Diwu Lun as Minister of Works and in 87 was promoted again to become Minister over the Masses. The death of Emperor Zhang in 88 and the succession of his ten-year-old son Emperor He brought significant changes to the political landscape. The regents of the young emperor, Empress Dowager Dou and her brother Dou Xian, favoured a more militaristic policy to the Northern Xiongnu problem. Both their regional background and position at court encouraged them to seek the expansion of central authority through war. With the Grand Commandant Su You, Minister of Works Ren Wei () and the Nine Ministers, Yuan An marched on the court hall and submitted memorials condemning a campaign in the north. He argued that since the Northern Xiongnu had not invaded the frontier, there was no reason to waste resources on a distant expedition. Despite his strong opposition and that of other conservative advisors, Lady Dou ordered the dispatch of an expeditionary force. In the summer of 89, a Chinese-led force advanced in three columns with minimal opposition and defeated the Northern Shanyu at Jiluo Mountain and pursued him westwards into the Altai ranges. A final offensive in 91 destroyed the Northern Xiongnu, creating a political vacuum in its former territories which the Han empire would struggle to contain in the next two centuries. Yuan An died in 92 and a few months later the Dou clan fell in coup d'état staged by Emperor He. Yuan was posthumously honoured by the Emperor and his eldest son Yuan Shang () was given a post at the capital. Yuan An's two younger sons, Yuan Jing () and Yuan Chang (袁敞), reached the positions of Grand Administrator and Minister of Works respectively. For three generations after this, Yuan An's descendants became the leaders of the powerful Yuan clan of Ru'nan, holding the highest positions in the Han bureaucracy and holding enormous influence among the gentry. During the collapse of the Han empire after 189, his great-great-grandsons Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu formed their own warlord fiefdoms in north China. Yuan An stele In 1929 a commemorative stele recording landmarks in Yuan An's life was uncovered at Yanshi County, Henan province. It had been erected around 117, about two decades after his death. The stele, 137.5 cm tall and 71.5 cm wide, is now held at Henan Provincial Museum. It provides dates of his appointments and death not found