1
耿弇字伯昭，扶風茂陵人也。 其先武帝時以吏二千石自巨鹿徙焉。 父況，字俠遊，以明經為郎，與王莽從弟伋共學《老子》於安丘先生，後為朔調連率。 弇少好學，習父業。 常見郡尉試騎士，建旗鼓，肄馳射，由是好將帥之事。
Geng Yan, courtesy name Bozhao, was a native of Maoling in Fufeng commandery. His forebears had held a two-thousand-dan post under Emperor Wu and relocated from Julu to Maoling. His father Geng Kuang, courtesy name Xiayou, entered court as a gentleman-attendant on the strength of his classical learning; with Wang Mang's cousin Wang Ji he studied the Laozi under Master Anqiu, and was later appointed chain commandant of the Shuodiao circuit. From boyhood Geng Yan loved learning and followed his father's scholarly path. He often watched the commandery commandant drill mounted archers—drums and banners raised, bows shot at full gallop—and so grew fond of the business of command.
2
及王莽敗，更始立，諸將略地者，前後多擅威權，輒改易守、令。 況自以莽之所置，懷不自安。 時，弇年二十一，乃辭況奉奏詣更始，因賫貢獻，以求自固之宜。 及至宋子，會王郎詐稱成帝子子輿，起兵邯鄲，弇從吏孫倉、衛包於道共謀曰：『劉子輿成帝正統，舍此不歸，遠行安之？ 』弇按劍曰：『子輿弊賊，卒為降虜耳。 我至長安，與國家陳漁陽、上谷兵馬之用，還出太原、代郡，反復數十日，歸發突騎以轔烏合之眾，如摧枯折腐耳。 觀公等不識去就，族滅不久也！ 』倉、包不從，遂亡降王郎。
After Wang Mang fell and the Gengshi Emperor took the throne, generals who carved out territory one after another seized power at will, deposing governors and magistrates as they pleased. Geng Kuang knew he had been appointed by Wang Mang and lived in fear for his position. Geng Yan was twenty-one. He left his father to deliver a memorial and tribute to the Gengshi court, hoping to secure the family's standing. At Songzi, Wang Lang had risen at Handan, pretending to be Liu Ziyu, son of Emperor Cheng. Two of Geng Yan's clerks, Sun Cang and Wei Bao, waylaid him on the road: 'Liu Ziyu is the true imperial line. Why press on to the capital when we could join him instead?' Geng Yan gripped his sword. 'That Liu Ziyu is a spent rebel,' he said. 'He will end his days a prisoner in someone else's camp.' Once I reach Chang'an I will lay before the court how the armies of Yuyang and Shanggu can be used; I will swing back through Taiyuan and Dai, be gone only a few dozen days, then return to raise our shock cavalry and ride down Wang Lang's rabble as easily as snapping dead wood.' Mark my words: you cannot tell friend from foe, and your whole clans will not long survive it.' Sun Cang and Wei Bao would not listen; they deserted and went over to Wang Lang.
3
弇道聞光武在盧奴，乃馳北上謁，光武留署門下吏。 弇因說護軍朱祐，求歸發兵，以定邯鄲。 光武笑曰：『小兒曹乃有大意哉！ 』因數召見加恩慰。 弇因從光武北至薊。 聞邯鄲兵方到，光武將欲南歸，召官屬計議。 弇曰：『今兵從南來，不可南行。 漁陽太守彭寵，公之邑人； 上谷太守，即弇父也。 發此兩郡，控弦萬騎，邯鄲不足慮也。 』光武官屬腹心皆不肯，曰：『死尚南首，奈何北行入囊中？ 』光武指弇曰：『是我北道主人也。 』會薊中亂，光武遂南馳，官屬各分散。 弇走昌平就況，因說況使寇恂東約彭寵，各發突騎二千匹，步兵千人。 弇與景丹、寇恂及漁陽兵合軍而南，所過擊斬王郎大將、九卿、校尉以下四百餘級，得印綬百二十五，節二，斬首三萬級，定涿郡、中山、巨鹿、清河、河間凡二十二縣，遂及光武於廣阿。 是時，光武方攻王郎，傳言二郡兵為邯鄲來，眾皆恐。 既而悉詣營上謁。 光武見弇等，說，曰：『當與漁陽、上谷士大夫共此大功。 』乃皆以為偏將軍，使還領其兵。 加況大將軍、興義侯，得自置偏裨。 弇等遂從拔邯鄲。
On the road Geng Yan learned that Guangwu was at Lunu; he spurred north to join him, and Guangwu kept him on as a clerk of the outer gate. He persuaded the protector of the army, Zhu You, to let him go home and raise troops to crush Wang Lang at Handan. Guangwu laughed. 'What lofty designs for a pack of youngsters!' After that he summoned Geng Yan often, showed him marked favor, and put him at ease. Geng Yan then accompanied Guangwu north as far as Ji. When word came that Wang Lang's army from Handan was almost upon them, Guangwu's officers wanted to withdraw south; he called his staff to council. Geng Yan said, 'The enemy is closing from the south; we cannot march south into them.' Peng Chong, governor of Yuyang, is a townsman of yours; the governor of Shanggu is my own father.' Call out both commanderies and you have ten thousand mounted archers at your back—Handan need not keep you awake at night.' Guangwu's closest advisers would have none of it. 'Even in death we face south,' they said. 'How can we ride north straight into the trap?' Guangwu pointed at Geng Yan. 'He is my host on the northern road.' Then rioting broke out in Ji; Guangwu spurred south while his staff scattered in every direction. Geng Yan fled to Changping to rejoin his father and persuaded Geng Kuang to send Kou Xun east to treat with Peng Chong; each commandery raised two thousand mounted shock troops and a thousand foot soldiers. Geng Yan, Jing Dan, and Kou Xun joined the Yuyang contingent and marched south, killing Wang Lang's generals, ministers of state, colonels, and lower officers—over four hundred in rank—along the way. They seized 125 official seals, two credentials of authority, and 30,000 heads. They secured twenty-two counties in Zhuo, Zhongshan, Julu, Qinghe, and Hejian, then overtook Guangwu at Guang'a. Guangwu was still besieging Wang Lang when rumor spread that the two northern armies were marching for Handan against him; his men were terrified. In the event they all rode into camp to present themselves. When Guangwu saw Geng Yan and his comrades he was delighted. 'I shall share this great achievement,' he said, 'with the gentlemen of Yuyang and Shanggu.' He appointed them all lieutenant-generals and sent them back to command their own troops. Geng Kuang was promoted to grand general and marquis of Xingyi, with authority to appoint his own subordinate commanders. Geng Yan and the others then took part in the capture of Handan.
4
時，更始征代郡太守趙永，而況勸永不應召，令詣於光武。 光武遣永復郡。 永北還，而代令張曄據城反畔，乃招迎匈奴、烏桓以為援助。 光武以弇弟舒為復胡將軍，使擊曄，破之。 永乃得復郡。 時，五校賊二十餘萬北寇上谷，況與舒連擊破之，賊皆退走。
The Gengshi court summoned Zhao Yong, governor of Dai, but Geng Kuang persuaded him to ignore the call and report instead to Guangwu. Guangwu sent Zhao Yong back to take charge of the commandery. On the way north the magistrate of Dai, Zhang Ye, seized the city in revolt and called in the Xiongnu and Wuhuan for support. Guangwu appointed Geng Yan's brother Geng Shu general for the pacification of the Hu and sent him against Zhang Ye, who was crushed. Zhao Yong was then able to resume his governorship. More than two hundred thousand troops of the Wuxiao bands invaded Shanggu from the north; Geng Kuang and Geng Shu drove them off in succession until the rebels withdrew.
