy issued a retroactive appointment under delegated authority; Kuang took office and rode home vindicated.
45
及王郎起，遣將徇上谷，急況發兵。 恂與門下掾閔業共說況曰：『邯鄲拔起，難可信向。 昔王莽時，所難獨有劉伯升耳。 今聞大司馬劉公，伯升母弟，尊賢下士，士多歸之，可攀附也。 』況曰：『邯鄲方盛，力不能獨拒，如何？ 』恂對曰：『今上谷完實，控弦萬騎，舉大郡之資，可以詳擇去就。 恂請東約漁陽，齊心合眾，邯鄲不足圖也。 』況然之，乃遣恂到漁陽，結謀彭寵。 恂還，至昌平，襲擊邯鄲使者，殺之，奪其軍，遂與況子弇等俱南及光武於廣阿。 拜恂為偏將軍，號承義侯，從破群賊。 數與鄧禹謀議，禹奇之，因奉牛、酒共交歡。
When Wang Lang rebelled, he sent an officer to Shanggu to demand troops from Kuang at once. Kou Xun and his clerk Min Ye urged Kuang, 'Wang Lang's regime at Handan is a sudden upstart—too risky to follow.' Under Wang Mang only Liu Yan—Bosheng—stood in his way. His younger brother, Grand Marshal Liu Xiu, honors talent and treats scholars with deference; able men flock to him. That is the side to join. Kuang objected, 'Wang Lang is at the height of his power. We cannot stand alone—what then?' Kou Xun replied, 'Shanggu is rich and intact, with ten thousand archers in the saddle. With the wealth of a whole commandery behind you, you can pick your moment to commit.' Let me ride east and ally Yuyang. Combine our two hosts and Wang Lang is hardly worth worrying about. Kuang agreed and sent Kou Xun to Yuyang to win over Peng Chong. On the way back Kou Xun ambushed Wang Lang's courier at Changping, killed him, seized his column, and rode south with Geng Yan and the rest to join Liu Xiu at Guang'a. Liu Xiu named him lieutenant general and marquis who receives righteousness, and he followed in the campaigns that broke the rebel hosts. He conferred repeatedly with Deng Yu, who came to admire him; they sealed their friendship with oxen and wine.
46
光武南定河內，而更始大司馬朱鮪等盛兵據洛陽，及并州未定，光武難其守，問於鄧禹曰：『諸將誰可使守河內者？ 』禹曰：『昔高祖任蕭何於關中，無復四顧之憂，所以得專精山東，終成大業。 今河內帶河為固，戶口殷實，北通上黨，南迫洛陽。 寇恂文武備足，有牧人禦眾之才，非此子莫可使也。 』乃拜恂河內太守，行大將軍事。 光武謂恂曰：『河內完富，吾將因是而起。 昔高祖留蕭何鎮關中，吾今委公以河內，堅守轉運，給足軍糧，率厲士馬，防遏它兵，勿令北度而已。 』光武於是復北征燕、代。 恂移書屬縣，講兵肄射，伐淇園之竹，為矢百餘萬，養馬二千匹，收租四百萬斛，轉以給軍。
Liu Xiu had secured Henei to the south, yet Zhu You and Gengshi's other marshals still held Luoyang in strength and Bingzhou remained unsettled. Unsure whom to trust with the rear, he asked Deng Yu, 'Which of my generals can hold Henei?' Deng Yu answered, 'Gaozu gave Guanzhong to Xiao He and never looked over his shoulder—only then could he throw everything into the east and win the empire.' Henei is shielded by the Yellow River, thick with people, linked north to Shangdang and south to Luoyang. Kou Xun is equal to both civil and military duty; he can govern men and lead armies. No one else will do. Liu Xiu therefore made Kou Xun grand administrator of Henei with the powers of a commanding general. He told Kou Xun, 'Henei is whole and prosperous—you will be the base from which I rise.' Gaozu left Xiao He to hold Guanzhong; I leave Henei to you. Keep the supply lines open, feed my army, stiffen the troops, and block any enemy from crossing the river—that is all I ask. With that, Liu Xiu marched north again against Yan and Dai. Kou Xun circularized the counties, drilled the militia, felled a million arrow-shafts from the imperial bamboo grove at Qi, raised two thousand remounts, levied four million hu of grain, and forwarded everything to the front.
