wordpress paginate_links not working code example

Example: wordpress paginate_links

<?php
 // Full wp pagination example
$paged = ( get_query_var( 'paged' ) ) ? get_query_var( 'paged' ) : 1;

    $args = array(
        'post_type' => 'blog',
        'posts_per_page' => 10,
        'paged' => $paged
    );

    // The Query
    $the_query = new WP_Query( $args );

    // The Loop
    if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) {
        while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) {
          $the_query->the_post();
          the_permalink(); 
          the_title(); 
          the_excerpt(); 
       }
    } 
    ?>

    <div class="pagination">
        <?php
            echo paginate_links( array(
                'base'         => str_replace( 999999999, '%#%', esc_url( get_pagenum_link( 999999999 ) ) ),
                'total'        => $the_query->max_num_pages,
                'current'      => max( 1, get_query_var( 'paged' ) ),
                'format'       => '?paged=%#%',
                'show_all'     => false,
                'type'         => 'plain',
                'end_size'     => 2,
                'mid_size'     => 1,
                'prev_next'    => true,
                'prev_text'    => sprintf( '<i></i> %1$s', __( 'Newer Posts', 'text-domain' ) ),
                'next_text'    => sprintf( '%1$s <i></i>', __( 'Older Posts', 'text-domain' ) ),
                'add_args'     => false,
                'add_fragment' => '',
            ) );
        ?>
    </div>