The collapse of Meizhou Expressway is still fresh in our minds, and on the night of July 19th, a bridge in Zhashui, Shaanxi, also collapsed, resulting in the loss of 11 lives and 30 people missing.

It's another bridge breakage, another mass casualty incident, and this time it's a highway bridge that has only been in operation for 6 years.

Some people say it's the fault of nature, but can the bridges we spend a lot of money to build collapse with just a gust of wind and a bit of rain? If so, the Zhaozhou Bridge should have collapsed into rubble long ago, right?

You should know that the Zhaozhou Bridge has a history of more than 1400 years, and the Lugou Bridge has a history of more than 800 years. Why are they still so sturdy? Even the old ropes of the Luding Bridge in the Qing Dynasty are still very tough, and even the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, which has a history of 67 years, has been hit more than 70 times, why is it still standing?

How can modern reinforced concrete bridges not be comparable to the stone Zhaozhou Bridge built more than a thousand years ago? The continuous collapse of high-speed accidents seems to be a joke, is it really the fault of nature, or is there some trick behind it? Is this a natural disaster or a man-made disaster?

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Innocent tragedy, who is the culprit?

In fact, bridge collapse accidents are not uncommon in our country. Just count casually, in the past 5 years, there have been continuous incidents.On July 14, 2018, the No. 1 Yihua Avenue Bridge in Jiang'an, Sichuan, collapsed; on October 10 of the same year, the north approach bridge of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in Jiangsu also collapsed; on October 12, 2019, a river-crossing bridge at the entrance of a residential area in Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, collapsed; on November 19, 2020, the Dongjiang Avenue river-crossing bridge in Zengcheng, Guangzhou, Guangdong, collapsed again.

In 1998, during the flood resistance, Zhu Rongji scolded the "tofu dregs" project on the Jiujiang dyke. So many years have passed, and this "tofu dregs" has not only not been washed away by the flood but has become more and more rampant, with crooked buildings, potholed roads, and bridge collapses, constantly challenging the nerves of the people.

Even primary school students know to write down the wrong questions in their error book to avoid making the same mistakes next time, but why can't those in charge understand this truth? Accidents have occurred again and again, but they do not learn lessons, allowing tragedies to happen repeatedly.

The reasons are complex, but in essence, corruption is the main culprit. It has been said that although the collapse tragedy was not unexpected, it was indeed expected.

Why? As we all know, many places like to start image projects when a new leader comes in, such as municipal facilities, roads, bridges, and high-rise buildings. It seems that as long as they are renovated, the political achievements will emerge, and the people will support them.

But what to do when the financial revenue is limited? First, renovate the good ones, and leave the bad ones for later to ask for money from "above" to repair.

But when it comes to asking for money, it is clear that there is only ten million, but it is reported that it is a billion yuan project that needs to be slowly raised. If the funds are not in place, either stop construction or let the contractor advance the funds, and the contractor slowly repays, and can also make a profit, killing two birds with one stone.

This approach is bound to breed corruption and rampant hidden rules - the bidding qualification review has once become a hotbed of corruption for the project bidding party, especially local projects, most of which are ordinary people (even those who have not graduated from primary school and have no construction knowledge at all) who take over through illegal subcontracting, illegal subcontracting, and affiliation.

Cutting corners and using cheap materials has become the norm, and some supervisors, safety inspections, and quality inspections have been colluding with the construction party all year round, which is also a formality. Supervision is just a formality, and checking the safety helmet is enough.Not to mention, they also enjoy "pushing ducks to climb the ladder". Clearly, a two-year project must be completed within a year. What "work hard for thirty days to ensure the task is completed", "make great efforts, sweat profusely, and work together to contribute", "fight for three days without sleeping, finish the project for the National Day and set off firecrackers", if you work so desperately, can you still take care of the construction quality?

The later operation is even more ridiculous, adhering to the thinking of "rebuilding lightly, new officials not dealing with old accounts", especially for the projects that "have no oil and water", they are not at all attentive. When the bridge collapses and the road is damaged, no one cares, and new roads are built to cover up the problems, which is the old routine.

This is why the accident rate of China's projects always fluctuates, but there is no downward trend at all. A series of hidden rules and lack of supervision directly lead to one tragedy after another.

Li Zhijun's words are to the point: behind the "tofu dregs", 99% is corruption at work.

This is not only the matter of corrupt officials, but also those who are responsible for quality, technology, and supervision departments are also hard to avoid responsibility - they do not prevent before, do not pay close attention during, and pretend to be deaf and dumb after.

Think about ancient times, if there was a problem with the project quality, it would be a matter of life and death. Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty not only supervised in person, but also stipulated that the place of origin and the builder must be engraved on each city brick. Once there was a problem, it was easy to find out.

But what about us? Every time something goes wrong, the media reports mechanically, and after the report, it's over, just like going through the motions, the problem is still the problem, and the tragedy is still repeated.

The responsible person for the poor quality of the school buildings in the Wenchuan earthquake has not been pursued to this day; the Jiangxi lantern fixing loss incident was also left unresolved; the 380 million yuan bridge in Yunnan collapsed in just three years, resulting in 40 deaths, and the responsible person is still hiding; a certain dam in Hunan has serious quality problems that can be poked with a stick, although the official has rectified it, but who has been punished? The common people still don't know.Even if the responsible party is caught, most of the time it ends up with a compensation payment, and a phrase "the law does not blame the masses" is used to lightly brush it aside.

This is not solving the problem, it is simply laying a mine.

It should be understood that now it is only the first "domino," but if the problem is not thoroughly solved, in another twenty years, those high-rise residential buildings will be more deadly time bombs, and it will be too late to cry then.