47
朱鮪聞光武北而河內孤，使討難將軍蘇茂、副將賈彊將兵三萬餘人，度鞏河攻溫。 檄書至，恂即勒軍馳出，並移告屬縣發兵，會於溫下。 軍吏皆諫曰：『今洛陽兵渡河，前後不絕，宜待眾軍畢集，乃可出也。 』恂曰：『溫，郡之藩蔽，失溫則郡不可守。 』遂馳赴之。 旦日合戰，而偏將軍馮異遣救，及諸縣兵適至，士馬四集，幡旗蔽野。 恂乃令士卒乘城，鼓噪大呼，言曰：『劉公兵到！ 』蘇茂軍聞之，陣動，恂因奔擊，大破之，追至洛陽，遂斬賈彊。 茂兵自投河死者數千，生獲萬餘人。 恂與馮異過河而還。 自是，洛陽震恐，城門晝閉。 時，光武傳聞朱鮪破河內，有頃，恂檄至，大喜曰：『吾知寇子翼可任也！ 』諸將軍賀，因上尊號，於是即位。
Zhu You, learning that Liu Xiu had gone north and left Henei exposed, sent Su Mao and Jia Qiang at the head of thirty thousand men across the Gong River against Wen. The moment the alert reached him, Kou Xun mustered his command, galloped out, and ordered every county to send men to a rendezvous below Wen. His officers protested: 'Luoyang's columns are still pouring across the river. We should wait until every detachment arrives. Kou Xun said, 'Wen is our shield. Lose Wen and we lose the whole commandery. He spurred straight for the city. At daybreak the lines closed. Feng Yi's reinforcements and the county levies arrived in the nick of time; standards filled the plain. Kou Xun had his men swarm the walls, beat the drums, and roar, 'Lord Liu's army is here!' Su Mao's ranks wavered at the cry. Kou Xun hurled his men into the breach, routed them, chased them toward Luoyang, and took Jia Qiang's head. Thousands of Su Mao's men drowned themselves in the river; over ten thousand were taken alive. Kou Xun and Feng Yi recrossed the river and withdrew. Luoyang shook with alarm and barred its gates even in daylight. A courier had told Liu Xiu that Zhu You had crushed Henei; a moment later Kou Xun's dispatch arrived. He exclaimed with delight, 'I knew I could trust Kou Ziyi!' His generals pressed the congratulations and urged him to take the imperial title; he accepted and ascended the throne.
48
時，軍食急乏，恂以輦車驪駕轉輸，前後不絕，尚書升斗以稟百官。 帝數策書勞問，恂同門生茂陵董崇說恂曰：『上新即位，四方未定，而郡侯以此時據大郡，內得人心，外破蘇茂，威震鄰敵，功名發聞，此讒人側目怨禍之時也。 昔蕭何守關中，悟鮑生之言而高祖悅。 今君所將，皆宗族昆弟也，無乃當以前人為鏡戒。 』恂然其言，稱疾不視事。 帝將攻洛陽，先至河內，恂求從軍。 帝曰：『河內未可離也。 』數固請，不聽，乃遣兄子寇張、姊子谷崇將突騎，願為軍鋒。 帝善之，皆以為偏將軍。
Supplies ran desperately short at court. Kou Xun ran wagon trains of paired black horses in endless relay and measured grain out by the cupful for the bureaucracy. The emperor sent letter after letter of praise. Dong Chong, an old schoolmate from Maoling, warned him: 'The new throne is still unsteady, yet you command a great commandery, win the people, crush Su Mao, and terrify the enemy—your fame is too bright. This is exactly when envious men sharpen their knives.' Remember how Xiao He, guarding Guanzhong, heeded Bao Shengrui's counsel and set Gaozu's mind at ease. Your command is packed with kinsmen; you should take those earlier men as your mirror. Kou Xun agreed, feigned illness, and stepped back from day-to-day government. When Liu Xiu prepared the drive on Luoyang, he stopped first in Henei; Kou Xun begged to join the expedition. The emperor said, 'I still cannot spare Henei.' Kou Xun pleaded again and again in vain. The emperor instead took his nephew Kou Zhang and his sister's son Gu Chong, gave them shock cavalry, and sent them ahead as his spearhead. He approved and named both lieutenant generals.