5
更始見光武威聲日盛，君臣疑慮，乃遣使立光武為蕭王，令罷兵與諸將有功者還長安； 遣苗曾為幽州牧，韋順為上谷太守，蔡充為漁陽太守，並北之部。 時，光武居邯鄲宮，晝臥溫明殿。 弇入造床下請間，因說曰：『今更始失政，君臣淫亂，諸將擅命於畿內，貴戚縱橫於都內。 天子之命，不出城門，所在牧守，輒自遷易，百姓不知所從，士人莫敢自安。 虜掠財物，劫掠婦女，懷金玉者，至不生歸。 元元叩心，更思莽朝。 又銅馬、赤眉之屬數十輩，輩數十百萬，聖公不能辦也。 其敗不久，公首事南陽，破百萬之軍； 今定河北，據天府之地。 以義征伐，發號響應，天下可傳檄而定。 天下至重，不可令它姓得之。 聞使者從西方來，欲罷兵，不可從也。 今吏士死亡者多，弇願歸幽州，益發精兵，以集大計。 』光武大說，乃拜弇為大將軍，與吳漢北發幽州十郡兵。 弇到上谷，收韋順、蔡充斬之； 漢亦誅苗曾。 於是悉發幽州兵，引而南，從光武擊破銅馬、高湖、赤眉、青犢，又追尤來、大槍、五幡於元氏，弇常將精騎為軍鋒，輒破走之。 光武乘勝戰順水上，虜危急，殊死戰。 時，軍士疲弊，遂大敗奔還，壁范陽，數日乃振，賊亦退去，從追至容城、小廣陽、安次，連戰破之。 光武還薊，復遣弇與吳漢、景丹、蓋延、朱祐、邳彤、耿純、劉植、岑彭、祭遵、堅鐔、王霸、陳俊、馬武十三將軍，追賊至潞東，及平谷，再戰，斬首萬三千餘級，遂窮追於右北平無終、土垠之間，至俊靡而還。 賊散入遼西、遼東，或為烏桓、貊人所抄擊，略盡。
As Guangwu's renown grew daily, the Gengshi court grew uneasy. It sent envoys to enfeoff him as Prince of Xiao and ordered him to disband his army and return to Chang'an with his meritorious generals; it also appointed Miao Zeng governor of Youzhou, Wei Shun governor of Shanggu, and Cai Chong governor of Yuyang, all bound for their northern jurisdictions. Guangwu was lodged in the Handan palace, napping by day in the Warm Bright Hall. Geng Yan slipped in beneath the couch to beg a private word. 'The Gengshi regime has lost its grip,' he said. 'Court and ministers wallow in vice; generals issue their own orders inside the capital districts; great clans ride roughshod through the city.' Imperial decrees never leave the palace gates; governors everywhere are replaced at will. The people do not know whom to obey, and no gentleman feels safe in his post.' They loot property, seize women, and anyone who hoards gold and jade is lucky to leave with his life.' The common people beat their breasts and think back longingly even to Wang Mang's day.' Besides, there are dozens of hosts like the Bronze Horse and the Red Eyebrows, each numbering hundreds of thousands—Liu Xuan cannot possibly cope.' Their fall cannot be far off. You first raised the standard at Nanyang and shattered armies counted in the millions; you have secured Hebei and hold the storehouse of the realm.' Campaign in the name of right, and the empire will answer your call; the realm can be settled with a single manifesto.' The mandate is too weighty to be surrendered to some other house.' I hear envoys from the west are coming to order you to stand down—do not obey them.' Many of your men have fallen. I ask leave to return to Youzhou and raise more picked troops for the great design ahead.' Guangwu was overjoyed. He appointed Geng Yan grand general and, with Wu Han, sent him north to levy the ten commanderies of Youzhou. At Shanggu, Geng Yan seized Wei Shun and Cai Chong and had them executed; Wu Han likewise put Miao Zeng to death. The full strength of Youzhou marched south with Guangwu. They broke the Bronze Horse, the High Lake, the Red Eyebrows, and the Green Calf bands, then ran down the Youlai, Great Lance, and Five Pennants at Yuanshi. Geng Yan habitually led elite cavalry as the vanguard and drove the enemy from the field every time. Pressing his advantage, Guangwu gave battle on the Shun River; the rebels, cornered, fought to the death. His troops were spent and broke in panic, falling back to fortify Fanyang; only after several days did they rally. The rebels withdrew as well, and Guangwu pursued them through Rongcheng, Lesser Guangyang, and Anci, defeating them in a series of engagements. From Ji, Guangwu sent Geng Yan with Wu Han, Jing Dan, Gai Yan, Zhu You, Pi Tong, Geng Chun, Liu Zhi, Cen Peng, Ji Zun, Jian Tan, Wang Ba, Chen Jun, and Ma Wu—thirteen generals in all—to pursue the enemy east of Lu and on to Pinggu. In a second battle they took more than thirteen thousand heads, then pressed the chase through eastern Right Beiping between Wuzhong and Tuyin as far as Junmi before turning back. The remnants scattered into Liaoxi and Liaodong, where Wuhuan and Mo tribesmen harried them until they were all but wiped out.
6
弇從幸舂陵，因見自請北收上谷兵未發者，定彭寵於漁陽，取張豐於涿郡，還收富平、獲索，東攻張步，以平齊地。 帝壯其意，乃許之。 四年，詔弇進攻漁陽。 弇以父據上谷，本與彭寵同功，又兄弟無在京師者，自疑，不敢獨進，上書求詣洛陽。 詔報曰：『將軍出身舉宗為國，所向陷敵，功效尤著，何嫌何疑，而欲求征？ 且與王常共屯涿郡，勉思方略。 』況聞弇求征，亦不自安，遣舒弟國入侍。 帝善之，進封況為隃糜侯。 乃命弇與建義大將軍朱祐、漢忠將軍王常等擊望都、故安西山賊十餘營，皆破之。 時，征虜將軍祭遵屯良鄉，驍騎將軍劉喜屯陽鄉，以拒彭寵。 寵遣弟純將匈奴二千餘騎，寵自引兵數萬，分為兩道以擊遵、喜。 胡騎經軍都，舒襲破其眾，斬匈奴兩王，寵乃退走。 況復與舒攻寵，取軍都。 五年，寵死，天子嘉況功，使光祿大夫持節迎況，賜甲第，奉朝請。 封舒為牟平侯。 遣弇與吳漢擊富平、獲索賊於平原，大破之，降者四萬餘人。
Geng Yan accompanied the emperor to Chunling and, on audience, volunteered to march north, gather the Shanggu troops not yet committed, crush Peng Chong at Yuyang, seize Zhang Feng in Zhuo, mop up the Fuping and Huosuo bands, then strike east at Zhang Bu to bring the Qi region to heel. The emperor admired his resolve and granted the request. In the fourth year of the reign he was ordered to advance on Yuyang. Because his father held Shanggu and had once stood on equal footing with Peng Chong, and because none of his brothers were at court as hostages, Geng Yan hesitated to advance alone; he memorialized asking permission to come to Luoyang. The edict answered: 'You have brought your whole clan into the state's service; wherever you have turned you have broken the enemy, and your achievements stand foremost. What cause have you for mistrust or doubt that you should ask to be recalled?' For now camp with Wang Chang in Zhuo commandery and give your full mind to strategy.' When Geng Kuang heard that his son had asked to report to the capital, he too grew uneasy and sent Geng Shu's younger brother Geng Guo to court as a hostage. The emperor approved and advanced Geng Kuang to marquis of Yumi. He then ordered Geng Yan with Grand General Who Establishes Righteousness Zhu You, Han Loyalty General Wang Chang, and others to attack the mountain bandits west of Wangdu and Gu'an—more than ten camps—and they carried every position. Campaign general Ji Zun held Liangxiang and valiant cavalry general Liu Xi held Yangxiang to block Peng Chong. Peng Chong sent his brother Peng Chun with over two thousand Xiongnu horsemen while he himself led several tens of thousands in two columns against Ji Zun and Liu Xi. As the Hu cavalry passed Jundu, Geng Shu fell on them and broke their host, beheading two Xiongnu kings; Peng Chong then withdrew. Geng Kuang joined Geng Shu in another strike at Peng Chong and took Jundu. In the fifth year Peng Chong died. The emperor commended Geng Kuang's service and sent an imperial household grandee with credentials of authority to escort him to the capital, granted him a mansion of the first rank, and enrolled him among those summoned to court. Geng Shu was enfeoffed as marquis of Mouping. Geng Yan and Wu Han were sent against the Fuping and Huosuo bandits on the Pingyuan plain; they shattered them and received the surrender of more than forty thousand men.
