The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 596

An official from the Ministry of Rites looked at Zhou Chu and the others with disbelief.

"This kind of thing can't be faked. I've already ordered the craftsmen of the Southern Garrison to expedite the production of the train carriages. In just a few days, you will all see for yourselves. Moreover, this train is newly manufactured and has limited power. The power will only get better and better in the future. As Your Majesty said, it's not impossible for one locomotive to pull ten fully loaded carriages."

Zhou Chu looked at the man and said.

When Zhou Chu said this, he left room for maneuver. The transport capacity of trains in the steam engine era was indeed limited, and their speed was relatively slow. Only when the internal combustion engine was invented would the transport capacity and speed of trains be greatly improved.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty was still many years away from the advent of the internal combustion engine. Not to mention anything else, the Ming Dynasty did not possess the technology for oil extraction and refining at all.

Human strength has its limits. Even Zhou Chu is not an expert in everything. He can only point out a general direction for these matters. It will take at least several decades for the internal combustion engine to be invented.

However, the steam engine of today can still be improved to increase its power.

"Very well. Here's what I'll do: I'll give you three days. After three days, I and all the civil and military officials will still be here to see if your four carriages can run when fully loaded."

Jiajing looked at Zhou Chu and said.

"Your subject will certainly do his utmost."

Zhou Chu accepted the order.

"Alright, I trust you."

Jiajing laughed.

In fact, the train carriages had already been made by the Southern Garrison Command, since the locomotive had been manufactured two months earlier. During this period, Hai Rui and others had the Southern Garrison Command produce the train carriages.

While the locomotives still need to be tested before a decision can be made on whether to manufacture a second or third one, there is no such concern about the carriages. The carriages are all of standard design, and as long as the locomotives are fine, the carriages will not have any problems.

However, when it came to how to connect the locomotive and the carriages, Hai Rui and Yang Shengzhai encountered a problem.

When the locomotive was first built, Hai Rui and Yang Shengzhai often sought Zhou Chu's advice on this matter. Zhou Chu knew about the Zhan-style coupler, which was extremely ingeniously designed, but he did not know the specific blueprints. He could only roughly describe some of the principles of the Zhan-style coupler to Hai Rui and others, but in reality, his description was not very accurate.

But that was enough for Hai Rui and his team. All they needed was an inspiration. Once they had a direction, two months would be enough for them to manufacture the car coupler.

Jiajing knew that the Southern Garrison had already built the carriages, otherwise he wouldn't have only given them three days. It was impossible to build carriages in three days, as the smelting and shaping of steel takes time.

These words were merely meant for the civil and military officials.

Soon, everyone went home.

On his way home, Yang Yiqing dragged Yang Shengzhai back with him.

"Grandpa, I still need to go to the Southern Garrison to build carriages."

Yang Shengzhai said with some dissatisfaction.

"Still trying to fool your grandpa? You're getting more and more cunning. Do you think I don't know? The Southern Garrison Command has already built the carriages. Have you forgotten that you took me to the Southern Garrison Command a few days ago?"

Yang Yiqing looked at his grandson and teased him.

Upon hearing this, Yang Shengzhai's expression froze, and he couldn't help but regret bringing his grandfather to the Southern Garrison.

Train carriages are not small items; they couldn't possibly be kept in a room, so naturally they couldn't escape Yang Yiqing's notice.

"Grandpa, is there anything you need? If not, I'll be returning to the Southern Garrison."

Yang Shengzhai said with some helplessness.

"Of course there is something to it. Your teacher, Zhou Hengqi, has nurtured you into a talent and even let you participate in such a vital matter concerning the foundation of the nation as train manufacturing. Boy, do you know that today you and your teacher are riding the train together? In the future, history will record the story of you and your teacher in great detail."