Yang Dajiang 楊大將

In Chapter 15 of the Romance, Sun Ce, having pacified all of Jiangnan, sends a man with a letter to Yuan Shu asking for the return of the imperial seal. Yuan Shu, who secretly harbors the ambition to proclaim himself emperor, sends back a reply making excuses and does not return it, and hastily gathers more than thirty men — the Chief Clerk Yang Dajiang, the Commanders Zhang Xun, Ji Ling and Qiao Rui, the senior generals Lei Bo and Chen Lan and others — to discuss the matter. Yuan Shu says that Sun Ce borrowed his troops and horses to start his venture and has won all the land of Jiangdong, yet instead of remembering his roots he now demands the seal, which is truly insolent, and asks by what plan they should move against him. Romance, Ch. 15 §68–69

Yang Dajiang replies that Sun Ce holds the natural barrier of the Yangtze, his troops are well trained and his grain is plentiful, so he cannot be overcome. For now, he says, they should first attack Liu Bei to avenge his unprovoked attack on them in the past, and it will not be too late to move against Sun Ce after that; he offers to present a plan that will have Liu Bei captured without delay. The chapter ends with the lines 'Rather than going to Jiangdong to take on tigers and leopards, they come instead to Xu to fight with flood dragons'. Romance, Ch. 15 §70–71

In Chapter 16, when Yuan Shu asks about the plan, Yang Dajiang says that Liu Bei, with his troops stationed at Xiaopei, can easily be taken, but the worry is Lü Bu, who crouches like a tiger in Xu Province. Since they earlier promised Lü Bu gold, silver, silk, grain and horses and have not yet given them, he fears Lü Bu will help Liu Bei; if they now send him grain to secure his goodwill and keep his troops from moving, Liu Bei can be captured, and if they capture Liu Bei first and then move against Lü Bu, Xu Province can be won. Yuan Shu is delighted, prepares 200,000 hu of grain and has Han Yin take a secret letter to see Lü Bu, and when Han Yin returns and reports, he makes Ji Ling the commander, with Lei Bo and Chen Lan as his lieutenants, and has them attack Xiaopei with tens of thousands of troops. Romance, Ch. 16 §1–2

But Lü Bu, on receiving Liu Bei's letter, sets out to rescue him, saying that if Yuan Shu swallows up Liu Bei he will link up to the north with the generals of Mount Tai and move against Lü Bu himself. Lü Bu invites Ji Ling and Liu Bei to a banquet at his own camp, hits the small side-blade of a painted halberd planted far outside the camp gate with a single arrow, and has both sides withdraw their troops. The next day the troops of all three camps disperse, and when Ji Ling, back in Huainan, reports what happened and presents Lü Bu's letter, Yuan Shu flies into a rage. Romance, Ch. 16 §3–4 · 6 · 11–12 · 14 · 16 · 18

In Chapter 17, Yuan Shu, having established the reign title Zhongshi and proclaimed himself emperor, makes Zhang Xun General-in-Chief and has him attack Xu Province in seven columns, but is heavily defeated by Lü Bu, with whom Han Xian and Yang Feng collude from within, and returns to Huainan. When Yuan Shu tries to borrow troops from Sun Ce to take revenge, Sun Ce writes a letter breaking off relations, asking how he could help a man who has relied on the imperial seal to proclaim himself emperor and betrayed the house of Han. On reading the letter, Yuan Shu rages, 'How dare this milk-mouthed brat do this! I will attack him first!', and he stops only when the Chief Clerk Yang Dajiang earnestly remonstrates with him. Romance, Ch. 17 §3 · 13 · 15 · 17–18

When Cao Cao, having arranged to join forces with Sun Ce, Liu Bei and Lü Bu, comes south on campaign, Yuan Shu sends out his chief general Qiao Rui as the vanguard, but Qiao Rui is run through by Xiahou Dun's spear at the edge of Shouchun's territory. Greatly alarmed at the report that Sun Ce is attacking from the west, Lü Bu from the east, Liu Bei from the south and Cao Cao from the north, Yuan Shu gathers his civil and military officials to discuss the matter, and Yang Dajiang says that Shouchun has suffered floods and droughts year after year and the people are all short of food; if they mobilize troops again and burden the people, the people will grow resentful and it will be hard to hold off the enemy when they come. Therefore, he urges, they should leave troops in Shouchun without giving battle and wait for the enemy's provisions to run out, when trouble is bound to arise, while His Majesty should for the time being lead the Imperial Guards across the Huai River, first to go where the grain is ripe and second to avoid the enemy's keen edge for a while. Romance, Ch. 17 §20–21 · 24–25

Yuan Shu adopts his advice, divides 100,000 troops among four men, Li Feng, Yue Jiu, Liang Gang and Chen Ji, to hold Shouchun firmly, and crosses the Huai with the rest of his officers and men and all the gold, jade and treasures of his storehouses. After a standoff of more than a month, with his provisions almost gone, Cao Cao beheads the granary officer Wang Hou to quell his troops' resentment, then orders that if the city is not broken within three days they will all be beheaded, and personally urges his troops on beneath the walls to fill in the moat. Cao Cao's troops vie with one another to scale the walls and take Shouchun, and Li Feng, Chen Ji, Yue Jiu and Liang Gang are all captured alive and beheaded in the marketplace. Yang Dajiang does not appear in the Romance after this. Romance, Ch. 17 §25–26 · 28–30