7
因詔弇進討張步。 弇悉收集降卒，結部曲，置將吏，率騎都尉劉歆、太山太守陳俊引兵而東，從朝陽橋濟河以度。 張步聞之，乃使其大將軍費邑軍歷下，又分兵屯祝阿，別於太山鐘城列營數十以待弇。 弇度河先擊祝阿，自旦攻城，日未中而拔之，故開圍一角，令其眾得奔歸鐘城。 鐘城人聞祝阿已潰，大恐懼，遂空壁亡去。 費邑分遣弟敢守巨裏。 弇進兵先脅巨裏，使多伐樹木，揚言以填塞坑塹。 數日，有降者言邑聞弇欲攻巨裏，謀來救之。 弇乃嚴令軍中趣修攻具，宣敕諸部，後三日當悉力攻巨裏城。 陰緩生口，令得亡歸。 歸者以弇期告邑，邑至日果自將精兵三萬餘人來救之。 弇喜，謂諸將曰：『吾所以修攻具者，欲誘致邑耳。 今來，適其所求也。 』即分三千人守巨裏，自引精兵上岡阪，乘高合戰，大破之，臨陳斬邑。 既而收首級以示巨裏城中，城中兇懼，費敢悉眾亡歸張步。 弇復收其積聚，縱兵擊諸未下者，平四十餘營，遂定濟南。
He then ordered Geng Yan to march against Zhang Bu. Geng Yan incorporated the surrendered troops into units with their own officers, then led Cavalry Commandant Liu Xin and Taishan governor Chen Jun eastward, crossing the river at the Chaoyang bridge. Zhang Bu responded by posting his grand general Fei Yi at Lixia, detaching troops to Zhu'e, and stringing several dozen camps from Taishan's Zhongcheng to await Geng Yan. Geng Yan crossed the river and struck Zhu'e first, storming the walls from dawn until the city fell before noon. He deliberately left one corner of the ring open so the defenders could flee toward Zhongcheng. When the garrison at Zhongcheng heard Zhu'e had fallen, panic emptied the fort and the men ran. Fei Yi sent his brother Fei Gan to hold Julü. Geng Yan advanced on Julü and had his men fell timber in quantity, announcing loudly that they meant to fill in the ditches and ramparts. After a few days a deserter reported that Fei Yi, hearing Geng Yan intended to storm Julü, was planning a relief march. Geng Yan issued strict orders to rush siege equipment and proclaimed to every division that in three days they would throw their full strength against Julü. He secretly relaxed his guard on prisoners so they could escape. The escapees brought word of Geng Yan's timetable to Fei Yi, who on the appointed day led more than thirty thousand picked troops to the relief. Geng Yan was delighted. 'The reason I paraded those siege engines,' he told his generals, 'was to bait Fei Yi out.' Now that he has come, he has given us exactly what we wanted.' He left three thousand men to hold Julü, led his crack force up the ridge, and from the high ground engaged and routed Fei Yi, cutting him down in the melee. He then had the heads displayed outside Julü; terror seized the garrison, and Fei Gan fled with his entire command to Zhang Bu. Geng Yan seized their stores, unleashed his troops on the remaining strongholds, reduced more than forty camps, and brought Jinan commandery under control.
8
時，張步都劇，使其弟藍將精兵二萬守西安，諸郡太守合萬餘人守臨淄，相去四十里。 弇進軍畫中，居二城之間。 弇視西安城小而堅，且藍兵又精，臨淄名雖大而實易攻，乃敕諸校會，後五日攻西安。 藍聞之，晨夜儆守。 至期夜半，弇敕諸將皆蓐食，會明至臨淄城。 護軍荀梁等爭之，以為宜速攻西安。 弇曰：『不然。 西安聞吾欲攻之，日夜為備； 臨淄出不意而至，必驚擾，吾攻之一日必拔。 拔臨淄即西安孤，張藍與步隔絕，必復亡去，所謂擊一而得二者也。 若先攻西安，不卒下，頓兵堅城，死傷必多。 縱能拔之，藍引軍還奔臨淄，並兵合勢，觀人虛實，吾深入敵地，後無轉輸，旬日之間，不戰而困。 諸君之言，未見其宜。 』遂攻臨淄，半日拔之，入據其城。 張藍聞之大懼，遂將其眾亡歸劇。
Zhang Bu had his capital at Ju. He sent his brother Zhang Lan with twenty thousand elite troops to hold Xi'an while the commandery governors jointly garrisoned Linzi with over ten thousand men; the two towns stood forty li apart. Geng Yan advanced to Huazhong and camped between the two cities. Xi'an was small but strongly held, and Zhang Lan's troops were picked men; Linzi sounded imposing but would be easier to take. Geng Yan summoned his colonels and announced an assault on Xi'an in five days. Zhang Lan heard the news and kept his men on alert day and night. When the night of the deadline came, Geng Yan ordered his generals to take breakfast in their armor and be at the walls of Linzi by first light. The protector of the army, Xun Liang, and others objected, arguing that Xi'an should be taken at once. Geng Yan said, 'No.' Xi'an has heard we mean to strike it and stands ready night and day; Linzi will be thrown into panic if we appear where we are not expected; I can storm it in a single day.' Take Linzi and Xi'an is isolated; Zhang Lan is cut off from Zhang Bu and will flee again—that is what men call one blow for two gains.' If we strike Xi'an first and fail to carry it quickly, we will stall before a strong wall and lose many men.' Even if we did take it, Zhang Lan would race back to Linzi, combine his forces, and watch for weakness. We would be deep in hostile country with no supply line; within ten days we would be trapped without a fight.' Your counsel does not convince me.' He attacked Linzi and had it in half a day, then marched in and held the city.' Zhang Lan was terrified and withdrew his entire force to Ju.
9
弇乃令軍中無得妄掠劇下，須張步至乃取之，以激怒步。 步聞大笑曰：『以尤來、大彤十餘萬眾，吾皆即其營而破之。 今大耿兵少於彼，又皆疲勞，何足懼乎！ 』乃與三弟藍、弘、壽及故大彤渠帥重異等兵號二十萬，至臨淄大城東，將攻弇。 弇先出兵淄水上，與重異遇，突騎欲縱，弇恐挫其鋒，令步不敢進，故示弱以盛其氣，乃引歸小城，陳兵於內。 步氣盛，直攻弇營，與劉歆等合戰，弇升王宮壞臺望之，視歆等鋒交，乃自引精兵以橫突步陳於東城下，大破之。 飛矢中弇股，以佩刀截之，左右無知者。 至暮罷。 弇明旦復勒兵出。 是時，帝在魯，聞弇為步所攻，自往救之，未至。 陳俊謂弇曰：『劇虜兵盛，可且閉營休士，以須上來。 』弇曰：『乘輿且到，臣子當擊牛釃酒以待百官，反欲以賊虜遺君父邪？ 』乃出兵大戰，自旦及昏，復大破之，殺傷無數，城中溝塹皆滿。 弇知步困將退，豫置左右翼為伏以待之。 人定時，步果引去，伏兵起縱擊，追至鉅昧水上，八九十里僵屍相屬，收得輜重二千餘兩。 步還劇，兄弟各分兵散去。
Geng Yan forbade any random pillaging toward Ju, ordering his men to wait until Zhang Bu himself arrived before moving in—deliberately baiting Zhang Bu. Zhang Bu roared with laughter when he heard it. 'I broke the Youlai and Great Shape hosts—well over a hundred thousand—right in their camps.' Great Geng's army is smaller than theirs and worn out besides—why should I fear it?' He marched east of greater Linzi with his brothers Zhang Lan, Zhang Hong, and Zhang Shou, the former Great Shape leader Zhong Yi, and a host said to number two hundred thousand, intent on crushing Geng Yan. Geng Yan first moved onto the Zi River and met Zhong Yi. He held back his shock cavalry, fearing to blunt the enemy's edge and make Zhang Bu hesitate to advance; feigning weakness he drew back into the lesser city and drew up his lines inside. Zhang Bu, flushed with confidence, drove straight at Geng Yan's camp and closed with Liu Xin. From the ruined tower of the royal palace Geng Yan watched the clash of their vanguards, then led picked troops in a slashing charge against Zhang Bu's formation below the eastern wall and shattered him. A stray arrow struck Geng Yan in the thigh; he cut the shaft with his belt dagger, and none beside him knew he was wounded. The fighting ended at dusk. At dawn the next day Geng Yan formed his men again and sortied. The emperor was at Lu when he learned that Zhang Bu had Geng Yan under pressure; he set out in person to relieve him but had not yet arrived. Chen Jun said to Geng Yan, 'The enemy at Ju is strong; better shut the camp, rest the troops, and wait for His Majesty.' Geng Yan replied, 'The imperial train is almost here. A minister should slaughter an ox and pour the wine to welcome the court, not leave bandits for his sovereign to deal with!' He threw his army into battle from dawn to dusk, broke the enemy again with countless casualties, and filled the city ditches with the dead. Knowing Zhang Bu was cornered and would pull back, Geng Yan posted ambushes on both flanks in advance. At the hour of rest Zhang Bu did withdraw; the ambush rose and struck, and the pursuit ran eighty or ninety li to the Jumei River, corpses strewn the whole way. They captured more than two thousand baggage carts. Zhang Bu fled to Ju; his brothers broke up their commands and scattered.