49
建武二年，恂坐系考上書者免。 是時，潁川人嚴終、趙敦聚眾萬餘，與密人賈期連兵為寇。 恂免數月，復拜潁川太守，與破奸將軍侯進俱擊之。 數月，斬期首，郡中悉平定。 封恂雍奴侯，邑萬戶。
In Jianwu 2 Kou Xun was dismissed for jailing a man who had petitioned the throne. About then Yan Zhong and Zhao Dun of Yingchuan raised ten thousand followers and allied with Jia Qi of Mi to raid the countryside. A few months after his dismissal he was again named grand administrator of Yingchuan and sent with Hou Jin, general who breaks treachery, against the rebels. Within months he took Jia Qi's head and quieted the commandery. He enfeoffed Kou Xun as marquis of Yongnu with revenue from ten thousand households.
50
執金吾賈復在汝南，部將殺人於潁川，恂捕得系獄。 時尚草創，軍營犯法，率多相容，恂乃戮之於市。 復以為恥，嘆。 還過潁川，謂左右曰：『吾與寇恂並列將帥，而今為其所陷，大丈夫豈有懷侵怨而不決之者乎？ 今見恂，必手劍之！ 』恂知其謀，不欲與相見。 谷崇曰：『崇，將也，得帶劍侍側。 卒有變，足以相當。 』恂曰：『不然。 昔藺相如不畏秦王而屈於廉頗者，為國也。 區區之趙，尚有此義，吾安可以忘之乎？ 』乃敕屬縣盛供具，儲酒醪，執金吾軍入界，一人皆兼二人之饌。 恂乃出迎於道，稱疾而還。 賈復勒兵欲追之，而使士皆醉，遂過去。 恂遣谷崇以狀聞，帝乃征恂。 恂至引見，時復先在坐，欲起相避。 帝曰：『天下未定，兩虎安得私鬥？ 今日朕分之。 』於是並坐極歡，遂共車同出，結友而去。
Jia Fu, bearer of the golden mace, was stationed in Runan when one of his officers murdered a man in Yingchuan. Kou Xun arrested the killer and threw him in jail. In those early days army lawlessness was usually winked at; Kou Xun had the man executed in the marketplace. Jia Fu took it as a public humiliation and brooded. On his way back through Yingchuan he told his staff, 'Kou Xun and I are brother generals, yet he has shamed me. Can a grown man swallow an affront and do nothing?' The next time I see Kou Xun I will cut him down myself!' Kou Xun heard of the threat and avoided a meeting. Gu Chong offered, 'Let me stand at your side with a bared blade—I am a fighting man.' If he tries anything, I can answer him. Kou Xun said, 'No.' Lin Xiangru defied the King of Qin yet bowed to Lian Po—for the sake of Zhao. Even the petty state of Zhao understood that duty; how could I forget it?' He ordered every county to lay in a double feast and brew ale. When Jia Fu's column crossed the border, every soldier found rations waiting for two men. Kou Xun rode out to greet Jia Fu, then doubled over with a sudden 'illness' and rode home. Jia Fu tried to give chase, but his men were hopelessly drunk and the column rolled on. Kou Xun sent Gu Chong to explain matters at court; the emperor summoned Kou Xun to the capital. At the audience Jia Fu was already there and started to rise to keep his distance. The emperor said, 'The realm is still unsettled—must my two tigers claw each other?' Today I settle the matter between you. He made them sit together, drink their fill, ride out in the same carriage, and part as sworn friends.
