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

Chapter 557

Hai Rui, Yang Shengzhai, and others had been working in the village outside the capital for two years, eating simple meals every day. Now, seeing such a sumptuous meal at the Zhou residence, they ate with gusto.

"Teacher, your food is so delicious, much better than ours."

Yang Shengzhai ate while praising the food.

"You haven't had anything good to eat in a long time, that's why you think it tastes so good."

Zhou Chu had almost finished eating. He sipped his tea, watched the others eat, and smiled.

"No, that's not true. I do go home for a nice meal occasionally, but the food at my house is nowhere near as good as what you eat at your home. No wonder you were able to open Zuixianlou back then."

Yang Shengzhai muttered as he ate.

Zhou Chu did not refute Yang Shengzhai's words. In the capital, there was almost nothing that could compare to the Zhou family's food.

Soon, the group finished eating and drinking, and Hai Rui looked at Zhou Chu with great enthusiasm.

"Teacher, we have successfully developed the steam engine."

Zhou Chu was somewhat surprised to hear this, but upon reflection, it was not unexpected.

After all, he had already given specific directions, and with the assistance of the craftsmen of the Southern Garrison, it was only natural that Hai Rui and Yang Shengzhai would develop a steam engine, given their fervent pursuit of natural science.

It must be said that the teenage years are the peak period of a person's brain. They learn things quickly, have a strong ability to accept new things, and are also very creative.

Their weakness was their execution ability, which the craftsmen perfectly compensated for.

"Take a few men and bring over the steam engine they made."

Zhou Chu looked at Shen Lian beside him and said.

Upon hearing this, Shen Lian didn't hesitate. He immediately selected a few people and headed straight for the outskirts of the capital.

"Teacher, I still don't quite understand how this steam engine is actually used."

Hai Rui looked at Zhou Chu with a face full of curiosity.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chu did not reply, but instead turned and went to his study.

Hai Rui and Yang Shengzhai and others hurriedly followed.

Upon entering the study, Zhou Chu took out the train drawings he had already prepared from the bookshelf.

Of course, Zhou Chu did not understand the specific structure of the train, so his drawing was very rough, and even many parts were wrong.

However, that's not important. What's important is that Zhou Chu can use this blueprint to give Hai Rui and the others a specific direction. How to implement it and how to transmit it are problems that Hai Rui and the craftsmen of the Southern Garrison need to solve.

"I had thought about the use of the steam engine for a long time. This is a transportation tool that I designed based on the steam engine. I call it a train."

As Zhou Chu spoke, he spread the drawings out on the table.

Hai Rui and others quickly surrounded them.

"This blueprint is just my initial idea. Many parts are incorrect. You need to refine the details, such as how force is transmitted and how energy is converted. You also need to communicate more with the craftsmen about the specific shape and construction. The craftsmen of the Northern Garrison must have built similar teleportation devices before."

Zhou Chu pointed to the blueprints and said.

Looking at the strange-looking things on the blueprints, Hai Rui and the others noticed the location of the steam engine drawn by Zhou Chu, as well as the wheels under the steel carriage, the material of which was also marked as steel, which puzzled them.

"Teacher, how can these steel wheels move? If the entire vehicle is made of steel, how heavy would it be? And what kind of road surface can withstand such narrow tires?"

Yang Shengzhai couldn't help but ask.

The relationship between pressure and stress intensity was already clearly explained in the basic physics lessons Zhou Chu taught them. So in their eyes, this steel monster, let alone carrying anything, would be incredibly heavy even when empty. The train wheels on the blueprints had a very narrow contact area with the ground, and there were even grooves in the middle. This was something they simply couldn't understand.