10
後數日，車駕至臨淄自勞軍，群臣大會。 帝謂弇曰：『昔韓信破歷下以開基，今將軍攻祝阿以發跡，此皆齊之西界，功足相方。 而韓信襲擊已降，將軍獨拔勁敵，其功乃難於信也。 又田橫亨酈生，及田橫降，高帝詔衛尉不聽為仇。 張步前亦殺伏隆，若步來歸命，吾當詔大司徒釋其怨，又事尤相類也。 將軍前在南陽建此大策，常以為落落難合，有誌者事竟成也！ 』弇因復追步，步奔平壽，乃肉袒負斧锧於軍門。 弇傳步詣行在所，而勒兵入據其城。 樹十二郡旗鼓，令步兵各以郡人詣旗下，眾尚十餘萬，輜重七千餘兩，皆罷遣歸鄉里。 弇復引兵至城陽，降五校餘黨，齊地悉平。 振旅還京師。
A few days later the emperor reached Linzi in person to review the army, and the whole court gathered. The emperor said to Geng Yan, 'Han Xin took Lixia to open the realm; you took Zhu'e to begin your rise—both on Qi’s western marches, and the deeds are well matched.' Yet Han Xin struck men who had already yielded, whereas you alone overcame a stubborn foe—your feat is the harder of the two.' When Tian Heng executed Li Yiji and later submitted, Gaozu ordered the commandant of the guards not to avenge the grudge.' Zhang Bu once killed Fu Long; if he now comes to surrender, I shall tell the grand minister of education to set aside the blood feud—another close parallel.' You laid this grand design at Nanyang when most thought it too bold to succeed—yet the determined see their work through!' Geng Yan pressed the pursuit to Pingshou, where Zhang Bu stripped to the waist and carried an axe and executioner's block to the camp gate in token of submission. Geng Yan sent Zhang Bu on to the emperor's temporary headquarters and marched his troops in to hold the city. He raised the drums and banners of the twelve commanderies and had Zhang Bu's footsoldiers muster by native commandery beneath them—still over a hundred thousand men and seven thousand baggage carts—then disbanded them all to their homes. He moved on to Chengyang, received the surrender of the Wuxiao remnant, and brought the whole of Qi to peace. He brought the army home to the capital.
11
六年，西拒隗囂，屯兵於漆。 八年，從上隴。 明年，與中郎將來歙分部徇安定、北地諸營保，皆下之。 弇凡所平郡四十六，屠城三百，未嘗挫折。
In the sixth year he held the line west against Wei Ao, with troops encamped at Qi. In the eighth year he accompanied the emperor up onto Long. The next year he and the palace gentleman Lai Xi campaigned in separate columns against the fortified camps of Anding and Beidi and reduced them all. In all Geng Yan pacified forty-six commanderies and stormed three hundred walled places without ever suffering a reverse.
12
十二年，況疾病，乘輿數自臨幸。 復以國弟廣、舉並為中郎將。 弇兄弟六人皆垂青紫，省侍醫藥，當代以為榮。 及況卒，謚烈侯，少子霸襲況爵。
In the twelfth year Geng Kuang fell ill; the emperor visited him repeatedly in person. He also appointed Geng Guo's younger brothers Geng Guang and Geng Ju both as palace gentlemen. All six Geng brothers wore the blue and purple ribbons of high rank and waited on their father with medicine—the age counted it the height of honor. When Geng Kuang died he received the posthumous title Marquis Lie; his youngest son Geng Ba inherited his noble rank.
13
十三年，增弇戶邑，上大將軍印綬，罷，以列侯奉朝請。 每有四方異議，輒召入問籌策。 年五十六，永平元年卒，謚為湣侯。
In the thirteenth year Geng Yan's fief was enlarged, he surrendered the seals of grand general and was stood down, retaining rank as a full marquis entitled to attend at court. Whenever there was a disputed question from any quarter, he was called in to advise. He died at fifty-six in the first year of Yongping and was posthumously titled Marquis Min.
14
子忠嗣。 忠以騎都尉擊匈奴於天山，有功。 忠卒，子馮嗣。 馮卒，子良嗣，一名無禁。 延光中，尚安帝妹濮陽長公主，位至侍中。 良卒，子協嗣。
His son Geng Zhong inherited the title. Geng Zhong, as cavalry commandant, fought the Xiongnu at the Tianshan range with distinction. When Geng Zhong died, his son Geng Feng succeeded. When Geng Feng died, his son Geng Liang succeeded; Liang also bore the name Wujin. During the Yanguang era he married Emperor An's younger sister, the senior princess of Puyang, and rose to palace attendant. When Geng Liang died, his son Geng Xie succeeded.
15
隃麋侯霸卒，子文金嗣。 文金卒，子喜嗣。 喜卒，子顯嗣，為羽林左監。 顯卒，子援嗣。 尚桓帝妹長社公主，為河東太守。 後曹操誅耿氏，唯援孫弘存焉。
When Marquis Ba of Yumi died, his son Wenjin inherited. When Wenjin died, his son Xi succeeded. When Xi died, his son Xian succeeded and held the post of left superintendent of the Feathered Forest guard. When Xian died, his son Yuan succeeded. He married Emperor Huan's younger sister, the princess of Changshe, and served as governor of Hedong. Later Cao Cao extirpated the Gengs; only Hong, a grandson of Geng Yuan, was left.
16
牟平侯舒卒，子襲嗣。 尚顯宗女隆慮公主。 襲卒，子寶嗣。
When Marquis Shu of Mouping died, his son Xi inherited. He married Emperor Ming's daughter, the princess of Longlü. When Xi died, his son Bao succeeded.
17
寶女弟為清河孝王妃。 及安帝立，尊孝王，母為孝德皇后，以妃為甘園大貴人。 帝以寶元舅之重，使監羽林左騎，位至大將軍。 而附事內寵，與中常侍樊豐、帝乳母王聖等譖廢皇太子為濟陰王，及排陷太尉楊震，議者怨之。 寶弟子承襲公主爵為林慮侯，位至侍中。 安帝崩，閻太后以寶等阿附嬖倖，共為不道，策免寶及承，皆貶爵為亭侯，遣就國。 寶於道自殺，國除。 大貴人數為耿氏請，陽嘉三年，順帝遂紹封寶子箕牟平侯，為侍中。 以恒為陽亭侯，承為羽林中郎將。 其後貴人薨，大將軍梁冀從承求貴人珍玩，不能得，冀怒，風有司奏奪其封。 承惶恐，遂亡匿於穰。 數年，冀推跡得之，乃並族其家十餘人。
Bao's younger sister was consort to the filial prince of Qinghe. When Emperor An came to the throne, the filial prince's mother was honored as Empress Xiaode and the consort became senior noble lady of the Gan Garden. The emperor, attaching great weight to Bao as his mother's brother, put him over the left wing of the Feathered Forest guard and raised him to grand general. He curried favor with the inner court; with the palace attendant Fan Feng, the emperor's wet nurse Wang Sheng, and others he slandered the heir apparent into demotion as prince of Jiyin and ruined Grand Commandant Yang Zhen—men of judgment detested him for it. Bao's nephew Cheng inherited the princess's fief as marquis of Linlü and rose to palace attendant. When Emperor An died, Empress Dowager Yan charged Bao and his allies with toadying to favorites and acting lawlessly; by edict she dismissed Bao and Cheng, reduced them both to village marquis rank, and sent them to their fiefs. Bao killed himself on the way; the marquisate was abolished. The senior noble lady repeatedly interceded for the Gengs; in the third year of Yangjia Emperor Shun restored Bao's son Ji as marquis of Mouping and made him a palace attendant. Geng Heng was enfeoffed marquis of Yang village and Geng Cheng as palace gentleman of the Feathered Forest guard. After the noble lady died, Grand General Liang Ji demanded her rare treasures from Cheng; when he was refused, Liang Ji in fury prompted officials to memorialize stripping their titles. Cheng fled in terror and hid at Rang. Years later Liang Ji tracked him down and exterminated his household of more than ten.
