The literal translation of the title is: the smuggler that wears medals.
In the rapid Chinese economic boom in the 1980's and 1990's, the armed forces did not benefit, so many of armed forces members ventured into illegal activities for a quick profit, and one of the major activities was the organized smuggling using military ships and vehicles. The only difference between what was in the movie and what happened now was that right now, there is no need for any doubt, it is illegal for sure. This film has the element of social criticism in it, consider the time of its release: one destroyer captain of the Southern Sea Fleet was jailed for using warships to smuggle cars.
In the rapid Chinese economic boom in the 1980's and 1990's, the armed forces did not benefit, so many of armed forces members ventured into illegal activities for a quick profit, and one of the major activities was the organized smuggling using military ships and vehicles. The only difference between what was in the movie and what happened now was that right now, there is no need for any doubt, it is illegal for sure. This film has the element of social criticism in it, consider the time of its release: one destroyer captain of the Southern Sea Fleet was jailed for using warships to smuggle cars.