Alexander, using the pretext of marching further east, encouraged his men to write home to kith and kin in Macedon, saying that their letters would be taken there by the royal messenger service. Once they were collected, those letters intended for Macedon reached only the third posting station before the messenger brought them back. Alexander and his secretariat secretly opened and scrutinized these foor any disloyalty or disaffection. Any soldier guilty of complaint wasn't put on trial or disciplined but seperated from his unit and became a member of a special company, quite distinct from the main host and used for particularly dangerous assignments.