beautiful princess Rafotsimarobavina and four female companions gathering edible greens in a valley west of Ambohidrabiby. Upon hearing of her beauty, Ralambo instructed the servant to make her a marriage offer on his behalf. The servant asked three times, and each time the princess refused to give her consent, instead replying "If Ralambo is king and I am queen." The fourth time, after Ralambo had instructed his servant to carry her to him by force, the princess agreed to marry on the condition that it be done properly with the consent of her parents, a condition to which the king agreed. Ralambo then informed his first wife of his intention to marry again, to which she replied, "I approve your decision," and the marriage was made. Ralambo ultimately took four wives in total: Rafotsitohina, Rafotsiramarobavina, Ratsitohinina and Rafotsindrindra. These marriages produced three daughters and twelve sons, the eldest of whom, Andriantompokoindrindra, was passed over for Ralambo's succession in favor of his second son, Andrianjaka. Ralambo expanded and defended his realm through a combination of diplomacy and successful military action aided by the procurement of the first firearms in Imerina by way of trade with kingdoms on the coast. According to legend, when a group of warriors from a village near the Ikopa river attempted to attack the village of Ambohibaoladina, Ralambo so frightened the warriors with the noise of a single shotgun blast that every warrior ran into the Ikopa river and drowned. Imposing a capitation tax for the first time (the vadin-aina, or "price of secure life"), he was able to establish the first standing Merina royal army and established units of blacksmiths and silversmiths to equip them. He famously repelled an attempted invasion by an army of the powerful western coastal Betsimisaraka people at a site now known as Mandamako ("Lazy") at Androkaroka, north of Alasora. The Betsimisaraka traditionally only fought at night and so were found asleep in their camp by Ralambo and his men and were easily vanquished. In another famous incident, Ralambo's army set a trap for a Vazimba king named Andrianafovaratra who claimed to control thunder. Ralambo's emissary, a man named Andriamandritany, was sent to the Vazimba king to invite him to participate in a contest of superiority against Ralambo. While Andrianafovaratra traveled to join Ralambo for the competition, Andriamandritany set fire to the Vazimba capital of Imerinkasinina. The Vazimba king saw the smoke