 While Emperor Daozong's reign started off strong, it too was eventually plagued by factional infighting, aggravated by the emperor's own general weakness. The emperor's first major error was in ordering the execution of Xiao A La, a loyal minister and close friend of the emperor, whom the emperor was nonetheless convinced to execute by a rival minister. The 14th-century History of Liao speculates that had Xiao A La not been killed, two major incidents that came to dominate Emperor Daozong's reign would have been avoided. The first of these incidents was a rebellion in 1063, when several high-ranking members of the Yelü clan, led by a grandson of Emperor Shengzong, attempted to assassinate Emperor Daozong while he was on a hunting trip. He was saved with the assistance of troops led by his mother, Empress Dowager Ren Yi, and he retaliated by executing all of the people involved in the plot, as well as their immediate families.