51
恂歸潁川。 三年，遣使者即拜為汝南太守，又使驃騎將軍杜茂將兵助恂討盜賊。 盜賊清靜，郡中無事。 恂素好學，乃修鄉校，教生徒，聘能為《左氏春秋》者，親受學焉。 七年，代朱浮為執金吾。 明年，從車駕擊隗囂，而潁川盜賊群起，帝乃引軍還，謂恂曰：『潁川迫近京師，當以時定。 惟念獨卿能平之耳，從九卿復出，以憂國可也。 』恂對曰：『潁川剽輕，聞陛下遠逾阻險，有事隴、蜀，故狂狡乘間相詿誤耳。 如聞乘輿南向，賊必惶怖歸死。 臣願執銳前驅。 』即日車駕南征，恂從至潁川，盜賊悉降，而竟不拜郡。 百姓遮道曰：『願從陛下復借寇君一年。 』乃留恂長社，鎮撫使人，受納餘降。
Kou Xun went back to Yingchuan. In the third year an envoy invested him as grand administrator of Runan and detached Du Mao, general of swift cavalry, to help him clear the bandits. The bandits melted away and the commandery knew peace. A scholar by temperament, he rebuilt the local academy, enrolled pupils, and hired a master of the Zuo tradition of the Spring and Autumn, whom he studied under himself. In the seventh year he succeeded Zhu Fu as bearer of the golden mace. The next year he joined the emperor against Wei Ao, but Yingchuan exploded in revolt. Liu Xiu wheeled about and told Kou Xun, 'Yingchuan sits on the capital's doorstep—it must be pacified soon.' Only you can settle it. I will gladly send you back from the nine ministers' bench if you will shoulder this for the realm. Kou Xun answered, 'Yingchuan folk are volatile. They heard that you had marched deep into danger in Long and Shu and thought they could exploit your absence with wild rumors.' Show them your chariot wheels turning south and every rebel will crawl back to beg for death. Let me take spear and reins and ride in the van. The emperor marched south the same day; Kou Xun rode with him to Yingchuan, where every bandit submitted—yet he was never formally reappointed to the post. The people blocked the road, crying, 'Lend us Director Kou for one more year.' The emperor left him at Changshe to calm the district and process the last surrenders.
52
初，隗囂將安定高峻，擁兵萬人，據高平第一，帝使待詔馬援招降峻，由是河西道開。 中郎將來歙承制拜峻通路將軍，封關內侯，後屬大司馬吳漢，共圍囂於冀。 及漢軍退，峻亡歸故營，復助囂拒隴阺。 及囂死，峻據高平，畏誅堅守。 建威大將軍耿弇率太中大夫竇士、武威太守梁統等圍之，一歲不拔。 十年，帝入關，將自征之，恂時從駕，諫曰：『長安道里居中，應接近便，安定、隴西必懷震懼，此從容一處可以制四方也。 今士馬疲倦，方履險阻，非萬乘之固，前年潁川，可為至戒。 』帝不從。 進軍及汧，峻猶不下，帝議遣使降之，乃謂恂曰：『卿前止吾此舉，今為吾行也。 若峻不即降，引耿弇等五營擊之。 』恂奉璽書至第一，峻遣軍師皇甫文出謁，辭禮不屈。 恂怒，將誅文。 諸將諫曰：『高峻精兵萬人，率多強弩，西遮隴道，連年不下。 今欲降之而反戮其使，無乃不可乎？ 』恂不應，遂斬之。 遣其副歸告峻曰：『軍師無禮，已戮之矣。 欲降，急降； 不欲，固守。 』峻惶恐，即日開城門降。 諸將皆賀，因曰：『敢問殺其使而降其城，何也？ 』恂曰：『皇甫文，峻之腹心，其所取計者也。 今來，辭意不屈，必無降心。 全之則文得其計，殺之則峻亡其膽，是以降耳。 』諸將皆曰：『非所及也。 』遂傳峻還洛陽。
Earlier Gao Jun of Anding, a general under Wei Ao, had held ten thousand men on the Gaoping heights. The emperor sent Ma Yuan to talk him down and open the Hexi road. Lai Xi then commissioned Gao Jun as general who opens the road and marquis within the passes; later he served under Wu Han in the siege of Wei Ao at Ji. When Han forces pulled back, Gao Jun fled to his old fort and again helped Wei Ao hold the Long defile. After Wei Ao died Gao Jun still held Gaoping, terrified of execution and refusing to yield. Geng Yan, general who establishes might, besieged him with Dou Shi, Liang Tong, and the rest for a year without success. In the tenth year