18
論曰：淮陰延論項王，審料成勢，則知高祖之廟勝矣。 耿弇決策河北，定計南陽，亦見光武之業成矣。 然弇自克拔全齊，而無復尺寸功。 夫豈不懷？ 將時之度數，不足以相容乎？ 三世為將，道家所忌，而耿氏累葉以功名自終。 將其用兵欲以殺止殺乎？ 何其獨能隆也！
The appraisal runs: When the Marquis of Huaiyin discoursed on the Hegemon-King of Chu and weighed how matters stood, one could see that Gaozu had already won in the ancestral temple. Geng Yan laid his plans in Hebei and Nanyang alike, and there too one could see that Guangwu's work was already assured. Yet from the time he conquered all Qi onward, Geng Yan won no further territory of note. Did he no longer hunger for glory? Or did the times and their measure no longer leave room for him? Three generations of generals are what Daoist teaching warns against, yet the Gengs passed generation after generation in merit and honor to the end. Did they wield arms intending to end killing with killing? How alone could they have flourished so!
19
國字叔慮，建武四年初入侍，光武拜為黃門侍郎，應對左右，帝以為能，遷射聲校尉。 七年，射聲官罷，拜駙馬都尉。 父況卒，國於次當嗣，上疏以先侯愛少子霸，固自陳讓，有詔許焉。 後歷頓丘、陽翟、上蔡令，所在吏人稱之。 徵為五官中郎將。
Geng Guo, courtesy name Shulü, first entered attendance in the fourth year of Jianwu. Guangwu appointed him gentleman-attendant at the Yellow Gates; he acquitted himself at the ruler's side and was judged capable, then promoted to colonel of the She-sheng corps. In the seventh year the She-sheng post was abolished and he was named coach commandant. When his father Geng Kuang died, Geng Guo stood next in line to inherit but memorialized that the late marquis had favored his youngest son Ba; he firmly declined in his own person, and an edict granted the request. He later served as magistrate of Dunqiu, Yangzhai, and Shangcai, winning praise from officials and commoners wherever he went. He was summoned to the post of palace gentleman of the five offices.
20
是時，烏桓、鮮卑屢寇外境，國素有籌策，數言邊事，帝器之。 及匈奴薁日逐王比自立為呼韓邪單元，款塞稱藩，願扞禦北虜。 事下公卿。 議者皆以為天下初定，中國空虛，夷狄情偽難知，不可許。 國獨曰：『臣以為宜如孝宣故事受之，令東扞鮮卑，北拒匈奴，率厲四夷，完復邊郡，使塞下無晏開之警，萬世安寧之策也。 』帝從其議，遂立比為南單于。 由是烏桓、鮮卑保塞自守，北虜遠遁，中國少事。 二十七年，代馮勤為大司農。 又上言宜置度遼將軍、左右校尉，屯五原以防逃亡。 永平元年卒官。 顯宗追思國言，後遂置度遼將軍、左右校尉，如其議焉。
At that time the Wuhuan and Xianbei harried the frontier again and again; Geng Guo was full of stratagems, spoke often on border policy, and the emperor valued him. When the Xiongnu prince Bi, the Ailizhuyu king, set himself up as Chanyu in the manner of Huhanye, crossed the passes as a vassal, and offered to shield the north against other barbarians, the matter was referred to the high ministers. The consensus was that the empire was newly pacified, the heartland still drained, and barbarian intentions impossible to read—the court should not agree. Geng Guo alone said, 'I hold we should follow Emperor Xuan's precedent and accept him, set him to block the Xianbei on the east and hold the Xiongnu on the north, rally the four barbarians, restore the lost border commanderies, and keep the passes free of sudden alarms—that is the plan for peace for ages to come.' The emperor adopted his argument and established Bi as southern chanyu.' Thereafter the Wuhuan and Xianbei guarded the line for themselves, the northern raiders withdrew far away, and the heartland knew less trouble. In the twenty-seventh year he succeeded Feng Qin as grand minister of agriculture. He further memorialized that a general-across-the-Liao and left and right colonels should be posted with a garrison at Wuyuan to check desertions. He died in office in the first year of Yongping. Emperor Ming later remembered Geng Guo's counsel and eventually did institute the general-across-the-Liao and the left and right colonels as he had proposed.
21
國二子：秉，夔。
Geng Guo had two sons: Geng Bing and Geng Kui.
22
國子秉
Geng Guo's son Geng Bing
23
秉字伯初，有偉體，腰帶八圍。 博通書記，能說《司馬兵法》，尤好將帥之略。 以父任為郎，數上言兵事。 常以中國虛費，邊陲不寧，其患專在匈奴。 以戰去戰，盛王之道。 顯宗既有志北伐，陰然其言。 永平中，召詣省闥，問前後所上便宜方略，拜謁者僕射，遂見親幸。 每公卿會議，常引秉上殿，訪以邊事，多簡帝心。
Geng Bing, courtesy name Bochu, was a man of imposing stature—his girdle took eight turns around his waist. He was widely read in letters and archives, could lecture on the Sima fa, and had a special fondness for the art of command. Through his father's rank he entered court as a gentleman-attendant and repeatedly memorialized on military policy. He held that the interior was drained by useless expense while the frontier never rested, and that the root of the evil lay with the Xiongnu. To end war through war is the way of a true king. Emperor Ming already intended a northern expedition and quietly endorsed his views. During the Yongping era he was summoned to the inner palace to discuss the memorials he had submitted on frontier policy; he was appointed superintendent of heralds and became a trusted favorite. Whenever the high ministers met in council, the emperor would have Geng Bing brought up to discuss border questions, and his answers usually matched what the ruler wished to hear.
24
十五年，拜駙馬都尉。 十六年，以騎都尉秦彭為副，與奉車都尉竇固等俱伐北匈奴。 虜皆奔走，不戰而還。
In the fifteenth year he was named coach commandant. In the sixteenth year, with Cavalry Commandant Qin Peng as his deputy, he joined Coach Commandant Dou Gu in a campaign against the northern Xiongnu. The enemy fled before a blow was struck, and the army marched home.
