After the work was praised by Ouyang Xiu, one of the intellectual leaders of the era, Zeng Gong became widely known among literary circles.

In 1037, at the age of eighteen, he moved to Yushan county (玉山縣, in modern Shangrao, Jiangxi) to accompany his father Zeng Yizhan (曾易占), who had been appointed magistrate there.

In his twenties, Zeng Gong traveled throughout China, befriending the would be reformer Wang Anshi and later recommending him to Ouyang Xiu.

From 1069, he was appointed successively as the head of Qizhou (齊州), Xiangzhou (襄州), Hongzhou, Fuzhou, Mingzhou (明州) and Bozhou.

The emperor was suitably impressed and allowed Zeng to stay at the capital to work on a history of the Five Dynasties period.