Cheng Yuanzhi 程遠志

In Chapter 1 of the Romance, when an epidemic spread in the first month of the 1st year of Zhongping (184), Zhang Jue gathered followers by handing out water in which talismans had been burned, and when the plot came to light he raised troops overnight; those who wrapped their heads in yellow turbans and followed him numbered four or five hundred thousand. When a band of Zhang Jue's followers invaded the borders of You Province, Liu Yan, Administrator of You Province, consulted with Colonel Zou Jing and put up notices to recruit volunteer troops, and Xuande, having seen the notice, met Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, swore brotherhood with them in the peach garden, and then gathered more than 500 young men of the district and went to Zou Jing. Romance, Ch. 1 §8 · 11–13 · 17 · 21 · 24

Within a few days a report came that the Yellow Turban general Cheng Yuanzhi was invading Zhuo Commandery with 50,000 troops, and Liu Yan had Zou Jing lead 500 troops together with Xuande and the other two to attack the enemy. The bandits they encountered at the foot of Mount Daxing all wore their hair loose and had their foreheads bound with yellow turbans. Xuande rode out with Yunchang on his left and Yide on his right, raised his whip and rebuked them, telling the traitors who had rebelled against the state to surrender at once. Romance, Ch. 1 §25

Cheng Yuanzhi, in a great rage, sent his deputy general Deng Mao out to fight, but Zhang Fei levelled his eighteen-foot serpent spear, charged out and with a single thrust pierced Deng Mao through the chest. When Deng Mao fell, Cheng Yuanzhi whipped his horse and, brandishing his blade, rushed straight at Zhang Fei, and Yunchang, swinging his great blade, flew out to meet him. Cheng Yuanzhi was startled at the sight of him and, before he could defend himself, was cut in two by Yunchang's blade. The Romance cites a poem by a later writer praising the two men: the heroes revealed their talent for the first time that day, one testing his spear and the other his blade. Romance, Ch. 1 §26–27

When Cheng Yuanzhi was cut down, the bandits all reversed their spears and fled, and when Xuande drove his troops in pursuit, those who surrendered were beyond counting. Liu Yan came out in person to greet them and rewarded and comforted the soldiers, and the next day, on receiving a request for relief from Gong Jing, Administrator of Qing Province, he gave Zou Jing 5,000 troops and had him go to Qing Province together with Xuande, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Romance, Ch. 1 §28