the emperor entered Guanzhong intending to lead the assault in person. Kou Xun, riding in the train, urged him to stay at Chang'an: 'The capital sits at the hub; a show of strength here will unnerve Anding and Longxi and let you command the west without marching every mile yourself.' Your troops are exhausted and the terrain deadly—no place for the Son of Heaven to gamble. Remember the Yingchuan scare two years ago. The emperor would not listen. The army reached Qian; Gao Jun still held out. The emperor decided to try diplomacy and told Kou Xun, 'You warned me against this campaign—now go finish it for me.' If he will not yield at once, bring Geng Yan and the five camps down on him.' Kou Xun brought the sealed edict to Gao Jun's stronghold at First. Jun sent his strategist Huangfu Wen to the parley; Wen was defiant in word and bearing. Kou Xun flew into a rage and ordered Wen beheaded. His officers protested: 'Gao Jun has ten thousand picked men, mostly heavy crossbowmen, blocking the Long road. We have failed to reduce him for years.' You mean to talk him down and then murder his spokesman—can that be a wise move?' Kou Xun said nothing and had Wen executed. He sent Wen's second-in-command back to Gao Jun with the word: 'Your strategist broke every rule of courtesy; I have put him to death.' If you intend to yield, do it now; if not, dig in and fight.' Gao Jun panicked and opened his gates that same day. The generals cheered, then asked, 'How could killing the envoy have won the city?' Kou Xun answered, 'Huangfu Wen was the brain of Gao Jun; every plan ran through him.' When he came he was still truculent—he had no intention of yielding.' Let him live and his counsel still wins the day; cut him down and Gao Jun loses his nerve—that is why the gates opened.' The generals admitted, 'None of us would have seen that far.' They then escorted Gao Jun to Luoyang.
53
恂經明行修，名重朝廷，所得秩奉，厚施朋友、故人及從吏士。 常曰：『吾因士大夫以致此，其可獨享之乎！ 』時人歸其長者，以為有宰相器。
Kou Xun mastered the canon and lived an exemplary life; the capital esteemed him. He poured his official income into the hands of friends, old comrades, and his staff. He used to say, 'The scholar-officials lifted me to this height—how could I possibly enjoy it alone!' Contemporaries called him a true elder statesman and said he had the makings of a chief minister.
54
十二年卒，謚曰威侯。 子損嗣。 恂同產弟及兄子、姊子以軍功封列侯者凡八人，終其身，不傳於後。
He died in the twelfth year of the reign with the posthumous name Wei, the awe-inspiring. His son Kou Sun inherited the title. Eight of Kou Xun's full brothers, nephews, and sister's sons won full marquisates on campaign; the emperor let each hold the honor for life without passing it down.
55
初所與謀閔業者，恂數為帝言其忠，賜爵關內侯，官至遼西太守。
Min Ye, who had first plotted with him, Kou Xun repeatedly praised to the throne; the court enfeoffed him as marquis within the passes and eventually named him grand administrator of Liaoxi.
