To fully grasp Yelü Hongji's story, read our recap:
Emperor Shengzong, Hongji's grandfather, died in 1031 and left behind instructions designating his son Yelü Zongzhen as heir. The latter becomes emperor under the name of Liao Xingzong at only fifteen years and his reign is immediately threatened by internal conflicts. Her mother is a concubine, Nuou Jin. However, Zongzhen was raised by the wife of Emperor Shengzong, Empress Ji Dian. Nuou Jin quickly manages to marginalize Ji Dian and her supporters. To achieve this, she mounted a plot that led to her exile and the execution of most of her supporters during a long purge. Nuou Jin even sent assassins to kill Ji Dian, but the latter committed suicide. With the death of her rival for power, Nuou Jin declares herself regent and begins to personally lead the missions of the emperor. As Xingzong becomes more and more dissatisfied with the power confiscated by his mother, Nuou Jin tries to replace him with another of his sons, Zhong Yuan, whom she raised personally and who is therefore more docile. However, the latter informed the emperor of their mother's plans and Xingzong immediately condemned her to exile. During the rest of his reign, the emperor continued to compete with his mother for power. Supporters of the latter occupy key positions and her influence is such that she allows herself to return to the capital and organize a ceremony during which she ends her exile herself. Zhong Yuan is rewarded for exposing his mother's dark designs. He quickly climbed the ranks one after the other until he obtained a position of governor outside the capital. The Historian Frederick W. Mote explains the importance of these internal conflicts and what led to the decline of the Liao dynasty. According to him, it shows that "what is fueling the succession problem in the imperial clan is a source of weakness from the leadership. It has wasted people, dispersed energy and diverted the attention of the leaders from their tasks at the government.".
Then, when Emperor Xingzong died in 1055, his eldest son, Yelü Hongji ascendeded the throne. Unlike his father, he is not at the center of an inheritance crisis. While Ji Dian and Zhong Yuan are still alive and their influence could interfere with the succession process, none have moved. Even if his reign begins under good auspices, it is however in prey to internal conflicts between factions within his government, aggravated by the weakness of the emperor's generals. Manipulated by a rival minister, Daozong commits the first big mistake of his reign by ordering the execution of Xiao A La, one of his loyal ministers and close friend. The Liao History book speculates that if Xiao A La had not been executed two major incidents during the reign of Daozong could have been avoided. The first is the rebellion carried out in 1063. This year, several important members of the Yelü clan, led by the grandson of the emperor Shengzong, tried to assassinate Daozong during a hunting party. He was saved by the troops led by his mother, the Dowager Empress Ren Yi. All those who took part in the conspiracy were executed in vengeance, including the direct members of the imperial family. This purge of leaders reinforced the power of Chancellor Yelü Yixin and his ally Yelü Renxian, a military leader. When the latter died in 1072, Yelü Yixin began to consider the son of Daozong and future heir, Prince Jun, as the only threat against his accession to power. So he schemed a plan to eliminate Hingji. At first, he suppressed the emperor's wife, fabricating evidence that the latter had a relationship with a palace musician. Falling into Yelü Yixin's trap, Daozong ordered his wife to commit suicide. The conspirator then schemed a new plot to induce his own enemies to mount a coup to put Prince Jun on the throne in place of Daozong. While the emperor is not convinced at first, Yelü Yixin finally manages to convince him to exile his son by fabricating a false confession. Prince Jun was immediately exiled and Yelü Yixin sent assassins to eliminate the prince and his wife, in order to avoid his return and not to be discovered. The treachery of Yelü Yixin was finally discovered in 1079 when the latter tried to convince the emperor to leave the new heir to the palace during a hunting party. When other members of the court protested that the young man would be in mortal danger by staying near Yelü Yixin, the emperor finally understood the situation. In 1080, Yelü Yixin fell from his rank and sent to a position of low importance in the provinces. Shortly after, he was executed.
Aside from Yelü Yixin's conspiracy, the only notable event in Daozong's reign was a war between 1092 and 1102 between the Liao and a Mongol group, probably Tatars, known as the Zubu. The latter live near the northeast border of Liao territory and suffered several wars against the Liao when the latter tried to extend their influence in this direction. In 1092, the Liao attacked several other tribes in the northwest and in 1093 the Zubus attacked the Liao, managing to infiltrate far enough into the Khitans's lands. The Liao will wait 1100 to capture and kill Chief Zubu and another two years to defeat the last Zubu forces. The war against the Zubus constitutes the last successful military campaign waged by the Liao dynasty.