In the back yard, Qinglan had someone clear a spacious and clean area.
In the middle was a long table with several large round dustpans on it. Inside were various grains such as rice, wheat, sorghum, millet, and soybeans.
To learn how to make wine, one must first understand grains and the different roles each plays in the brewing process.
This was the first lesson Li Wanming was going to teach them.
Fortunately, there were only a dozen or so girls who had chosen the wine - making course. Now that they were gathered around the long table, it didn't seem crowded at all.
Fang Zhi curiously grabbed a handful of sorghum and asked, "What's this?"
A chubby - faced girl with double buns beside her replied crisply, "Miss Fang, this is sorghum."
"Sorghum? Can we eat it?"
Fang Zhi became even more curious.
The girl answered, "Yes. We can make steamed buns, noodles with it, and we can also steam sorghum rice. In wealthy families, they even use sorghum to feed livestock."
Fang Zhi quickly put down the sorghum grains, her delicate eyebrows knitting into a frown.
"Feed livestock? Yuck, it's so dirty! Why put such dirty things here?"
The girl wasn't angry at all. She still smiled and said, "Miss Fang, sorghum grains aren't dirty. In times of severe drought, they can even save lives..."
"Rui'er, stop talking nonsense. Miss Fang has her own judgment," a cold voice said softly.
To the right of the girl named Rui'er was a girl with an oval face and a somewhat scholarly look in her eyes. She gave Rui'er a reproachful look and said, "You're so talkative."
Rui'er stuck out her tongue and stopped talking.
Fang Zhi ignored them. She turned to Li Wanming and asked, "Mrs. Cheng, didn't you say you'd teach us how to make wine? Why are these things on the table?"
Li Wanming smiled slightly. "To introduce you to the raw materials for wine - making."
"Raw materials?"
Fang Zhi widened her eyes. "You mean wine is made from these things?"
Her gaze swept over the glistening rice grains and she shook her head. "Don't lie to me! I know this. It's rice! How could wine be made from rice?"
Lü Songyuan finally couldn't help but let out a cold snort. Disdainfully, she said, "I said you're stupid but you just won't admit it. Since ancient times, wine has been brewed from grains. Don't you even have this basic common sense?"
Sometimes, her dislike for Fang Zhi wasn't entirely because of the political feud between the Lü and Fang families in the court. She was really ashamed to be in the same group as Fang Zhi.
Fang Zhi wasn't stupid, but she was simply too ignorant. Lü Songyuan sometimes felt that Fang Zhi was lowering the standard of all the young ladies in the capital.
It was okay not to know how to make wine. In this world, there were few women who could. But if you didn't know how to make wine, you should at least have some common sense!
Moreover, it was recorded in *The Book of Rites* that in the middle of winter, the chief brewer was ordered to ensure that the glutinous rice and rice were of good quality, the yeast was made at the right time, the soaking and boiling were clean, the water was fragrant, the pottery was of good quality, and the heat was just right.
Even though they were high - born ladies who disdained mundane affairs, they should at least know that wine was brewed from grains!
Now, she had exposed herself as an ignorant fool in front of a group of poor girls. It was so embarrassing!
People who didn't know might think she was like Fang Zhi too.
Lü Songyuan was angry, so her words became more straightforward and harsh. She was no longer being sarcastic and subtle like before.
So Fang Zhi understood and flew into a rage.
"You're not stupid? You know everything? Since you're so capable, come here and tell us what these grains are!"
Fang Zhi pushed through the crowd and grabbed Lü Songyuan by the collar like an eagle grabbing a chick, dragging her to the table.
"Come on, let me hear what Miss Lü knows!"
Lü Songyuan was both shocked and angry. Her face turned bright red, but she couldn't break free from Fang Zhi's grip.
In the years of their rivalry, she had always adhered to the basic rule of "ladies fight with words, not hands". They had only engaged in verbal battles and never fought physically.
In this scuffle, she finally realized how strong Fang Zhi was.
Fang Zhi, still burning with anger, almost dragged her by the arm towards the dustpan.
"I heard that your Lü family only eats Yuhu rouge rice. You probably don't even know what ordinary rice looks like, do you?"