56
十三年，復封損庶兄壽為洨侯。 後徙封損扶柳侯。 損卒，子釐嗣，徙封商鄉侯。 釐卒，子襲嗣。 恂女孫為大將軍鄧騭夫人，由是寇氏得志於永初間。
In the thirteenth year the emperor also made Kou Shou, Sun's elder half-brother, marquis of Jiao. Later Kou Sun's fief was moved to the marquisate of Foliu. When Sun died his son Kou Li inherited the line and was shifted to the marquisate of Shangxiang. When Li died his son Kou Xi succeeded. A granddaughter of Kou Xun married Grand General Deng Zhi, which gave the Kous their moment of power during Yongchu.
57
恂曾孫榮。
His great-grandson was Kou Rong.
58
論曰：傳稱『喜怒以類者鮮矣』。 夫喜而不比，怒而思難者，其惟君子乎！ 子曰：『伯夷、叔齊，不念舊惡，怨是用希。 』於寇公而見之矣。
The historian remarks: The classic says few men keep joy and anger in their proper measure. To rejoice without cliquishness and to rage yet still weigh the danger—perhaps that is the mark of the gentleman!' Confucius said of the brothers Bo Yi and Shu Qi that they nursed no old grudges, and so drew little hatred. The same temper appears in Lord Kou.'
59
榮少知名，桓帝時為侍中。 性矜潔自貴，於人少所與，以此見害於權寵。 而從兄子尚帝妹益陽長公主，帝又聘其從孫女於後宮，左右益惡之。 延熹中，遂陷以罪辟，與宗族免歸故郡。 吏承望風旨，持之浸急，榮恐不免，奔闕自訟。 未至，刺史張敬追劾榮以擅去邊，有詔捕之。 榮逃竄數年，會赦令，不得除，積窮困，乃自亡命中上書曰：
Kou Rong was famous while young and served as palace attendant under Emperor Huan. He was icy, fastidious, and convinced of his own worth, granting friendship to few—and the mighty came to hate him for it. His cousin's son wed the Princess of Yiyang, the emperor's sister, while another cousin's great-granddaughter entered the harem; court favorites loathed him twice over. During Yanxi they framed him, stripped his office, and sent the whole clan home to their native commandery. Local officials, scenting high policy, tightened the screws until Rong feared the worst and fled toward the capital to petition in person. Before he reached Luoyang, Inspector Zhang Jing charged him with abandoning his post; an edict went out for his arrest. Kou Rong hid for years. The general amnesties passed but never cleared his name. Driven to desperation, he risked his life to submit this memorial:
60
臣聞天地之於萬物也好生，帝王之於萬人也慈愛。 陛下統天理物，為萬國覆，作人父母，先慈愛，後威武，先寬容，後刑辟，自生齒以上，咸蒙德澤。 而臣兄弟獨以無辜為專權之臣所見批扺，青蠅之人所共構會。 以臣婚姻王室，謂臣將撫其背，奪其位，退其身，受其執。 於是遂作飛章以被於臣，欲使墜萬仞之坑，踐必死之地，令陛下忽慈母之仁，發投杼之怒。 尚書背繩墨，案空劾，不復質確其過，置於嚴棘之下，便奏正臣罪。 司隸校尉馮羨佞邪承旨，廢於王命，驅逐臣等，不得旅踵。 臣奔走還郡，沒齒無怨。 臣誠恐卒為豺狼橫見噬食，故冒死欲詣闕，披肝膽，布腹心。
I have heard that Heaven and Earth love all that lives, and that the true king loves his people. You align with Heaven, shelter every kingdom, and are father and mother to the people—kindness before terror, mercy before the law, so that every grown soul drinks your grace. Yet my brothers alone, though guiltless, were shoved aside by a clique in power and slandered by every petty whisperer at court. Because I married into the Liu house, they accuse me of plotting to pat their backs, steal their seats, elbow them out, and seize their hold on power. They invented flying indictments to bury me, hoping to drop me into an abyss and stamp me into certain death—hoping you would forget a mother's mercy and believe a stepmother's lie, like the story of Zengzi's mother. The secretariat abandoned straight measure, rubber-stamped empty charges, skipped any real inquiry, threw us on the thorns, and rushed to declare us convicted. Colonel Feng Xian of the Metropolitan Region, a toady who bent every edict to malice, cast the royal command aside and harried us until we could not stand our ground. I fled home to my commandery and bore it without complaint. I truly fear I will yet be torn apart by the wolves in office; therefore I risk death to reach your gate and lay my heart bare before you.