25
十七年夏，詔秉與固合兵萬四千騎，復出白山擊車師。 車師有後王、前王，前王即後王之子，其廷相去五百餘里。 固以後王道遠，山谷深，士卒寒若，欲攻前王。 秉議先赴後王，以為並力根本，則前王自服。 固計未決。 秉奮身而起曰：『請行前。 』乃上馬，引兵北入，眾軍不得已，遂進。 並縱兵抄掠，斬首數千級，收馬、牛十餘萬頭。 後王安得震怖，從數百騎出迎秉。 而固司馬蘇安欲全功歸固，即馳謂安得曰：『漢貴將獨有奉車都尉，天子姊婿，爵為通侯，當先降之。 』安得乃還，更令其諸將迎秉。 秉大怒，被甲上馬，麾其精騎徑造固壁。 言曰：『車師王降，訖今不至，請往梟其首。 』固大驚曰：『且止，將敗事！ 』秉厲聲曰：『受降如受敵。 』遂馳赴之。 安得惶恐，走出門，脫帽抱馬足降。 秉將以詣固。 其前王亦歸命，遂定車師而還。
That summer in the seventeenth year an edict ordered Geng Bing and Dou Gu to merge their commands—fourteen thousand horsemen—and strike Jushi again from White Mountain. Jushi had a rear king and a front king; the front king was the rear king's son, and their courts lay more than five hundred li apart. Dou Gu argued that the rear king's seat was distant, the valleys deep, and the troops would suffer bitter cold, and wished to strike the nearer front king first. Geng Bing urged marching on the rear king first: seize the root with united strength, he said, and the front king would yield of his own accord. Dou Gu could not settle on a plan. Geng Bing sprang up: 'Let me take the van.' He mounted, led his men north, and the whole force had no choice but to follow. They swept forward looting and killing several thousand heads and rounding up more than a hundred thousand head of horses and cattle. The rear king Ande was terrified and rode out with a few hundred horsemen to welcome Geng Bing. Dou Gu's major Su An, eager to credit Dou Gu alone, galloped up to Ande and said, 'Among Han's high commanders only the coach commandant—the Son of Heaven's brother-in-law and a full marquis—deserves your first surrender.' Ande turned back and ordered his generals to receive Geng Bing instead. Geng Bing was furious. He armored, mounted, and led his picked cavalry straight to the camp of Dou Gu. He announced, 'The king of Jushi has surrendered but has not come in; I ask leave to fetch his head.' Dou Gu cried in alarm, 'Wait—you will wreck everything!' Geng Bing thundered back, 'Accepting a surrender is like meeting an enemy in battle.' He spurred off toward Ande. Ande panicked, ran out the gate, doffed his cap, and clung to the horse's hoofs in submission. Geng Bing brought him to Dou Gu. The front king also submitted, and they pacified Jushi before withdrawing.
26
明年秋，肅宗即位，拜秉征西將軍，遣案行涼州邊境，勞賜保塞羌胡，進屯酒泉，救戊己校尉。
The next autumn, when Emperor Zhang came to the throne, Geng Bing was named general who campaigns west and sent to review the Liangzhou frontier, reward the Qiang and Hu who guarded the passes, advance to garrison Jiuquan, and relieve the Wu and Ji colonels.
27
秉性勇壯而簡易於事，軍行常自被甲在前，休止不結營部，然遠斥候，明要誓，有警，軍陳立成，士卒皆樂為死。 永元二年，代桓虞為光祿勛。 明年夏卒，時年五十餘。 賜以未棺、玉衣，將作大匠穿冢，假鼓吹，五營騎士三百餘人送葬。 謚曰恒侯。 匈奴聞秉卒，舉國號哭，或至梨面流血。
Geng Bing was bold and plain-dealing: on the march he often rode in the van in full armor, and at halts he did not bother with elaborate camp lines, yet he posted distant scouts, gave clear orders under oath, and at the first alarm his formation snapped into place; his men were glad to die for him. In the second year of Yongyuan he succeeded Huan Yu as superintendent of the imperial household. He died the next summer in his fifties. He was granted an unplaned coffin and a jade burial suit; the chief architect dug his tomb, he was lent a band, and more than three hundred horsemen of the five camps escorted the funeral. His posthumous title was Marquis Heng. When the Xiongnu heard that Geng Bing had died, the whole nation mourned; some slashed their faces until the blood ran.
28
長子沖嗣。 及竇憲敗，以秉竇氏黨，國除。 沖官至漢陽太守。
His eldest son Geng Chong inherited the title. After Dou Xian's fall Geng Bing was counted a partisan of the Dou clan, and the marquisate was abolished. Geng Chong rose to be governor of Hanyang.
29
曾孫紀，少有美名，辟公府，曹操甚敬異之，稍遷少府。 紀以操將篡漢，建安二十三年，與太醫令吉平、丞相司直韋晃謀起兵誅操，不克，夷三族。 於時衣冠盛門坐紀罹禍滅者眾矣。
His great-grandson Geng Ji won an early reputation, was summoned to the offices of the dukes, and Cao Cao thought him remarkable, promoting him step by step to minister of the lesser treasury. Believing that Cao Cao was about to seize the Han throne, in the twenty-third year of Jian'an Geng Ji joined Grand Physician-in-Chief Ji Ping and the chancellor's upright investigator Wei Huang in a plot to rise and kill Cao Cao; it failed, and all three clans were extirpated. Many great houses of the gentry were ruined through their connection with Geng Ji.
30
秉弟夔
Geng Kui, younger brother of Geng Bing.
31
夔字定公。 少有氣決。 永元初，為車騎將軍竇憲假司馬，北擊匈奴，轉騎都尉。 三年，憲復出河西，以夔為大將軍左校尉。 將精騎八百，出居延塞，直奔北單于廷，於金微山斬閼氏、名王以下五千餘級，單于與數騎脫亡，盡獲其匈奴珍寶財畜，去塞五千餘里而還，自漢出師所未嘗至也。 乃封夔粟邑侯。 會北單于弟左鹿蠡王於除自立為單于，眾八部二萬餘人，來居蒲類海上，遣使款塞。 以夔為中郎將，持節衛護之。 及竇憲敗，夔亦免官奪爵士。
Geng Kui's courtesy name was Dinggong. Even as a youth he showed courage and resolve. At the start of Yongyuan he served as acting major to chariots-and-cavalry general Dou Xian in the northern campaign against the Xiongnu, then became a cavalry commandant. In the third year Dou Xian marched again west of the Yellow River and appointed Geng Kui left colonel to the grand general. He led eight hundred picked horsemen out of the Juyan defile and drove straight for the northern chanyu's court. On Mount Jinyi he cut off more than five thousand heads, from the queen and famous kings downward; the chanyu fled with a handful of riders, and Kui seized the full hoard of Xiongnu treasure, wealth, and stock. He returned from more than five thousand li beyond the passes—farther than any Han army had ever marched. He was thereupon enfeoffed as marquis of Suyi. The northern chanyu's younger brother, the left Luli king Yuchu, set himself up as chanyu with more than twenty thousand men of eight divisions and settled on the Pu Sea, then sent envoys to the passes offering submission. Geng Kui was named a palace gentleman and sent with credentials to protect him. When Dou Xian fell, Geng Kui was likewise dismissed from office and stripped of his title.
32
後復為長水校尉，拜五原太守，遷遼東太守。 元興元年，貊人寇郡界，夔追擊，斬其渠帥。 永初三年，南單于檀反畔，使夔率鮮卑及諸郡兵屯雁門，與車騎將軍何熙共擊之。 熙推夔為先鋒，而遣其司馬耿溥、劉祉將二千人與夔俱進。 到屬國故城，單于遣薁日逐王三千餘人遮漢兵。 夔自擊其左，令鮮卑攻其右，虜遂敗走，追斬千餘級，殺其名王六人，獲穹廬車重千餘兩，馬畜生口甚眾。 鮮卑馬多羸病，遂畔出塞。 夔不能獨進，以不窮追，左轉雲中太守，後遷行度遼將軍事。
Later he served again as colonel of the Long River, was appointed governor of Wuyuan, and was transferred to Liaodong. In the first year of Yuanxing Mo tribesmen raided the commandery; Geng Kui pursued them and beheaded their leader. In the third year of Yongchu the southern chanyu Tan rebelled; Geng Kui was ordered to lead the Xianbei and troops of several commanderies to hold Yanmen, joining chariots-and-cavalry general He Xi in the attack. He Xi named Geng Kui vanguard while sending the majors Geng Pu and Liu Zhi with two thousand men to advance with him. At the old city of the dependent state the chanyu sent the Ailizhuyu king with more than three thousand men to bar the Han army. Geng Kui hit their left while ordering the Xianbei to strike their right; the enemy broke and fled. The pursuit took more than a thousand heads and six of their famous kings, along with over a thousand baggage carts, dome tents, mounts, livestock, and captives without number. The Xianbei horses were mostly spent and sick; they mutinied and left the frontier. Unable to press on alone and faulted for not pursuing to the end, Geng Kui was shifted left to governor of Yunzhong, then promoted to acting general-across-the-Liao.
