When watching TV dramas, we will find that before the Ming Dynasty, it was the generals who managed the army, and after the Ming Dynasty, the state set up a series of official positions, such as the governor, to manage the country's army, and these officials must show tokens if they want to move the army, which are generally hung on the waist of these officials, also known as waist cards.
The waist plate is generally large in the palm of some people's hands, some are gilded and some are silver-plated, and the soldiers of the army will only obey orders if they see the token, so the token in the hands of the high official is very important for the army.
Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, the great powers have raised troops to attack, China has experienced the greatest turmoil in history, and many tokens have been destroyed and disappeared in these wars. However, a token was found on a 72-year-old man in Hunan.
The old man claimed to be a descendant of the Qing Dynasty's general soldiers, and this token was handed down from their ancestors and was also the most powerful proof of identity. Experts have studied this token, saying that this token is real, has strong historical significance and archaeological value, is a national treasure, worth tens of millions, so experts want the elderly to give them a collection.
The 72-year-old man in Hunan is named Yi Shaobai, who has been very interested in cultural relics since he was a child, so he often collects them, and this interest of his is mainly derived from his ancestors, according to Yi Shaobai's own description, since his grandfather has been collecting antiques.
There are countless cultural relics, ancient books, ceramic wood carvings and other handicrafts in their homes, let alone two or three thousand pieces, but in the process of national turmoil at the end of the Qing Dynasty, most of the cultural relics were destroyed or lost, only this token has been handed down to this day and is well preserved.
This token comes from a general soldier in the Xiang Army created by Zeng Guopan at the end of the Qing Dynasty, because in the course of the battle, this general soldier made a battle merit, so he was promoted and possessed this token, and this general soldier is naturally the ancestor of Yi Shaobai.
This token for the Yi Shaobai family, has a very important significance, but also the pride of the entire family, this token has been passed down for a hundred years, still well preserved, it can be seen that the Yi Shaobai family attaches great importance to this token, not willing to let it have the slightest destruction.
This is also why after the experts witnessed that this token is a national treasure, yi Shaobai was painstakingly persuaded to donate this token to the National Museum, and Yi Shaobai was reluctant to donate an important reason, And Yi Shaobai refused to donate this token.
Not because of how important the economic value he has, but because this token is a family heirloom treasure, for the Yi family, there has long been an inseparable emotion with this token, so Yi Shaobai is reluctant to donate this token.
However, many people's evaluation of Yi Shaobai is that he is unpatriotic, in fact, the author does not agree with such remarks, is it patriotic to donate his family heirloom to the National Museum? Is not donating unpatriotic?
Using such a scale to measure inevitably some moral kidnapping, Yi Shaobai has injected feelings into this token, and his reluctance to donate is beyond reproach, and should not be the reason for the masses to accuse him.
However, this token belongs to China's cultural relics, from the perspective of responsibility, since Yi Shaobai is not willing to donate it, then he has the responsibility and obligation to take care of this token and not let it be damaged in any way.
In addition, from the perspective of national righteousness, when historians want to study this token, Yi Shaobai should also generously take out this national treasure for experts to study, so that this national treasure can play its greatest value.