61
刺史張敬，好為諂諛，張設機網，復令陛下興雷電之怒。 司隸校尉應奉、河南尹何豹、洛陽令袁騰並驅爭先，若赴仇敵，罰及死沒，髡剔墳墓，但未掘壙出屍，剖棺露胔耳。 昔文王葬枯骨，公劉敦行葦，世稱其仁。 今殘酷容媚之吏，無折中處平之心，不顧不辜之害，而興虛誣之誹，欲使嚴朝必加濫罰。 是以不敢觸突天威，而自竄山林，以俊陛下發神聖之聽。 啟獨睹之明，拒逸慝之謗，絕邪巧之言，救可濟之人，援沒溺之命。 不意滯怒不為春夏息，淹恚不為順時怠，遂馳使郵驛，布告錠近，嚴文克剝，痛於霜雪，張羅海內，設罝萬里，逐臣者窮人跡，追臣者極車軌，雖楚購伍員，漢求季布，無以過也。
The Inspector Zhang Jing lives for flattery; he weaves traps until you thunder against us again. Colonel Ying Feng, Administrator He Bao, and Magistrate Yuan Teng raced one another like avengers, punishing the long dead, razoring grave mounds, and looting tombs—they have stopped just short of wrenching bodies from the earth and breaking open coffins. King Wen gathered scattered bones for burial; Duke Liu spared the marsh grasses; the world called them humane. Today cruel sycophants, caring nothing for justice or the innocent, traffic in lies so the court will crush us without measure. So I dare not defy your majesty face to face; I hide in the hills until you will listen with sacred ears. Let your lone clarity shine; reject fleeing villains' lies; silence clever tongues; save whom you can and haul the drowning from the water. I never thought your anger would outlast the seasons, or that hatred would never cool—couriers race the post roads, edicts flay like frost, nets stretch across the realm, traps gird ten thousand li; hunters stamp out my footprints and choke every road. Not even the manhunts for Wu Zixu or Ji Bu were fiercer.
62
臣遇罰以來，三赦再贖，無驗之罪，足以蠲除。 而陛下疾臣愈深，有司咎臣甫力，止則見掃滅，行則為亡虜，茍生則為窮人，極死則為冤鬼，天廣而無以自覆，地厚而無以自載，蹈陸土而有沈淪之憂，遠巖墻而有鎮壓之患。 精誠足以感於陛下，而哲王未肯悟。 如臣犯元惡大憝，足以陳於原野，備刀鋸，陛下當班布臣之所坐，以解眾論之疑。 臣思入國門，坐於胏石之上，使三槐九棘平臣之罪。 而閶闔九重，陷阱步設，舉趾觸罘罝，動行絓羅網，無緣至萬乘之前，永無見信之期矣。
Since my sentence, the three general pardons and the two commutations have passed; unproved guilt should long ago have been expunged. Yet your wrath only deepens; the ministry hounds me without rest—stand still and I am erased, move and I am a runaway; live and I am destitute, die and I am a vengeful ghost. The sky is vast but gives me no roof, the earth is deep but no footing; I walk solid ground yet feel I am drowning, I flee the wall yet fear it will fall on me. Such loyalty ought to move you, yet the wise king will not wake. If I had truly committed capital crimes fit for the execution ground, you should publish my guilt and silence every rumor. I wish to pass the capital gate, sit on the accusation stone, and let the high court trees try my case. But the Forbidden City's gates are nine layers deep, every step is a pit; I trip spring-guns and tangle in nets—I can never reach the Son of Heaven, never win a hearing.