33
夔勇而有氣，數侵陵使匈奴中郎將鄭戩。 元初元年，坐徵下獄，以減死論，笞二百。 建光中，復拜度遼將軍。 時，鮮卑攻殺雲中太守成嚴，圍烏桓校尉徐常於馬城。 夔與幽州刺史龐參救之，追虜出塞而還。 後坐法免，卒於家。
Geng Kui was aggressive by nature and repeatedly browbeat Zheng Jian, the palace gentleman sent to the Xiongnu. In the first year of Yuanchu he was charged, thrown into prison, sentenced to commute death, and flogged two hundred strokes. During the Jianguang era he was again named general-across-the-Liao. At that time the Xianbei killed Cheng Yan, governor of Yunzhong, and besieged Wuhuan colonel Xu Chang at Ma city. Geng Kui and Youzhou governor Pang Can relieved them and chased the enemy beyond the passes before turning back. Later he was dismissed for an offense and died at home.
34
從子恭
The biography turns to his brother's son, Geng Gong.
35
恭字伯宗，國弟廣之子也。 少孤。 慷慨多大略，有將帥才。 永平十七年冬，騎都尉劉張出擊車師，請恭為司馬，與奉車都尉竇固及從弟駙馬都尉秉破降之。 始置西域都護、戊己校尉，乃以恭為戊己校尉，屯後王部金蒲城，謁者關寵為戊己校尉，屯前王柳中城，屯各置數百人。 恭至部，移檄烏孫，示漢威德，大昆彌以下皆歡喜，遣使獻名馬，及奉宣帝時所賜公主博具，願遣子入侍。 恭乃發使賫金帛，迎其侍子。
Geng Gong, courtesy name Bozong, was the son of Geng Guo's younger brother Geng Guang. He was orphaned while young. He was high-minded and far-sighted, with a born commander's gifts. In the winter of the seventeenth year of Yongping, when Cavalry Commandant Liu Zhang marched against Jushi, he asked for Geng Gong as his major; with Coach Commandant Dou Gu and his cousin Coach Commandant Geng Bing they crushed and received the surrender of Jushi. When the protector-general of the Western Regions and the Wu and Ji colonels were first instituted, Geng Gong was named colonel of Wu and Ji and stationed with the rear king's people at Jinfu, while the herald Guan Chong was named colonel of Wu and Ji and stationed at Liuzhong with the front king; each garrison held several hundred men. When Geng Gong reached his command he sent a manifesto to Wusun proclaiming Han might and virtue; the great Kunmi and his court rejoiced, sent envoys with famous horses, returned the board games given the princess under Emperor Xuan, and asked to send a son to court. Geng Gong then sent envoys with gold and silks to escort the hostage prince.
36
明年三月，北單于遣左鹿蠡王二萬騎擊車師。 恭遣司馬將兵三百人救之，道逢匈奴騎多，皆為所歿。 匈奴遂破殺後王安得，而攻金蒲城。 恭乘城搏戰，以毒藥傅矢。 傳語匈奴曰：『漢家箭神，其中瘡者必有異。 』因發強弩射之。 虜中矢者，視創皆沸，遂大驚。 會天暴風雨，隨雨擊之，殺傷甚眾。 匈奴震怖，相謂曰：『漢兵神，真可畏也！ 』遂解去。 恭以疏勒城傍有澗水可固，五月，乃引兵據之。 七月，匈奴復來攻恭，恭募先登數千人直馳之，胡騎散走，匈奴遂於城下擁絕澗水。 恭於城中穿井十五丈不得水，吏士渴乏，笮馬糞汁而飲之。 恭仰嘆曰：『聞昔貳師將軍拔佩刀剌山，飛泉湧出； 今漢德神明，豈有窮哉。 』乃整衣服向井再拜，為吏士禱。 有頃，水泉奔出，眾皆稱萬歲。 乃令吏士揚水以示虜。 虜出不意，以為神明，遂引去。
In the third month of the next year the northern chanyu sent the left Luli king with twenty thousand horsemen against Jushi. Geng Gong sent a major with three hundred men to the relief, but they met overwhelming Xiongnu cavalry on the road and were wiped out. The Xiongnu then broke the rear king Ande and killed him, and turned on Jinfu. Geng Gong fought from the walls and smeared his arrows with poison. He sent word to the Xiongnu: 'Han arrows are spirit-touched; whoever is struck will suffer wonders.' He then loosed his heavy crossbows at them. Those who were hit found their wounds boiling and were terrified. A violent storm broke; riding the rain his men struck again and inflicted heavy casualties. The Xiongnu were shaken and said to one another, 'The Han soldiers are divine—truly to be feared!' They broke off the siege and withdrew. Thinking the stream beside Shule city a defensible position, in the fifth month he withdrew his force there. In the seventh month the Xiongnu attacked again; Geng Gong enlisted several thousand volunteers for the escalade and charged them so that the Hu horsemen scattered. The Xiongnu then dammed the stream below the city. Inside the city he sank a well fifteen zhang deep without finding water; his men were parched and squeezed liquid from horse dung to drink. Geng Gong looked up and sighed, 'They say the Second Division general once drew his sword and stabbed the rock until a spring burst forth; How could Han virtue, bright as the spirits, ever be exhausted. He straightened his robes, bowed twice to the well, and prayed for his men. Presently water welled up; the soldiers shouted long life to the throne. He had his men hoist water for the enemy to see. The Xiongnu, taken by surprise, took it for a miracle and withdrew.
37
時，焉耆、龜茲攻歿都護陳睦，北虜亦圍關寵於柳中。 會顯宗崩，救兵不至，車師復畔，與匈奴共攻恭。 恭歷士眾擊走之。 後王夫人先世漢人，常私以虜情告恭，又給以糧餉。 數月，食盡窮困，乃煮鎧弩，食其筋革。 恭與士推誠同死生，故皆無二心，而稍稍死亡，餘數十人。 單于知恭已困，欲必降之。 復遣使招恭曰：『若降者，當封為白屋王，妻以女子。 』恭乃誘其使上城，手擊殺之，炙諸城上。 虜官屬望見，號哭而去。 單于大怒，更益兵圍恭，不能下。
Meanwhile Yanqi and Qiuci had destroyed Protector-General Chen Mu, and the northern tribesmen also had Guan Chong under siege at Liuzhong. Then Emperor Ming died and no relief came; Jushi rebelled again and joined the Xiongnu in attacking Geng Gong. Geng Gong rallied his officers and men and drove them off. The rear king's queen was of Han descent on her mother's side; she secretly reported enemy movements to Geng Gong and supplied him with grain. After months their food was gone; they boiled armor and crossbows and ate the sinew and hide. Geng Gong dealt openly with his officers and shared life and death with them, so none harbored a second thought, yet they died off one by one until only a few dozen were left. The chanyu saw that Geng Gong was at his last gasp and was determined to force his surrender. He sent another envoy with an offer: 'Yield and you shall be king of the white yurt and wed to an imperial daughter.' Geng Gong lured the envoy onto the walls, killed him with his own hand, and had the corpse roasted on the parapet. The enemy officers looked on from afar, broke into lamentation, and withdrew. The chanyu flew into a rage, threw in more troops to besiege Geng Gong, and still could not storm the city.
