He was the first Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of Anhui Province and also its 1st governor after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

He was the 5th Communist Party Secretary of Shandong Province.

[1] Zeng was a proponent of the Great Leap Forward, but as Anhui became one of the first provinces to sink into famine, Zeng in 1961 allowed for farmers to rent land for private use, like growing crops.

In 1962 he was criticized during Seven Thousand Cadres Conference and replaced by Li Baohua and transferred out of Anhui to take on the office of Second Secretary of the Southeast Bureau.

[2][3] He died in 1968 during the Cultural Revolution, as his prior actions had been considered anti-revolutionary.