63
國君不可仇匹夫，仇之則一國盡懼。 臣奔走以來，三離寒暑，陰陽易位，當暖反寒，春常淒風，夏降霜雹，又連年大風，折拔樹木。 風為號令，春夏布德，議獄緩死之時。 願陛下思帝堯五教在寬之德，企成湯避遠讒夫之誠，以寧風旱，以弭災兵。 臣聞勇者不逃死，智者不重困，固不為明朝惜垂盡之命，願赴湘、沅之波，從屈原之悲，沈江湖之流，吊子胥之哀，臣功臣苗緒，生長王國，懼獨含恨以葬江魚之腹，無以自別於世，不勝狐死首丘之情，營魂識路之懷。 犯冒王怒，觸突帝禁，伏於兩觀，陳訴毒痛，然後登金鑊，入沸湯，糜爛子熾爨之下，九死而未悔。
A prince should not nurse hatred against a commoner; if he does, the whole realm trembles. Since I fled I have outlasted three winters and summers; the seasons themselves seem reversed—warmth turns to chill, spring brings cruel winds, summer drops hail; year after year gales snap trees. Wind is the voice of policy; spring and summer are when mercy should spread—when courts review cases and stay executions. I beg you to remember Yao's teaching that the five moral lessons rest on mercy, and Tang's resolve to banish whisperers—so wind and drought may cease and the arms of calamity fall silent. They say the brave do not run from death nor the wise court double jeopardy—so I will not cling to this flickering life. I would rather drown in the Xiang and Yuan with Qu Yuan's sorrow, sink in the great rivers with Wu Zixu's grief. I am only a twig of a house that served the throne; I dread dying full of resentment in a fish's belly, unknown to the world, unable to bear the fox's longing for its hill or the soul's need to find its road home. Let me offend your wrath, breach the palace ban, fall between the twin towers and pour out my poison, then climb into the bronze cauldron and the boiling cauldron—let me die nine deaths and feel no regret.
64
悲夫，久生亦復何卿！ 蓋忠臣殺身以解君怒，孝子殞命以寧親怨，故大舜不避塗廩浚井之難，甲生不辭姬氏讒邪之謗。 臣敢忘斯議，不自斃以解明朝之忿哉！ 乞以身塞重責。 願陛下丐兄弟死命，使臣一門頗有遺類，以崇陛下寬饒之惠。 先死陳情，臨章涕泣，泣血漣如。
Alas—what good is a long life now!' Loyal ministers die to cool a sovereign's rage; filial sons die to soothe a parent's spite—so Shun braved the granary and the well, and Prince Shen Sheng did not flee the Jis' slanders.' How dare I forget that lesson and refuse to give my life to appease the court's wrath!' Let my body answer for the worst of the charge.' Spare the lives of my brothers so one branch of my house may survive, and magnify your reputation for mercy.' I state this as one already dead; as I write I weep blood.
65
帝省章愈怒，遂誅榮。 寇氏由是衰廢。
The emperor read the petition and only grew more furious; he had Kou Rong killed. The Kou clan then fell into ruin.
66
贊曰：元侯淵謨，乃作司徒。 明啟帝略，肇定秦都。 勛成智隱，靜其如愚。 子翼守溫，蕭公是埒。 系兵轉食，以集鴻烈。 誅文屈賈，有剛有折。
The verse says: The Yuan marquis counseled from the depths and rose to grand minister of education. He opened the emperor's design and first secured the Qin heartland. Merit won, he hid his wit and seemed almost dull. Ziyi held Wen; he stands beside Xiao He. He rallied troops and convoyed grain to build the great achievement. He slew Wen and broke Jia's pride—now stern, now supple.