Fang Zhi turned to the students around and said, "Do you know what Yuhu rouge rice is? In the whole Yuhu County, only a few acres of paddy fields produce it. A bushel of this rice costs one tael of gold!"
Lü Songyuan's face changed drastically.
Fang Zhi's physical attack just now, as rough and excessive as it was, was just a squabble among girls. But once the words "Yuhu rouge rice, one tael of gold per bushel" came out, the nature of the matter changed.
The Lü family had produced three high - ranking officials over four generations, and their family wealth had been accumulated over the years. It was no secret among the nobles in the capital that they only ate rouge rice, and the Lü family didn't deliberately hide it.
But today was different. This wasn't a noble banquet. They were in a class with common people.
Fang Zhi's words were accusing her Lü family of being extravagant and wasteful in front of the common people.
In the past, it didn't matter how they attacked each other with words, because it was in the social circle of high - born ladies. Everyone was smart enough to know what to say and what not to say.
But now, there were common people all around. Whatever they said would be exaggerated and spread all over the capital the next day!
If the news that the Lü family only ate rouge rice got out, what would the people in the capital think of her?
Xiao Yingchu sensed something was wrong and quickly grabbed Fang Zhi's sleeve, trying to stop her. "Sister Fang, stop talking nonsense..."
But Fang Zhi was so angry that she didn't listen at all.
She shouted, "I'm not talking nonsense! Otherwise, let's go to the Grand Tutor's mansion right now and see if there's Yuhu rouge rice in their kitchen!"
"Enough!"
Li Wanming finally couldn't bear it anymore.
Rubbing her throbbing temple, she shouted, "Miss Lü, Miss Fang, you two are both top students of Zangshan Academy. Did you also make so much noise and disrespect your teachers like this when Madam Qingguo was teaching?"
Hearing her mention Madam Qingguo, Fang Zhi immediately shrank her neck and stopped talking.
When she was in Zangshan Academy, she had been beaten with a ruler many times. She had an instinctive fear of Madam Qingguo.
Li Wanming took a deep breath to calm her anger and said, "We're here today to learn how to make wine, not to quarrel. If you keep arguing like this, how can we continue the class?"
Although her face softened, her words were even more severe. "Ladies, if you make noise in class again in the future, I'll have to report it to the Ministry of Rites and ask you to leave the academy."
At this, not only Lü Songyuan but also Fang Zhi's face changed.
Be expelled from the academy?
And be reported to the Ministry of Rites?
How could she, Miss Fang, still show her face in the capital in the future!
If someone else had said this, Lü Songyuan and Fang Zhi wouldn't have been so afraid. They might have even scoffed and said, "You?"
But this was Li Wanming.
Li Wanming, who was capable of anything.
So Lü Songyuan and Fang Zhi glanced at each other. Rarely, they reached an agreement. They both lowered their eyes and nodded slightly.
Li Wanming was relieved. She timely flattered them, "Sure enough, you are high - born ladies. You're so well - behaved, reasonable, and adaptable!"
After restoring order in the class, Li Wanming finally had time to start the class. She pointed at the grains in front and detailed the raw materials for wine - making and the method of making yeast to everyone.
Actually, making wine was not easy for women.
Just the process of making yeast was very complicated.
First, the rice had to be washed and soaked in water for an hour. Then, the soaked rice was ground into fine powder.
Next, the washed and dried knotweed grass, yerbadetajo herb, citrus leaves, and cinnamon leaves were also ground into fine powder and mixed with the rice powder to form small yeast balls.
"After making them, we need to put the yeast balls on a large dustpan covered with dry grass. Then, heat the yeast room and let the yeast balls ferment inside."
"After everything is prepared, in three to seven days, the yeast will be ready..."
As Li Wanming spoke, she guided everyone to operate.
This class lasted for two hours.
The girls spent the whole afternoon grinding powder. In the end, they couldn't even lift their arms.
Li Wanming smiled. "This is just making yeast. Later, steaming the grains, soaking the yeast, and the nine - opening and nine - closing processes will be really tiring."
"So troublesome?"
Fang Zhi slumped on the ground. "It's so hard just to drink a glass of wine..."
"Yes," Li Wanming said with a smile. "Everything in this world is hard - won."
Phew, it was really not easy to make these young ladies understand this point.