 In 1903, Cen was appointed as the Viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi.In the following two years, he wrote memorials to the Qing imperial court urging the Guangxu Emperor to establish a constitutional monarchy and abolish the imperial examination system.In 1906, he supported Zhang Jian and others in establishing a Shanghai-based society that advocated for the Qing Empire to be converted to a constitutional monarchy.