38
會關寵已歿，蒙等聞之，便欲引兵還。 先是，恭遣軍吏范羌至敦煌迎兵士寒服，羌因隨王蒙軍俱出塞。 羌固請迎恭，諸將不敢前，乃分兵二千人與羌，從山北迎恭，遇大雪丈餘，軍僅能至。 城中夜聞兵馬聲，以為虜來，大驚。 羌乃遙呼曰：『我范羌也。 漢遣軍迎校尉耳。 』城中皆稱萬歲。 開門，共相持涕泣。 明日，遂相隨俱歸。 虜兵追之，且戰且行。 吏士素饑困，發疏勒時尚有二十六人，隨路死沒，三月至玉門，唯餘十三人。 衣屨穿決，形容枯槁。 中郎將鄭眾為恭已下洗沭易衣冠。 上疏曰：『耿恭以單兵固守孤城，當匈奴之衝，對數萬之眾，連月逾年，心力困盡。 鑿山為井，煮弩為糧，出於萬死無一生之望。 前後殺傷醜虜數千百計，卒全忠勇，不為大漢恥。 恭之節義，古今未有。 宜蒙顯爵，以厲將帥。 』及恭至洛陽，鮑昱奏恭節過蘇武，宜蒙爵賞。 於是拜為騎都尉，以恭司馬石修為洛陽市丞，張封為雍營司馬，軍吏范羌為共丞，餘九人皆補羽林。 恭母先卒，及還，追行喪制，有詔使五官中郎將賫牛、酒釋服。
By then Guan Chong was dead; Wang Meng and his colleagues, hearing the news, prepared to march home. Earlier Geng Gong had sent his army clerk Fan Qiang to Dunhuang for winter clothing for the troops; Fan Qiang had therefore accompanied Wang Meng's army beyond the passes. Fan Qiang begged to rescue Geng Gong, but the generals dared not advance until they detached two thousand men to him; he came round the northern slopes through snow more than a fathom deep, and his column barely reached the city. In the night the garrison heard the tramp of horses and thought the enemy had come; panic seized them. From the darkness Fan Qiang shouted, 'It is I, Fan Qiang.' The court has sent troops to fetch the colonel.' From the walls came a shout of long life to the throne. They opened the gates and fell weeping into one another's arms. The next day they set out together for home. Enemy cavalry harried them as they fought their way along. The men had long been starving and desperate: twenty-six had marched out of Shule, but they died along the road, and three months later only thirteen reached the Jade Gate. Their clothes and shoes were in rags; their faces were the color of dust. Palace gentleman Zheng Zhong had Geng Gong and his men bathed, given fresh clothes, and reclothed. He memorialized: 'With a handful of men Geng Gong held a lone city athwart the Xiongnu, facing tens of thousands for month after month until body and will were spent.' They sank wells through rock, boiled crossbows for food, and marched out of ten thousand deaths where no life seemed possible.' They killed and wounded the enemy by thousands on thousands yet kept faith and valor and brought no shame on the Han.' Such steadfastness is without parallel in any age.' He deserves a conspicuous title to hearten every commander.' When Geng Gong reached Luoyang, Bao Yu reported that his steadfastness outdid even Su Wu's and that he should be richly enfeoffed. He was named cavalry commandant; Geng Gong's major Shi Xiu became assistant of the Luoyang market, Zhang Feng major of the Yong camp, the army clerk Fan Qiang assistant of Gong county, and the other nine were all enrolled in the Feathered Forest guard. Geng Gong's mother had died in his absence; on his return he observed mourning until an edict sent a palace gentleman of the five offices with oxen and wine to release him from sackcloth.
39
明年，遷長水校尉。 其秋，金城、隴西羌反。 恭上疏言方略，詔召入問狀。 乃遣恭將五校士三千人，副車騎將軍馬防討西羌。 恭屯枹罕，數與羌接戰。 明年秋，燒當羌降，防還京師，恭留擊諸未服者，首虜千餘人，獲牛、羊四萬餘頭，勒姐、燒何羌等十三種數萬人，皆詣恭降。 初，恭出隴西，上言：『故安豐侯竇融昔在西州，甚得羌胡腹心。 今大鴻臚固，即其子孫。 前擊白山，功冠三軍。 宜奉大使，鎮撫涼部。 令車騎將軍防屯軍漢陽，以為威重。 』由是大忤於防。 及防還，監營謁者李譚承旨奏恭不憂軍事，被詔怨望。 坐徵下獄，免官歸本郡，卒於家。
The next year he was transferred to colonel of the Long River. That autumn the Qiang of Jincheng and Longxi rose in revolt. Geng Gong memorialized his strategy and was summoned to give account in person. He was then sent with three thousand men of the five camps as deputy to chariots-and-cavalry general Ma Fang against the western Qiang. Geng Gong held Fuhan and skirmished repeatedly with the Qiang. The next autumn the Shao-dang Qiang surrendered; Ma Fang went back to the capital while Geng Gong stayed to reduce those still holding out—more than a thousand heads and prisoners, forty thousand-odd head of cattle and sheep, and tens of thousands of the Lejie, Shao-he, and thirteen other Qiang bands, all of whom came to Geng Gong to yield. Earlier, marching out of Longxi, Geng Gong had written: 'The late Marquis of Anfeng, Dou Rong, once held the west and won the complete trust of Qiang and Hu alike.' The grand herald Dou Gu is his descendant.' In the White Mountain campaign his merit topped the whole host.' Let him go as a high commissioner to pacify the Liang region.' Station chariots-and-cavalry general Ma Fang at Hanyang to lend the weight of his presence.' The memorial gravely offended Ma Fang. When Ma Fang came back, the camp-supervising herald Li Tan, acting on a hint, memorialized that Geng Gong neglected his command and nursed grievances against the edict. He was charged, cast into prison, stripped of office, and sent home to his commandery, where he died.
40
子溥，為京兆虎牙都尉。 元初二年，擊畔羌於丁奚城，軍敗，遂歿。 詔拜溥子宏、曄並為郎。
His son Geng Pu served as tiger-fang colonel of the capital region. In the second year of Yuanchu he fought rebel Qiang at Dingxi; his force was broken and he fell in battle. An edict named both of Pu's sons, Hong and Ye, gentlemen-attendant.
41
恭孫曄
Geng Ye, grandson of Geng Gong.
42
曄字季遇。 順帝初，為烏桓校尉。 時，鮮卑寇緣邊，殺代郡太守。 曄率烏桓及諸郡卒出塞討擊，大破之。 鮮卑震怖，數萬人詣遼東降。 自後頻出輒克獲，威振北方。 遷度遼將軍。
His courtesy name was Jiyu. At the beginning of Emperor Shun's reign he was appointed Wuhuan colonel. At that time the Xianbei raided the frontier and killed the governor of Dai. Geng Ye led the Wuhuan and troops of several commanderies beyond the passes and routed them. The Xianbei were terrified; tens of thousands came to Liaodong to surrender. Thereafter he campaigned often with success and his name shook the north. He was promoted to general-across-the-Liao.
43
耿氏自中興已後迄建安之末，大將軍二人，將軍九人，卿十三人，尚公主三人，列侯十九人，中郎將、護羌校尉及刺史、二千石數十百人，遂與漢興衰云。
From the restoration of the Han to the end of the Jian'an era the house of Geng produced two grand generals, nine generals, thirteen ministers of state, three sons-in-law of the throne, nineteen full marquises, and scores of palace gentlemen, protectors of the Qiang, governors, and two-thousand-dan officials; their fortunes rose and fell with the dynasty itself.
44
論曰：余初讀《蘇武傳》，感其茹毛窮海，不為大漢羞。 後覽耿恭疏勒之事，喟然不覺涕之無從。 嗟哉，義重於生，以至是乎！ 昔曹子抗質於柯盟，相如申威於河表，蓋以決一旦之負，異乎百死之地也。 以為二漢當疏高爵，宥十世。 而蘇君恩不及嗣，恭亦終填牢戶。 追誦龍蛇之章，以為嘆息。
The appraiser writes: When I first read the 'Su Wu zhuan' I was moved that he could gnaw fur at the ends of the earth yet bring no shame on the Han. Later, reading of Geng Gong at Shule, I sighed until the tears came unbidden. Alas—when duty weighs heavier than life, it comes to this! Of old Master Cao faced a hostage at the Ke covenant and Xiangru asserted Han majesty beyond the Yellow River—both staked a single morning's hazard, not the ground of a hundred deaths. One would have thought that under the two Han such men deserved lofty titles and grace for ten generations. Yet Su Wu's favor never reached his posterity, and Geng Gong too ended his days behind bars. I chant again the verse of the dragon and serpent and cannot but sigh.
45
贊曰：好畤經武，能畫能兵。 往收燕卒，來集漢營。 請間趙殿，釃酒齊城。 況、舒率從，亦既有成。 國圖久策，分此兇狄。 秉洽胡情，夔單虜跡。 慊慊伯宗，枯泉飛液。
The encomium runs: At Haozhi he trained for war, skilled in counsel and in arms. He gathered the soldiers of Yan and brought them into Han's lines. He begged a word beneath the Zhao palace couch and poured the libation that took Qi. Geng Kuang and Geng Shu followed him and likewise saw their work crowned. Geng Guo laid long-range plans that split these fierce Di. Geng Bing read the Hu temper; Geng Kui alone tracked the raiders to their lair. Steadfast Bozong—dry rock yielding water again.