During the Tang Dynasty, many foreign envoys had stayed in Chang’an for decades, some for over forty years. They married, bought property, and grew wealthy—yet were still supported by the state. When Chancellor Li Mi discovered this, he ended the subsidies and said: “A person should realize their potential in time. How can one remain a guest forever?”
He offered them a choice: return home with assistance, or stay and serve as Tang officials. No one chose to leave. Instead, they were integrated into the imperial guard, strengthening the capital’s defense and saving the treasury over 500,000 coins annually.
Li Mi’s wisdom was not in cutting costs, but in giving people purpose. True stability does not come from being supported—but from finding one’s place and contributing. Life’s greatest waste is not effort, but idleness disguised as comfort. Everyone has a role to play; the challenge is to discover it, and the courage to live it.