耿舒 / Geng Shu (Eastern Han)

Overview

耿舒 / Geng Shu enters the wiki through Hanji 725 as the Eastern Han commander whose route disagreement with Ma Yuan becomes part of the Wuling campaign crisis. The source identifies him as Geng Yan’s younger brother and presents him as the advocate of the flatter Chongxian route rather than Ma Yuan’s shorter but riskier Hutou route.

Current Profile

Hanji 725 gives Geng Shu a narrow but consequential profile. Before the Wuling advance, he argues for the Chongxian route because it is flatter and easier for the army to move through, even though transport would be longer and more costly. Ma Yuan instead favors Hutou, hoping to seize the enemy’s throat and make other resistance collapse.

After the Hutou route stalls under steep terrain, fast water, summer heat, disease, and enemy high-ground defense, Geng Shu writes to Geng Yan to complain that his route advice should have been followed. Geng Yan forwards the letter to court, and Liu Xiu sends Liang Song to question Ma Yuan and oversee the army. Geng Shu’s role is therefore less a full career than a decision-review trigger in Ma Yuan’s final campaign.

Key Characteristics

• Eastern Han commander in the Wuling campaign source branch.
• Brother of Geng Yan in the source’s identification.
• Advocate of the Chongxian route over Ma Yuan’s Hutou route.
• Critic whose complaint reaches court after the Hutou advance fails.
• Trigger figure for Liu Xiu’s dispatch of Liang Song to question Ma Yuan.

Evidence

• Route alternative: Hanji 725 says Geng Shu recommends the flatter Chongxian route, while Ma Yuan prefers Hutou.
• Campaign failure context: Hanji 725 says the army becomes blocked at Hutou by water, terrain, heat, and disease.
• Court escalation: Hanji 725 says Geng Shu’s letter to Geng Yan is sent to court, after which Liu Xiu sends Liang Song to question Ma Yuan and act as monitor.

Qualifications

The current page does not decide whether Geng Shu’s plan was strategically superior. Hanji 725 records his complaint after the Hutou route fails, but it also preserves Ma Yuan’s reason for choosing Hutou: shorter distance and a hoped-for decisive pressure point. Geng Shu’s wider biography, office title, and later career remain source-scoped.

What Changed

• Created this page from Hanji 725 to capture the Wuling campaign route-dispute and court-escalation role.

Relationships

• 马援 - senior commander whose Hutou route choice Geng Shu disputes.
• 耿弇 - elder brother who transmits Geng Shu’s complaint to court.
• 梁松 - imperial envoy sent after the complaint reaches Liu Xiu.
• 光武帝刘秀 - ruler who approves Ma Yuan’s route first and later orders inquiry.
• 武陵蛮 - campaign opponent whose terrain and defense make the route choice consequential.
• 便宜行事式招抚 - downstream settlement pattern after the campaign crisis and Ma Yuan’s death.