《宋史·列传·卷七十八》
他年青时与王安石交游，这时王安石的声誉还不大，曾巩就把他引见给欧阳修，到王安石得志，就对他有不同看法。神宗曾经问他 ：王安石这个人你看怎么样？ 曾巩回答说 ：王安石的文学和行义，不次于扬雄，因为他吝啬所以又不及扬雄。 
尝得先秦彝鼎数十，铭识奇奥，皆案而读之，因以考知三代制度，尤珍惜之。
In his youth, he made friends with Wang Anshi. At that time, Wang Anshi's reputation was not great, and Zeng Gong introduced him to Ouyang Xiu. When Wang Anshi became famous, he had a different view of him. Emperor Shenzong once asked him: how do you think of Wang Anshi? Zeng Gong replied: Wang Anshi's literature and conduct are not inferior to Yang Xiong, but because he is stingy, he is inferior to Yang Xiong.