Within a brightly lit courtyard in the city lord's castle.
Beside Robert was a stack of documents and bills, and he was carefully going through them with a few employees of the city lord's castle.
Michael stood off to the side with his hands clasped behind his back, and a dark expression appeared on his face.
Many of the city lord's castle officials were sitting in the conference room, looking on with perplexed expressions. They didn't know why the city lord had summoned everyone here so late at night.
However, seeing as the city lord hadn't said anything, no one said anything either. They didn't know why Robert, who had been at the Catering Association for over a year, would appear here again. It appeared that he was the mastermind behind today's events. Could it be that the city lord was planning to transfer him back? Or could this have something to do with the Catering Association?
Many of them were already feeling sleepy, but they had to force themselves to remain seated.
Robert rose to his feet and turned to Michael as he said, "City Lord, all of the bills have been tallied. These are the records of the Catering Association's profits from selling the leaderboard tickets since the beginning of this year. The total is 35600000 copper coins. Currently, the Catering Association only has 2000000 copper coins in its deposit account at Buffett Banks. After deducting the wages of the association's employees, there's still 30000000 copper coins missing."
"30000000 copper coins! Just how much money did they embezzle? "
The conference room instantly erupted into an uproar. All of the officials wore incredulous expressions on their faces. They knew that the Catering Association was an extremely wealthy place, but no one had thought that it would be this wealthy. Furthermore, weren't these people a little too bold? They had practically made off with all of the money!
However, everyone now understood why Michael had summoned them here. It appeared that he was planning to make a move on the Catering Association. Robert had been at the Catering Association for over a year, so could it be that this was all part of the city lord's plan?
Looking at Robert, everyone was even more in awe of Michael's wisdom and foresight.
"Aside from that, the higher-ups of the Catering Association have a very shady relationship with some restaurants and chambers of commerce. They've been selling the rankings for a long time, and they've also clearly marked the prices of the rankings. As long as they pay the right amount, they can guarantee that the rankings will match their expectations." Robert picked up a piece of paper and continued, "For the Gourmet Rankings, 10000 copper coins will be given to the 50th to 100th place, 20000 copper coins will be given to the 31st to 50th place, and 5000 copper coins will be given to each additional rank within the top 30. As for the top 10, other than the money, the restaurant itself cannot be too weak. After a month of rankings, the Catering Association will receive about 3000000 copper coins after deducting a few old restaurants that relied on their own strength to make it onto the rankings. However, none of this money will enter the Catering Association's income. "
"How can a mere Catering Association embezzle 60000000 copper coins a year? City Lord, we must punish them severely. Arrest them all and throw them into the Bastie Prison!" a bearded general said angrily.
"That's right. Furthermore, all of this money comes from the restaurants, and in order to make more money, the restaurants will definitely charge all of this money to their customers. This will only increase the cost of their customers' meals."
"This is far too unfair to the other restaurants that haven't paid any money. There's no way for them to make it onto the rankings, so what's the point of having a Gourmet Cuisine Rankings like this?"
All of the officials began to voice their opinions one after another, and all of them were rather enraged.
"That's a classic example of petty officials being extremely greedy, and that's why I've gathered everyone here today." Michael looked at all of the officials present, and continued, "If the Gourmet Cuisine Rankings weren't under the name of the city lord's castle, then the city lord's castle would have no right to interfere with how it operates. However, it's already become a subsidiary of the city lord's castle. According to the original agreement, the Gourmet Cuisine Rankings will still be under Warren's control, and he'll receive a high percentage of the profits every year. However, the way things are being run now is completely different from what was originally agreed upon. This is a fraud on the part of the city lord's castle, a fraud on the customers, a fraud on the businesses, and a fraud on the entire food and beverage industry.
Michael pressed a hand onto the table and leaned forward slightly as he spoke in a grim voice, "Hence, I've gathered all of you here tonight because I want all of you to join forces and take control of the higher-ups of the Catering Association. After that, seize all of the accounts and information, and identify all of the powers and figures involved in this matter. Don't let this matter rest."
"Yes!"
All of the officials replied with serious expressions. Purging the Catering Association was most likely just a show of force. During the past two years, many of the officials had taken advantage of this situation to start up some side businesses, and their income was significantly higher than what they were receiving from the city lord's castle. All of them wore dark expressions on their faces, but they didn't dare to show it.
"Robert will be in charge of this operation, and he's already come up with a specific plan. We have to control the impact of this case and make sure that the city lord's castle doesn't lose its credibility. We have to return the Gourmet Cuisine Rankings to its rightful place and become a ranking that customers can trust, not a money-making tool for the merchants. Tonight, no one is allowed to leave the city lord's castle." Michael looked at everyone and turned to walk out as he said, "Robert, come with me for a while."
"A complete overhaul of the Catering Association is inevitable. However, even if we get rid of Warren, how can you guarantee that the Catering Association won't follow in his footsteps? People change, especially in the face of the temptation of money. I've seen a lot of things like that, "Michael said to Robert in the study with a serious expression.
"City Lord, I think the most important thing to do if we want to get rid of the Catering Association's shortcomings is to reform the Catering Association. I've given this some thought, and I have a few ideas in mind.
"First, we can decentralize the power of the Catering Association and introduce a third-party vote-counting organization. At the same time, we can set up a supervisory organization in the city lord's castle that won't interfere with the operation of the Catering Association, but will be able to monitor the Catering Association's activities in real time.
"Second, we can reform the scoring structure of the Gourmet Cuisine Rankings and restart the internal auditing system of the Catering Association. We'll reorganize the 16-member food review team, which will rank all of the food in the Aden Square, and use this ranking as the base score. After that, we'll add points based on the votes and comments of the customers to come up with the final ranking …
"Third …"
"Robert, you should return to the city lord's castle after all of this is over. There's a position that suits you," Michael said with a hint of approval in his eyes.
Robert shook his head with a firm expression, and said, "City Lord, I still want to stay in the Catering Association. I'm sure my grandfather doesn't want to see the Gourmet Cuisine Rankings that he founded all those years ago become like this. He's going to be very sad to see the Gourmet Cuisine Rankings like this. After all, he's poured his entire life into this place."
"You little rascal." A resigned smile appeared on Michael's face as he patted Robert's shoulder, and said, "Alright, then we'll do as you say. I've tasted a lot of delicious food from Laurie's Gourmet Cuisine Rankings, so I hope your Gourmet Cuisine Rankings won't disappoint me."
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