How to address shoddy construction projects

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During the Ming Dynasty, there was a man named Zhu Zhishan who was skilled in poetry and painting, as well as highly knowledgeable. He was as famous as Tang Bohu, Wen Zhengming, Zhu Zhenqing, and others, and they were collectively known as the \"Four Great Talents of the Jiangnan region\". Zhu Zhishan wrote a book titled \"Xiqiao Yeji\", in which he recounts several incidents related to Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, all of which had to do with cracking down on shoddy construction projects. Zhu Zhishan said that at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, with many things needing to be restored, there were numerous projects underway: the imperial palace needed to be rebuilt, schools had to be reconstructed, city walls required strengthening, and streets needed to be widened. Fearing that his subordinates would cut corners, Zhu Yuanzhang often went to the construction sites to supervise the work personally; especially during the construction of the walls of Nanjing, he inspected the site from time to time. During the inspection, he personally used a sledgehammer to strike the city walls; whenever an empty echo was heard from a certain section of the wall, it indicated that that section was not up to standard and not built firmly enough, and then he would punish the person in charge of constructing that section of the wall. How to punish him? It’s simple: he gives a signal, and the palace guards rush in, tie up the person in charge of the project, and stuff him alive into the city walls. After completing the construction of the Nanjing city walls, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the construction of a imperial academy. When he inspected the accounts, he discovered that the officials in the Ministry of Works had exaggerated the budget figures, accepted huge bribes, and embezzled a considerable amount of money. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious; he ordered that the officials in charge of supervision be buried beneath the Sundial Platform. A large pit was dug under this iconic structure of the Imperial Academy, and those who accepted bribes were buried alive there. Zhu Zhishan also said that since there were so many projects underway at the same time, Emperor Taizu did not have enough time to oversee them all personally. Therefore, he issued another imperial edict: architects, contractors, and other relevant officials were ordered to inscribe their names on the buildings they were responsible for, so that if anything went wrong with those buildings, they could be held accountable – those who deserved to die would die, and those who deserved to be imprisoned would be imprisoned. Was Zhu Yuanzhang’s method effective? Absolutely. It can be said that during the early Ming Dynasty under his rule, it was the period with the least corruption in Chinese history, as well as the period with the fewest shoddy constructions. A small portion of the city walls he built still exists in Nanjing today; they have withstood earthquakes and artillery fire, and despite the passage of time, they remain standing strong. If not damaged, they could continue to stand for another few hundred years without any problem. Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang relied on rule by man rather than rule of law; without any trial or judgment, people were simply buried alive or even had their skin peeled off (using skin-peeling as a punishment for corrupt officials was one of Zhu Yuanzhang’s inventions). That was **tyranny, fascist tactics, a mere showpiece to intimidate others – it is incompatible with modern society.**