in 74, dou and geng led a major military expedition against a major remaining ally of north xiongnu, cheshi (車師, roughly modern changji hui autonomous prefecture, xinjiang). cheshi submitted, and at dou's suggestion, the office of the protector general of xiyu (都護) was reinstituted. a north xiongnu expedition in 75 to recapture cheshi was repelled by geng gong (耿恭), one of the deputies of the protector general.