To truly avoid the tragedy from happening again, one must have the determination to cure the bone by scraping, dig from the root, and investigate officials for thirty years, and all the pests must be exposed.

Investigating pests for thirty years to eradicate the source of corruption

It is not a cold day that makes the ice three feet thick. Now, every day we will see some officials being investigated and falling from power due to corruption issues, the number is large, the amount of money involved is shocking, and many are collective collapses of corruption.

Many provincial-level cities' "first in command" and "second in command" have problems continuously, and some places even have several consecutive terms like this, the entire leadership team is tainted.Especially in Guiyang, Guizhou, Tangshan, Hebei, and Qujing, Yunnan, corruption is not an issue of a few individuals, but a joint corruption within a "small circle" of people. The methods are becoming more and more sophisticated, and high-ranking officials committing crimes are a common occurrence. Each time, both "tigers" and "flies" are targeted.

Moreover, during the political career of a corrupt official, they have to go through many things and serve in many places. In the past, without big data, many things were settled by personal power and signatures.

In this situation, instead of focusing on investigating enterprises, it would be better to take a tough approach and conduct a thorough investigation of all officials and their families over the past thirty years.

Although investigating enterprises has its rationale, it can also be a double-edged sword. If enterprises are under too much pressure, their capital chains will tighten, they will be hesitant to innovate, and their expansion will be cautious, which can erode market confidence. If a wrongful case is found, it could implicate a number of good enterprises, and the entire industry would be shaken.

At present, maintaining a clean and honest political environment is the top priority, as it is related to the foundation of national governance. If the problem of corruption is not resolved, the issue of substandard projects will never be solved. It is necessary to start with corrupt officials, uproot the interests behind them, and only then can the problem be effectively addressed.

Moreover, investigating corrupt officials can have a good deterrent effect.

Because the investigation tells the world that the anti-corruption struggle is endless. Today you may be in the limelight, but tomorrow, even after retirement or leaving the post, you can still be brought out to face the sun. This "settling accounts after the autumn" can make potential corrupt elements feel uneasy, realize the long-term risks and serious consequences of corruption, and hesitate to take action, making them think twice before acting.

Secondly, investigating corrupt officials can clarify how corruption has developed step by step, promoting the improvement of anti-corruption policies.

After all, corrupt behavior is not unchanging; it changes with the social and policy environment. For example, with the development of the internet and big data, the means and forms of corruption are also changing, from money bags to databases, becoming more and more covert. By investigating the past, we aim to understand the "transformation" of corruption, to prevent new tricks from emerging, and to dig deep into the motives of corruption, increasing the cost of corruption, and making those who want to be corrupt feel discouraged.Furthermore, by investigating cases, we can also patch up the system. We can identify areas where the rules are not strict enough and where supervision is not in place, and make the necessary changes! This will make the anti-corruption system more robust and effective. For example, if a certain type of corrupt official case occurs frequently, it is necessary to re-examine and adjust or strengthen the anti-corruption strategies aimed at that type of case.

The last step is to recover illegal gains, which is a tangible benefit. When the money returns to the state, it can accomplish many practical things, improve the livelihood of many people, and promote development. It is important to know that the construction of a project involves funds that can reach hundreds of millions, billions, or even tens of billions, while also consuming land, forests, water and electricity, and a large amount of manpower and materials.

Those "shoddy projects" that are demolished or only have a few years of life span, whether demolished, rebuilt, or repaired, bring huge waste to the country and society. It is also a serious damage to the public interest and the interests of the people, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a crime against the people.

The repeated occurrence of shoddy projects is not only a failure of the project itself but also a blow to the people's hearts.

Corrupt officials have turned the real gold and silver that should have been used for the project into their own luxury cars and villas. The hard-earned taxes paid by the people have been exchanged for fear. If this continues, the people will not only be disappointed with the quality of the project but also their trust in the country and the government will be shaken.

It is important to know that this trust is the foundation of our country and the soul of the government. Once lost, it will be extremely difficult to find it again.

Investigating and recovering the bribes over the past 30 years can not only alleviate the financial difficulties of the country but also give an account to the people. It is a win-win situation, so why not do it?

Although investigating historical corruption is not easy, the evidence is hard to find, and the process is long, but we cannot give up because of these reasons. This is not only a responsibility to the past but also a responsibility to the future.During the First Sino-Japanese War, the Huangni Gully Battery near Weihai seemed impregnable, but in reality, its defensive walls were as fragile as paper, made of piled stones with a thin layer of cement on top, which could not withstand the enemy's artillery. At that time, China already had the technology to pour cement, and the funds were in place, but due to layers of embezzlement, it ultimately became a substandard project, with predictable results.

History is like a mirror, reflecting the past and ourselves.

Construction projects are a long-term plan for a century, and we cannot be careless. The national requirements for economic development have also shifted from "fast and good" to "good and fast," with a high emphasis on quality and safety. However, implementing these requirements is by no means easy.

At present, the corruption of officials and employees is like termites, gnawing away at construction projects bit by bit. Projects that should be operated according to laws and contracts are fraught with hidden dangers, full of loopholes, and accidents occur frequently, with the property and lives of the people hanging by a thread.

We must understand that every river, every lake, every bridge, and every road carries the trust and expectations of the people.

We cannot allow such tragedies to happen again. To prevent the recurrence of substandard projects, we must take strong measures, investigate corrupt officials for thirty years, rectify construction order, punish engineering corruption, and ensure quality and safety.

For those substandard projects exposed by "natural disasters," we must investigate thoroughly, clarify responsibilities, thoroughly settle accounts, and seriously pursue them. All aspects of design, construction, supervision, and acceptance must be reviewed to see how many people have taken bribes, taken kickbacks, and treated the lives of the people as a joke.

Otherwise, "quality first in a century-long plan" will really become just an empty phrase!