The team at full steam in this Shaw Brothers 'scope costume drama centering on salt pirates violating the royal monopoly, with appropriate historical background about the court needing to pay off the reparations due at the end of the war with Japan and forming an enforcement police.The leads are well show cased, with a demure Tanny getting possibly her most elegant outing. One of the nearest to a sustained narrative among director Li Han-hsiang's films, the costumes and decor are the dominant element as usual, with wine jars, red candles, silk kimona and the salt treatment set built in the studio.