The context is that I was watching "Qin Dynasty," a show that depicts the rise of Qin to be the unifier of China.
Doubtless, a lot of it is probably exaggerated and taken with artistic license but I remember watching a scene where it said something to the effect, "This jade seal (or something like a jade statuette) commands 5,000 men."
The stamp/statuette in question is small, able to be carried on one's person if a bit cumbersome. Around fist-sized, perhaps slightly larger.
This was in context to a coup, or defending against one I believe. Some sort of potentially violent situation in a city. These government officials/military officers were debating on how to best proceed and one of them says that line, essentially meaning "Hey, I have access to 5,000 loyal men with which to secure the city."
I essentially want to know if this was how the State of Qin (and possibly other states before, around, and beyond) organized their military authority. Rather than tying that power to a general, did they instead tie with a physical object that a general is "bestowed" by a King, Duke, Emperor, or whatever an can theoretically be "taken back," a more unique way of stripping a general of his command.
I'd also like to know if such an arrangement made rebellions more or less likely, although I understand if that is a bit too nebulous to answer.